7 Best Carry On Backpacks [One Bag Travel Packs!]

7 of the best carry-on compatible backpacks we have ever reviewed. Great place to begin your One bag journey. Quick intro /// Specs /// Pros and Cons.

**********

00:00 - Intro
0:29 - Pack theory
1:10 - Travel / EDC
3:20 - Aaron's pick
5:33 - Best Overall
7:44 - Best Budget
10:01 - Best Minimalist
12:08 - Best Duffel
14:44 - The Biggest
17:05 - Outro

**********

Do YOU want to build a backpack with me? 🎒

We are building our own backpack on Nomads Nation and we are documenting every step of the process!

Join our email list to get a behind-the-scenes look and to be able to vote on key features of the bag.

**********

Looking for awesome deals on top-notch gear?

**********

🎒 NOMATIC TRAVEL PACK
✍🏼 This travel backpack is carry-on compatible, but can also collapse and be used as an everyday carry backpack. Best for shorter trips like going to business meetings or conferences.

🎒 ABLE CARRY MAX
✍🏼 Aaron's special pick. This backpack is just excellent overall, there is no specific category that it fits into. It's large enough for short trips, Carry on compatible for most airlines, but does not look too bulky or boxy to be used in an everyday situation.

🎒 AER TRAVEL PACK 3
✍🏼 Best Overall carry-on / one-bag travel backpack. The internet's favorite carry-on backpack. This backpack has a pretty simple user interface while having enough organization for your smaller items.

🎒 Standard Luggage Carry On Backpack
✍🏼 Best budget-friendly carry-on backpack. It compromises a little bit on style and name brand materials but is still a kick-ass backpack in its own right.

🎒 ARCIDO AKRA
✍🏼 Best Minimalist carry-on backpack. Are you the type of person who hates rummaging through a bag with too many pockets? This pack is extremely simple. a few pockets, a laptop compartment and that's it.

🎒 PAKT ONE DUFFEL
✍🏼 Best Carry On Duffel. Most people don't even think about traveling with a duffel. But if you think about it, how often do you actually walk around with your travel backpack? Most people go from the airport to a taxi and two straps might be overkill.

🎒 TORTUGA TRAVEL BACKPACK
✍🏼 Do you intend to be on the road for the foreseeable future? You might want to consider getting the biggest carry-on backpack on our list. This thing is absurdly large and very well padded for all that weight you'll be carrying.
*Disclaimer: The Tortuga Setout Packable Daypack is discontinued. We recommend the Tortuga Travel Backpack instead!

**********

**********

Affiliate Disclosure: We hope you enjoyed our 7 Best Carry On Backpacks review! To support our channel, we use affiliate links in our content. Clicking on these links and making a purchase helps us keep creating great videos (at no extra cost to you!)

Free Gear Disclosure: We often receive free gear for our reviews, but this does not influence our opinions. We always provide honest reviews—if a product isn't up to par, we'll tell you.

[aceonweb]

I just realized that your label at the top with the name of the bag is how much longer you have reviewing that bag. So if I wanted to fastforward over one bag, it was SUPER easy to do so. NIce touch.

[kauaiboyo]

I have the Peak Design as my travel backpack. I like the simple sleek design without all the stuff on the outside. I snapped the top to it to make it look smaller and for a sleeker contour rather than boxy looking. The main reason I chose this backpack was for the security features it provides when you are traveling in crowded public spaces. Unfortunately this is something none of the YouTube backpack reviewers talked about...

[iharry]

Off topic but I suddenly felt super grateful hearing “everyday carry” instead of “concealed carry”

[vonwerderc]

Would be cool to see a video with bags that can count as personal items. Osprey just released a 26+6 L expandable backpack that looks like a good size.

[os-qthc]

I have never understood why backpack producers add the shoe compartment. If you put your shoes in, it takes almost half of the space of your whole backpack. Instead of just putting your shoes in a shoe bag and placing them wherever they fit most in your backpack, they invented this pain in the ass compartment which takes up space even when unused.

