Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L Review
We finally get our hands on the much discussed Peak Design Travel bag. We all know it’s good looking - but let’s see how the smaller of the two versions holds up in practice.
Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L Review Introduction
Peak Design - today’s the day, folks. We’ve been online since late 2019 (shout out to launching a travel site three months before COVID hit the US…woof) and never given a Peak Design bag the full length review treatment. Kind of nuts now that I think about it. What were we thinking! Honestly part of it is that the review landscape for their bags was pretty saturated. But eventually - I just wanted to try one pretty badly and see what we could see.
They started out with a bang and released one of the most loved camera bags probably ever made. I’d say it even inspired a whole new category of camera bags that didn’t look like … camera bags. And at their heart, they are all about design and materials and utility.
With that, they branched out into travel bags which are more of my bread and butter. They have duffels, which we’ll take a look at soon I hope, but then they also have two immensely popular travel backpacks: the 45L and the 30L. Today we’re looking at the 30L travel backpack.
This is my Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L review. I took this on multiple trips around the US - two flights trips (one NYC to Dallas/Houston with 3 legs, and one from NYC to DC), as well as two car trips outside the city. Both car trips required walking to and from the train with the pack on.
As always for full transparency, I paid for this bag with my own money and had no interaction with Peak Design for this review. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L Overview
The Peak Design Travel backpack was born out of the idea that they wanted to take all their design chops from the camera gear, and translate that to more of a travel focused pack. It’s important to note that while I am not reviewing this as a camera bag, Peak Design certainly sees it as such and designed it to be able to fit their camera cubes, which I think is a smart idea and true to their DNA.
As mentioned, we’ve got the 30L today. Something important to note, and they’ve since explained this better recently, but 30L is the happy medium between the un-expanded literage (27L) and the expanded literage (33L). Now that the cat’s out of the bag, the backpack expands to help you have a little extra room.
It’s Fair Trade certified and considered 100% Carbon Neutral. The website has an exhaustively descriptive section on it which is nice to see in its transparency, so I’d suggest hopping there to see things like a comparison to the 45L in list form. Peak Design Product Page.
In terms of material specs, here they are from the site:
It retails for $229 USD as of July 2024. Available colors are black, sage (ours), and blue.
Travel Backpack 30L Features
OK, there are a lot of supposed features on this bag so I’m going to cover the important ones.
Let’s start with the construction. The materials are beefy and geared towards abrasion resistance and water resistance. The bottom of the bag is a beefier 900D nylon and is fully waterproof for when you need to put it down on the wet ground or a boat.
As noted, the bag expands from 27L to 33L in case you need more or less room depending on your trip.
There are a few pockets to mention - one organizational pocket on top that is a quasi admin pocket (with soft lining) but also good as a quick grab one, too. Though, it’s not too deep so keep that in mind. The main access is a panel loader on the back that opens and closes vertically. Like a horseshoe. Inside, there are a couple of zippered mesh pockets to help with organization, too. Both on the sides of the main compartment and also on the underside of the front of the bag. There’s a lot of organization on this bag for sure.
Grab handles located on ALL sides - with the bottom one coated in the same waterproof material as the bottom of the bag. There are also various lash points located throughout the bag, meant to be used with either their accessory straps or whatever ideas you can come up with.
Two expandable, gusseted water bottle (or tripod/umbrella/rolled jacket) pockets on each side.
Zippers are UltraZip, which I believe are in-house developed zippers for Peak Design, and are not a branded version like YKK. All external zippers are water-shielded, though.
Inside the bag is purposefully light gray for better visibility.
The backpack straps are stowable for cleaner carry on the plane, bus, etc.
There is of course an internal laptop compartment that is well designed.
Next up there is a kind of vertical slip pocket on the front to put a rain cover in or even a jacket. Though it’s facing downward so keep that in mind. Don’t stuff your smuggled diamonds up there. But, the magnet here is strong so it will keep an article of clothing or rain cover in here fine.
Lastly I’ll mention the luggage pass through, which shouldn’t be needed for true one bag travel, but is awesome for the times you do need a roller for something.
The Good
I mean the materials and the design of this bag are really no joke. That’s been the case for all their stuff and holds true here. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise though, that’s what they are known for. This bag just looks SO sleek. I have the Sage green one and I’ll be honest, it’s even better in person. The fabric has this heathered look to it, which made me think it was going to be coarse. It’s not. Even the heathered fabric has the weather resistant coating to it and it’s FANTASTIC looking. Feels so good to touch as well. The entire bag just FEELS premium.
It’s a gorgeous bag, no doubt about it. They focus on sustainability, which isn’t necessarily something I focus on/demand all the time. That said, I like that they do it. Why not? Repurposing one material for another use gets thumbs up from me overall.
I really like the expandability here. Because it’s kind of a big dump-space instead of a number of pockets with their own volumes, you can definitely fit a good amount in here with cubes or without, and not have to try too hard. It FEELS bigger than the comparable Able Carry Max. But add in the expansion? Well done and really good execution on this piece. It’s wicked useful, and easy to take advantage of (or not). One clever trick I’ve seen discussed online is that you can pack the bag pretty full while expanded, but then actually CLOSE the expansion piece and it works like a full-bag compression device. Won’t work with the camera cubes of course - but for clothes in packing cubes? It’s a great idea because for the most part, clothes compress.
I’m going to come right out and admit it - I have an unhealthy love of nice grab handles. Why make them cheap? It’s a huge touchpoint on a bag, it doesn’t make sense. Happy to report the grab handles on this bag are amazing. Of course they work. But they sit down low when not in use to keep things sleek, and they feel awesome in the hand when using them. Nailed it.
