Nomatic Backpack Review (Updated 2023)

NOMATIC BACKPACK Review (Updated 2023)

  • The best Nomatic Backpack review on the web
  • Who is this backpack perfect for?
  • Check out our EPIC video review
  • If this is not the pack for you, we’ll make a recommendation for a better one!

Nomatic Backpack
Video Review

Check out our EPIC Nomatic backpack review below!

Nomatic Backpack
Overall Score

4.5/5
NN Overall Score - 4.5/5
Style
Comfort
Functionality
Durability
Value

Due to a trademark issue, Nomatic had to rebrand to ‘Gomatic’ in Europe and the UK. Although the brand name is technically different, both versions sell the exact same high-quality gear 🙂

The Nomatic Backpack
is PERFECT for you if...

Below is the transcript for the video review

Hey guys Aaron Radcliffe here with NomadsNation. We do digital Nomad content and we do backpack reviews dude and today’s backpack review is going to be the nomatic backpack review.

Am so stoked about this review because nomatic is one of those popular and therefore controversial backpack brands on the markets, you need to love them or you hate them. So to help you decide, I’m gonna tear this bag apart. We’re taking this backpack through the streets of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam so you can see the way the nomatic backpack is meant to function in an urban environment. We’re gonna go through everything. 

We’re going to talk about the specs, the way that it feels, the style, the front, the middle, the back, and then at the end of the video we’ll take the review off the streets, go back to my co-working space where I’ll let you know the overall pros of the backpack, the overall cons, who I think this backpack is perfect for and who this bag is not good for. But don’t worry if this backpack is not the pack for you I’ll tell you exactly which one is, and if this is your thing guys, if backpack reviews and digital nomads and travel content is your pack please hit the like button and definitely subscribe. It helps with the growth of our channel and you’ll be notified any time we make a badass new backpack video.

All right! Let’s chat about some of the specs of the nomatic backpack two things to take into consideration first which is the price $260 US dollars. It’s not cheap I know, but I do think that if this backpack suits your needs, it’s completely worth it. The other spec to take into consideration is the capacity. What size is the backpack and the nomatic backpack is a 20 liter that can expand to a 24 litre. I’ll show you how it does that in the middle section. 20 litres is a perfect size for an everyday day-to-day sort of a backpack. This backpack is best for a digital Nomad or somebody looking for a business backpack, and this can help you on your day to day carry, going from work to home, to the office and everything in between. If you’re in the market for something that’s a little bit bigger check the links below. We’re all linked to the nomatic travel pack as well as the nomatic travel bag both of which are really similar in the style but have larger capacity.

Time to chat about the style of the nomatic backpack. Now listen, style doesn’t matter to everyone. Me? I care! I like the way my bag looks. It’s important. It says something about me, it gives off a vibe and I think nomatic has done a really good job of making a stylish backpack. I would say this bag was designed one B for ultimate functionality but a very close one B was to look sexiest while doing it. As you can see, it’s got like this business see like sleek-leathery sort of a look to it. 

I mean think about it like, if you look at this coming into a business meeting, wearing this thing, flopping it down, it’s like “guys I have a solution for how to fix quarter one profits”. “Oh my god who’s this dude, with his solution” like that’s what this allows you to do. This is why it’s one of the best, if not the best business backpack on the market. If you’re kind of sick of the messenger bag or you’re sick of the briefcase look and you want something that’s a little bit more practical, because backpacks are so much more practical than a briefcase, and that’s what this does perfectly, also this backpack can be turned into a briefcase. We’ll discuss this a little bit more detail though further in the review, and you gotta understand though with this style, you’re going to get a little bit of compromised functionality. We’ll talk about the zippers in the next section, and this sleek material as well, while it looks nice and smooth and leathery. We’ll talk about some of these disadvantages of it later. 

