looking for a certain type of backpack

Hey,

I was searching for a certain type of backpack and came across this forum. This actually looks like a perfect place for me.

I'm getting toward working entirely from my laptop, which means I won't be bound to one specific place. If I'm not bound to one place, I intend to go place to place to place for a while. I want to supply myself with gear that I'll need in my travels, gear that will be versatile and serve multiple purposes, gear that will be light and easy to carry, and gear that will include the technology I need/want (mainly laptop and tablet).

The item that is on my mind right now is a backpack. What I want is a large backpack that will hold my clothes and everything else I need, but will also have a detachable section that will be small enough to be a "carry on" item for airplanes but big enough to hold a laptop and tablet.

In my searches I found this:

but the detachable part doesn't seem to be large enough for my needs, and I'm not sure it would be suitable for a laptop and tablet anyway. That is the general idea I'm looking for, though. Do any of you have any suggestions?

I just noticed that no one has replied yet, so I thought I'd say hello, and explain that you may not get many responses here (though I hope I'm wrong.) It's not that we're ignoring you, it's just that most of us don't have much experience with the type of pack you're looking for. Most of us are centered on wilderness hiking and camping, and tend to cluster toward the lightweight end of that spectrum. (Personally, it's been years since I've used a pack larger than 3500 cubic inches, let along one that has a detachable day pack.) It seems, from your description, that you're more looking for a travel pack, and that weight may not be a problem since you won't actually be hiking with it. (From the general tone of your post, I'm thinking maybe from the terminal to the cab, and the cab to the hotel room?) If my read is accurate, most folks won't respond simply because they don't have any useful information for you.

About all I can do is suggest that, in general, Osprey, Deuter, Gregory, REI and Jansport are reputable brands, and I think they all have larger packs that have the features you're looking for, or perhaps a system of clips or attachment points that let you add a smaller pack to it (it may not be sold as a single unit, so you can choose which model of smaller pack you want.)

I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

I have an older High Sierra luggage that has wheels, backpack straps, and a detachable zipoff daypack. I never use the daypack but like the larger rolling backpack (checkin size, not a carryon). Whether it would meet your needs I cannot say.

Unless you really need your daypack to be zipped to your larger luggage, I would suggest you buy your luggage (suitcase, duffel, whatever) and daypack separately and use some small carbiner clips to hold your daypack to your luggage when needed. This allows you many more options.

ebags.com is a nice place to look at luggage.

This forum isn't tuned to optimizing the type of pack you're looking for, but FWIW Osprey makes a travel pack that's not a bad compromise.

That particular pack is designed to convert into the type of luggage that you can safely check as baggage on a plane, train, even sometimes buses will require you to "check" your larger luggage. A typical pack, even a tough one, has a lot of straps hanging off that can catch in machinery, in which case I understand they simply cut off the offending bit so as to not slow down the conveyer. Hence this style of travel pack.

Eagle Creek is another brand to consider. These are, of course, specifically travel packs, not for wilderness trekking (which is what we on this forum do).

The type of lightweight packs most of us on this forum use won't hold up too well to the ministrations of airline baggage handlers, another reason you want a pack designed for travel. If you've ever watched those baggage handlers at work, you know what I mean! Scary!

As Brian says, for travel you want the kind of pack in which the shoulder straps and hip belt can be hidden behind a solid cloth panel. I have an REI travel pack that has that feature. I bought it twenty years ago, have used it for all sorts of travel ever since, and it still looks almost new! It has stays so the weight transfers quite well to the hip belt. However, it weighs about 4 1/2 lbs. so is far too heavy for the backpacking (wilderness trekking) that I do.

Like PerryMK, I carried a small lightweight daypack (less than a pound) in my bigger pack to use for day trips. If there's room for your laptop inside your travel pack, then you don't need the heavier, bulkier, detachable version. Just slip the laptop in the daypack in the airport before you check your larger pack so that you can carry on the laptop.

Okay, I didn't think about it before, because I didn't realize this forum was specific to outdoors backpacking, but I appreciate the advice you guys have given. That said, I do love hiking and have really gotten into it the past year or so. I haven't had enough experience to know all the best gear and techniques, so this place will still be great for me in that sense.

Brian, thank you for the link to the Osprey bag. I see what you're showing me in that bag, but there was actually a link on that page that was showing a bag exactly what I'm looking for. REI Grand Tour seems to be designed for exactly what I want in this case. It doesn't have a spot to tuck away the straps, but it does address that issue with its rain cover which also acts as a duffel for checking on an airplane.

I really appreciate the responses, the advice, and everything you guys have done, even though it's outside what you normally do in this place. This forum is bookmarked on my bookmark bar because I'm certain I will be here often. I've been trying to find ways to lighten my gear for hiking and stuff like that, so I think I've come to the perfect place.

Lots of great articles on lightening your load on the home page of this site, left hand column.

For travel (we get those questions every now and then), we've generally recommended Lonely Planet. However, they took the site down for several weeks, removed nearly all the archived material (much of which was excellent) and disabled the search function. At least today I noticed they had the "Activities and Gear" section back up, but they appear to have deleted nearly all of the archives. There used to be a lot of good material on travel packs there, but it's gone. I'm not too sure where we'll send travelers at this point!

Glad to hear someone helped you find exactly what you wanted (and that I was wrong about you not getting a lot of help here.) REI has a great return policy, so if it isn't exactly what you need, you can take it back. I'm also glad to hear you're going to stick around for the hiking - after all, we can mislead you with the best of them!

No help on the pack, but this article may be useful to you. And this is her full gear list for her upcoming thru hike along with a link to the review of gear she used for the last one.

~Had tried also lonely planet site and found useful post and information as a traveler. This isnt new but glad to come across with this thread.

if you're walking alot, don't choose a pack on weight. Bigger truck carries more loads properly and easier. the best suspension systems for men tend to be the gregory and the osprey aether or atmos. By best, i mean best fit. if you really want to find yoru fit, here's my process.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vpEJAlmcOdbIizkDWGBDLNbaNeva8h0hDB1BiayNMVM/edit?usp=sharing