I’m not really an accessory person with bags, but Peak Design offers quite a few for their bags, and honestly they are pretty practical, especially for photographers. So, I like the choice there. Use them or not, they are there if ya need em.
Did I say I love the look of this bag? Yeah, I know I did. But there it is again.
And honestly? I think the price is right. I’m not going to sit here and say I think $229.00 is cheap, obviously it isn’t. But like, you’ve got competitors around $300.00 for similar things and I think for a bag of this size/utility and this quality - it’s a nice price. You’re not going to destroy this bag quickly and it should last you a long time.
Due to those materials - this bag keeps its shape well. I’m always surprised to read these kinds of comments, but people REALLY seem to care about this. So, no floppiness or droopiness on this bag. Happy?
The Bad
Let’s get into some of the things I did not love about this bag as it’s not all roses and never is.
The top pocket - I think needs to be a little deeper. I would be willing to sacrifice one of the inside mesh pockets to make this happen. It’s a tight fit if you’re a tech pouch person, or like to bring over-ear headphones (I don’t think they’d fit here). Even toiletry cases - the external pocket is typically a great place to store those so you don’t use up more space inside the bag with another pouch.
The initial carry comfort. I know that sounds weird so let me explain. The bag is pretty rigid in the back panel, and more so once you add a laptop in it. So when you first pick the bag up to put it on, it feels pretty unforgiving and inflexible. It does dissipate once on your back and it’s lined up with your body, but something I noticed.
I’m not the only one to comment on this foten but I really think the backpack straps are not the best. This is also something I’m pretty lenient on so when I notice it, I think people that focus on this really will notice too. I won’t go so far as to say I hated them, because that isn’t true; but they are certainly not the most comfortable vs. the competition. They are thin, both in width and padding. As a 5’6 guy, I can mitigates some of the surface area physics of thinner straps. But those might dig into the shoulders of a larger person. The bag did settle in pretty nicely while I was walking in the airport and to the train, I will note. Which did surprise me based on the initial feel. But again, just some room for improvement.
I might have been being an idiot, but I did not think the strap storage system was amazing. I could never get it to go in as smoothly as the online video they put out, nor keep the flaps down tight. Might be user error, but it didn’t wow me in person. It’s a solid example of DESIGN and engineering, but KIND of a bit Nomatic-y in the sense that it probably is a bit over done and doesn’t work as well as some existing methods. Strong magnets would help here (and I think the bigger bag does have magnets for this).
The final comment to make here is I didn’t LOVE the access system. Because the front pocket was so small, you need to rely on the main compartment more. And because it’s designed to work as a camera bag as well (totally fair in that sense) the back panel opens like most camera bags do - and that’s to make it easy to get into your camera cubes when you put it down. But as a traveler, if I wanted to quickly access the main compartment without putting it on its back and fully opening it, then I had to remember to put the zippers up top in a way that meant I could only open them so far to get inside the immediate top of the pack. Like getting my laptop. I’d have loved a secondary access zipper on top to make this easier.
Packing The Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L
Because of the style of the main compartment, it’s pretty easy to pack this bag in whatever style you use. I used a combination of 3 packing cubes, my toiletry kit, and my loafers. Because most of my trips were 1-3 nights, I did not need to cram too much in, and these were not international holidays so I did not need to bring my camera. The third photo shows the backpack under the seat on an American Airlines domestic Main Cabin Plus seat. And don’t come at me for onebagging but clearly having a roller here - it was my wife’s and I was being a good person and pushing it for her :).
3 Packing Cubes:
Eagle Creek Large with some button ups and a pair of pants
Peak Design Small (which is hilarious as this cube is at best a Medium) with my tshirts and a pair of shorts
Matador Small with my undershirts and underwear.
Aer Split kit for toiletries
On the outside pocket I had my Matador Blackout Sleep Mask that I was testing, and my Pioneer Carry Global pouch for my tech (just reviewed and a really premium pouch: Global Pouch review).
Final Thoughts On My Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L Review
What did I think of my first Peak Design Travel backpack? To be up front I thought it was one of the best designed and best looking bags that I’ve reviewed. With a few caveats.
The feel of the materials and how those material choices and details looked, plus the color options, just look so good. There aren’t many bags as nice looking as this one. The black looks so sleek, too.
It was wicked easy to pack this based on having the open cavern style inside. You aren’t left with a crazy amount of choices. Though, I didn’t love how we have to access that compartment.
I like that the backpack straps are stowable, but didn’t love the way they designed that. Nor did I think they were the most comfortable straps I’ve come across. If you’re not carrying super long distances, I don’t think this will be much of a problem for you though, as it wasn’t for me.
Overall organization options were great however, and I think provided flexibility. All the accessory hookups and what not also provide an element of “choose your own adventure” on this one - and you can make it your own. However that might be.
Tons of good work in the details on the travel backpack. The different leather pieces on the Sage, the quality of the handles (major touchpoints are important, just like car interiors), the quality of the metals, etc. Even making every outside zipper water resistant. The way the handles and the water bottle pockets lay-flat when not in use. Lots of thought in the design.
I think for a bag of this quality, the price point is very compelling.
Overall, it’s for real a well designed, beautiful bag that can serve multiple purposes like becoming a camera bag. The expansion is implemented phenomenally well and can be used as compression. I loved packing it as it’s so easy.
Like anything, you need to decide for yourself if the knocks on it are deal breakers for you. No bag is perfect and compromise makes the world go round - but I can certainly recommend you check this one out. It’s worthy of being on your list.
As always with the indie brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service.
Wander more - and wander smarter everyone.
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