Backpack for Air Travel?

For a long time I had an Osprey holdall with hidden pack harness which was great for air travel. It was just within dimension limits once you heaved on the compression straps, which ran over closed cell foam side panels which evened the strain. I wish I hadn't parted with it, but it was a little on the heavy side for backpacking. It sounds like you need something similar, with a full length zip and reinforced flat bottom/rucksack back panel you can organise your stuff onto. It was an earlier version of this 'Transporter 40' though the link may redirect to the front of the US website: http://www.ospreyeurope.com/gb_en/pack-selector/transporter-40? Mine had a proper harness with chest strap and hip belt hidden behind a zipaway panel. The newer version doesn't have such a proper harness so you may need to add a hip belt, or look on Ebay for one of the old ones. Happy hunting.

I was in the same situation last year and researched extensively. One thing I was clear about was that I didn't want a dedicated 'travel pack' – a sort of hybrid backpack/suitcase such as the osprey porter. I wanted a proper hiking pack that could work well for travel. The best I came up with, for me, were the ULA Camino 2 and the Bergans Helium 55. The Camino is essentially the ULA Catalyst, re-shaped to meet cabin luggage regulations and with a u-shaped panel zipper. The Helium is more of an alpine style pack but also compressible to cabin luggage dimensions and with a long tough zipper down the side. I looked at the Redwing too and it seemed ok for travel, but I'm not sure how great a hiking pack it is – depends what you're looking for and can afford. What turned me off the Redwing in the end was that it doesn't actually meet cabin luggage dimensions – which for me is important. Many people really rate the Redwing and have no problem taking it on flights as cabin luggage. It's also a lot cheaper than the two I've mentioned.

When I flew from Pennsylvania to California in 1980 to work as a professional trail builder on the 9 mile Snow Creek section of the PCT I had to sleep in my 2 man Jansport wedge tent and bring everything in my pack. I bought a large canvas laundry bag, put my name and address on it with permanent marker and put the pack inside. It easily handled the round trip. In camp I used the pack cover for, what else? My laundry bag.

The Rick Steves convertible suitcase/backpack is $99 and 42oz.

I've been doing a fair amount of airline travel the past couple years and I'm sort of wishing I had the ULA Camino 2 for combined front/backcountry trips. The specs look promising. Would love to hear more reviews of it.

Would be nice if there was more information on this pack. I probably would have considered it during my search for business travel pack.

Brandon, Check out Tortuga Backpacks. They are the ultralight backpackers for urban travel. http://www.tortugabackpacks.com/ Specifically designed for urban travel with the idea of being used as a backpack first vs. a suitcase with a few shoulder straps thrown on as an after thought. The unique thing is that their pack open up like a suitcase/clam shell, so it is easy to access everything you have vs. having to dump out your backpack to get to the items at the bottom. I have already bought their day pack and plan on getting their Tortuga Air for traveling by plane/overseas. Their Tortuga Backpack was designed to be a round the world backpack and is designed to be carry on size. So applying your ultralight techniques from backpacking to save space and traveling light will be a must. They have a help ebook on Amazon that I have read a number of times to help me think about going light/minimal on the urban travels. http://www.amazon.com/Packing-Light-Persons-Carry—Only/dp/0996346015/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1440704343&sr=8-2&keywords=packing+light&pebp=1440704345042&perid=0VJSWWTXCG95NB38YQZ6 Hope this helps. Other packs that I looked at were the Rick Steve's Pack: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/carry-on-backpack ebags…their seems to be heavily influenced by the Rick Steve's bag: http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/mother-lode-tls-weekender-convertible/143101?productid=10150072 I would say that the Tortuga was likely influenced by the ebag in design too but focused on the backpacking aspect of useage where the ebag has shoulder straps as a bit of an after thought. I own the ebags Mother Lode TLS Weekender, which is a little smaller than what is allowed for a carry on. I bought mine on sale for $55, taking a sale price with an additional 15% by signing up for their newletter. Great value, but the shoulder and hip belt setup is really poor and uncomfortable. Wouldn't want to wear the ebag as a backpacking for anything other than short hauls through the airport and from a taxi cab/bus to a hotel. Hope this helps you. Tony

Regarding the Camino 2, I've been emailing Chris at ULA extensively about it, and he's been very helpful (and patient). He said it is the same as the Catalyst in most respects: same suspension, frame and stays. It will carry exactly the same as a Catalyst with the same load limit of 40lbs. It is a tiny bit lighter than the Catalyst and has a bit of a different profile: the Catalyst tapers and is narrower at the bottom than the top, while the Camino has been squared off at the bottom (doesn't taper) to maximize space for air travel. Both packs have the same size extension collars and front mesh pockets. The Camino has solid robic side pockets which appear to be a little smaller than the Catalyst's. Both are made from 210d robic with the same colour options. When it comes to the panel zipper, my concern was that there is no compression strap over it to help take the strain. Chris said this wouldn't be a problem. If you want to know how it handles as a hiking pack, I'd say read reviews of the Catalyst.