[lilili]

Aaron, your so crazy, I love you. Thank you for your honest and detailed reviews of so many backpacks, save me so much time, your channel's totally underrated, should have at least 900k subscribers for how funny you are. Subscribed !

[brendamijares]

I miss you guys...got busy recently....but wow! This review is what I've been waiting for...amazing! As always! Thank you for this guys!

[RosieRealmenteYT]

I like how you reviewed a variety of travel backpacks. I bought a Tortuga Setout 35L women's backpack in January, 2020 for a 10-day trip to India and Nepal before the COVID-19 shutdown. Since I was carrying 25 lbs worth of clothes & toiletries, the load-lifter straps made it easy to walk around with this on my back. Other travel backpacks from LL Bean and ebags lacked them. Sadly, it looks like Tortuga no longer makes the Setout, so I hope that the Outbreaker will perform as well or better than the Setout.

[JohnpelQuingua]

For peace of mind, I'd still go with Pacsafe Vibe 40L, but the list is great overall :)

[denissitasc]

I just found you, and I’m really glad, today was a really stressful day and this video make me forgery everything and just focus and your reviews, thank you so much, I’m definitely going to suscribe

[jaureguikevin]

Hey man! Your content is very cool and informative. Just what I was looking for. I hope you get more subscribers, you deserve it.

[slneiq]

Just found your channel as I’m trying to purchase a backpack for travel and school. I watched so much of your videos, but still couldn’t decide on the one. I want a lightweight for everyday use backpack that had a clamshell opening with an water bottle holder and laptop department. Do you have any recommendations?

[JohnBernabei-jolb]

hi aaron, i need a larger carry on backpack for my gal. she says my 40L tomtoc is to small. what do you recommend for her at 50l ish that is more for clothing than office gear. thanks

[LearnCodeFromAI]

Awesome content bro. just the intro/your style is great.

[zerrubabbel]

I've got 2.5 weeks in Asia coming up, gunna be hitting up a lot of trains, busses, trails, mountains, restaurants, cabins and more... I've chosen the Mission Workshop Sanction (20L) as my weapon of choice... It's probably actually the wrong choice for most people due to its size, I'm kinda doing it as a challenge to see what I can really get away with cutting out of my loadout, and if it really does prove impractical, I have an Aer TP2 to fall back on... Either way, that's just one more thing making me look forward to this trip.

[shayanshahriar]

Ya, I will buy a 250 buck backpack and save a few on Ryan air's check in. Makes sense.
Jokes apart, great review though!

[josecano-qyym]

I hit the like button just for the " Stacy's mom mention". :P

[NicholasWongCQ]

Most airlines only allows 7kg for carry-on baggage, so ideally a "one bag carry-on" backpack should weigh less than 1.4kg, or 20% of the weight limit.

[jayiwa]

First time watching your channel. Love the reviews, love the productions, and went on to check a few others on the links and also loved them. Subscribed 👍

[geraldmcmullon]

I picked the Tortuga Set Out Divide as it goes from 26 to 34 litres. The expansion area is in the top, so not extra depth in the main compartment. Fitting in most camera cube isn't possible. When I also got a nice out fit to go to a wedding I needed 40 litres, although possibly the Setout 35 litres might have worked. I used a 40 litre packable duffel. I also had a small 17 litre to trek around with and on flights packed all my tech gear (cameras, lenses, tablet, mouse, battery razor, electric toothbrush) into that and the rest went cargo. Internal flights had a 7kg limit and the total was over 13kg even leaving the daily carry backpack would still have been over 12kg. Two bag travel splits up the weight and in cargo I can also store a multitool. Although I was in the tropics (India) going further north the late evenings had some bitter cold winds. A duffle and daily carry back pack works. The Setout converts to a carry bag, over the shoulder bag or backpack. So do a number of other bags including some from Tom Bihn and Nomatic.

I had to arrange a USA postal address to get the Tortuga forwarded to the UK. Nomatic is currently not exporting to the UK. New UK and EU import regulations and delays in getting companies in other countries registration for VAT has been the cause and postal costs and red tape increased in the past 15 years.