Particularly I like what they did and the fact that it is traditional in the sense that it’s boxy which is good for functionality. It means you have edges and corners so you can fit more stuff but they kind of smooth it out with this sort of like like spoon-shell opening shape to it, and it doesn’t make it look just like a blob of a box. So that’s nice, it gives it a little sleekness. And as for the style, the color is really important, but nomatic only comes in one color option as you see before you, the black on black. But more or less for like a style perspective, I think nomatic crushed it.

Up next. How does the backpack feel? There’s a few things to take into consideration. First, like what’s the comfort, like how does it actually feel to have the nomatic backpack on your back. And really it feels great, straight up it feels great I mean obviously for a 250 or 260 US dollar backpack, you expect it to be comfortable. But it’s got a really nice feel to it, the straps feel nice especially when you’re connecting them with a sternum strap, the whole thing feels very tight and very secure and it’s got a nice kind of vibe to it. There’s also some great back padding, and the shoulder straps are comfortable, just overall the comfort is great. But with the feel of the backpack, it’s not just how it feels on your back, it’s also how do the materials feel when you’re interacting with them. How do the zippers feel? Let’s go over on this bench and I’ll show it to you. 

Let’s start with the exterior materials. So the exterior materials are mostly tarpaulin. Tarpaulin is what gives it it’s smooth and leathery feel. Tarpaulin is a great material for a few reasons;

  1. Looks sexy 
  2. It’s durable and 
  3. It’s water-resistant.

But on the con side, and keep this in mind, tarpaulin is easily scratched so if you see right here, this little scratch right there, I think I just bumped against something and that scratch is now a permanent fixture of my nomatic backpack similar to the wandered provoked 21 or 31, which is also made of tarpaulin. If you scratch that thing, it’s just going to be there forever. But for me it’s not that big of a deal because I don’t mind a little wear and tear in my backpacks. I think it’s nice, it gives it a little bit of character. But if you’re really trying to find a really mature professional business looking backpack, then just be aware this material scratch is super easy.

Next up is the interior materials. People don’t think that I should talk about interior materials, but the interior materials are just important like the experience of the way the bag feels. You’re not just touching the outside, you’re actually interacting with the inside more than the outside. Like you’re always going inside and your hands are rubbing up against this stuff. Does it feel good or not? And fortunately all of nomatics interior materials feel freakin awesome. It’s high-quality stuff. I’ll get a little bit deeper into it when we actually jump into the middle of the end and the front of the pack, but just know that the interior materials Rock. And finally let’s talk about the way that the zippers feel.

This will be my first major criticism of the nomatic backpack because the zippers aren’t great. They’re great in terms of durability, the last test of time because they’re YKK and they’re weather resistant. I mean you see that lock right there, not only does it look good but ain’t no water getting into that bad boy, but unfortunately with the shape of the zips, like its coming down like this and around just like a lot of movement and weaving with these zippers, and because of this watertight sealing the zippers just require a little bit extra piece. 

While I say this is a con it doesn’t have to be, you just got to go into this backpack with like a certain mentality, and the mentality is when I open my nomatic backpack I just need to really engage my wrist. You’re not dealing with snags so much per say and that’s the good thing, so these are quality zippers you’re not gonna get stuck in very many places but you’re just gonna deal with resistance. It’s a slow zip, it’s not like some of the other zippers where you can just grab it with your pinky and just like “oh”, it’s not like that. You got to put a little bit of boots into these zippers, but like I said while it’s a con on the pros, it adds to the sleek look with this waterproof lining and it makes sure the zippers are super durable.

The front of this pack is actually one of my favorite features of this pack like any front of any backpack ever. Let me show you why! So a few things!!!! First up, the nomatic logo. I like it, it’s not too big. It is a little bit brandy as in, you know you got a big ass, stamp with a lot of letters in there but in comparison to nomatic’s old branding where they have all these little mountains in the background as well, this is a huge upgrade. But let’s talk about the coolest part of the front of the backpack and that is this front access pocket right here. This front access pocket is so freakin cool. The reason I like it so much is because, think about like what a front access pocket is supposed to be, it’s something that you can put in, that you need to grab quickly. The bigger and bulkier stuff that you don’t need to access as quickly, that goes in the main compartment, but this part is for the things that you need to unzip, grab, zip, closed. And if you look at the nomatic backpack they’re obviously in love with organization. The organization on this front pocket is so freaking cool so you got these four mesh pockets on top. I like to use these for phone chargers, battery, hand sanitizer, safety first kits, you got some tissue and then below it you have a notebook holder. I have like 27 notebooks so I love having a designated place for my notebook. 

And then on the outside we have an RFID safe pocket this means that there’s technology in this pocket that’ll keep things like your passport and credit cards safe, anything that has little chips in it that could be scannable, so that’s why I like to keep my passport in there, wallets, this is a great pocket for that. And then down here we’ve got a couple of pen holders, a couple more elastic pockets and another small little zipper pocket here which I like to keep for like spare backup cash. So as you can see this front compartment is just a whole lot of wow. There are more pockets and organization in this front compartment alone than there are in some backpacks like combined. I can’t say it enough.

I think this front compartment is so cool but only for those who need it. If you’re looking for a minimalist pack that you just want to throw a couple of clothes in, hold your keys and hold your wallet this is obviously going to be such overkill for you but if you’re a digital nomad and you’re looking for a spot for everything then I think that this is possibly one of the best most expensive, but one of the best options on the market. Aside from that pocket, and like I said the zippers can be a little tough but moreover less they work pretty well. I always recommend pop of the zippers on top like this, joint meeting in the middle, and you just kind of do it like this, I found that to be the easiest way to use the zippers.

Heading a little north, we have another quick access pocket. This one is with a soft linen material, so therefore it’s good for things like your sunglasses, cell phone, I always pop my air pods in there. As you can see it’s got a really nice material in there. It’s super soft and deep inside I don’t know if you can see, but there’s a little hole right in there, and that’s good for you to actually pass a cord through there, if you want to keep a charger like a battery in the backpack and keep your phone charging. Pretty nifty little thing! Overall, it’s a great pocket, I literally have no complaints. So while I do have things about the nomatic backpack that I’m not crazy about, we’ll get to that soon. When it comes to the front I think it’s so cool man, I think it’s so enjoyable, it’s so cool. You’re just walking you know, you’re doing your thing, you’re like “oh I need to wash my hands real fast”, you just grab this little sanitizer, action boom. Keep it clean for the kids, dip it back up, you’re on your way. Like I love that.

So you’re in your location, maybe you’re home, maybe you’re in a new country, you want to stop at a bar grab some chips maybe get some work done, this is the perfect time to use the middle of the pack. So let’s talk about the middle of the pack. First up, let’s discuss these sides real fast. Each side is the same. You’ve got a handle and this nifty, yet controversial water bottle holder. 

Let’s start with the handles. There’s nothing really to like sing home about with these, they’re comfy, they’re nice, they’re not super padded. I don’t love the whole handle game on the sides especially when it mixes into the whole briefcase transition thing which I’ll explain in the next section, but more or less these handles are good. They serve a purpose and give them an above-average score. I think that they’re this way because the aesthetics are really important, it couldn’t be like a big beefy handle like this guy on the side, the real sort of slim profile is really important. so it all works pretty well. 

This water bottle holder though – let’s have a chat. This is super controversial in the backpack world. Some people think it’s genius, other people think it is what? In quoting a friend of mine who is a designer and makes backpacks he said it’s a disaster. I’ll let you decide. So here’s the water bottle, here’s the holder, so what you have is a magnetic solution as to where if you’re not using it, this part of the water bottle holder and this part connects like that, which looks great. It helps to kind of keep it glued to the side so there’s no excess dangle and it keeps that slim sort of a profile, so when it’s closed it looks great but here’s where it gets disastrous. Some people think that when the water bottle is actually loaded into it, it just looks weird. If you can see it head on, it just sticks out and this flap is all like that and you know, it went from a super sleek sort of a sexy futuristic backpack to like having…. I don’t know. It’s just does look a little off to me, and I don’t know why nomatic made two of them. I guess maybe there’s like some Zen balance thing they’re trying to do. I think that one would have been more than sufficient. And as for the magnetic solution, I think they had to do it, so I’m kind of a fan. I know that it does look a little bit off when there is a water bottle in there, and there’s things sticking out and it’s like a deform bat or something, but if you’re not using the water bottle, the pros of it (looking nice and sleek and glued to the side like that) I think outweigh the cons, so overall I give it two thumbs up.

Now before we jump into the actual inside the main compartment, let me tell you about the expandability. So remember I said this backpack is 20 litres but it can expand to 24 litres, here’s how. All you do is you take this zipper right here, undo the whole thing, rotate all the way through, and you go from 20 to 24 litres. This is pretty darn cool. Now here’s the deal with expandability. A lot of backpacks utilize this, some better than others. I don’t love it on larger backpacks, so some backpacks you’ll see the competitors do expandable backpack from like 30 to 40 litres. I don’t think it works as well. When it’s a larger backpack and it’s expanded, and you have this space. It just looks off and it doesn’t look as good in the bag sort of sags a little bit. But for going from 20 to 24 litres, I think it’s awesome man. It gives you that extra 4 litres, it helps the bag breathe a little bit and you’re not really sacrificing much to get it.

Alright, but now let’s jump into the most important part. Like I said, we’re at the bar, we’re here to knock out a little bit of work. We’re digital nomads, this is the digital Nomad pack. Show us what you got. Now remember, this pack opens a little bit differently, you have like this like sweater – I described it earlier – but you know the zipper is that shape. So you go ahead and you’re gonna open it from the top and bring it on down, and we have the main compartment. It’s kind of beautiful, isn’t it? Yet again this backpack is made for digital nomads, business people, people who love to organize and people who have tech gear. If you’re not in that category of people, it’s probably not gonna be the bag for you. 

Unlike the front compartment, which didn’t necessarily need to be techie, you could put the hand sanitizer in there, a battery. When it comes to this section, it’s really suited for and really designed for people who have laptop and work equipment. Let’s start on this side guys, where you can see a couple of pockets, where I keep my mouse pad and my wrist holder. These pockets are awesome and also what’s awesome, our mouse pads and wrist holders – digital nomads check this out – you haven’t seen one of these. You put your mouse right here, and you rest your wrist on that. Oh my god!! It’s a lifesaver. But anyways these pockets can hold anything, and like I said, remember the quick access pocket right here, we have the cord pass-through hole so you can actually keep your battery in here, put the cord through up top, whip it through here and then you can actually charge your phone in this pocket here. This feature, quite nifty. I love these pockets, the mesh feels super high quality with just a little elasticity to it, the zippers are great it’s awesome. 

Let’s jump into this section though the actual main compartment, so we have four elastic pockets on each side. This is quite cool; this actually comes with the backpack right here in this little elastic mesh pocket. This is a glass holder okay. I love this. This is something that everybody needs, everybody has sunglasses. When you’re done using your sunglasses, you pop it in the linen case, pop it in the hard-shell case, you just go ahead and put it right there and it’s good to go. This is one of those things that only nomatic does and it shows their commitment to actual practicality and functionality. I love that addition. Below it I put my reading glasses, but you can really use this these for anything. 

But these elastic mesh compartment pocket thing image augers are good for bigger items, but the ones on this side are good for smaller items. These are a bit smaller, they don’t really expand quite out as big, but check this out. In this bottom left-hand pocket, you have a little key leash. It’s actually clipped inside there, maybe hard to see but you can go ahead and see that you can take your keys out with this little leash and its badass dude. 

I have a pro and a con with this. The pro is that the key leash is far and away the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in terms of like organization and functionality with your keys think about it, you have your keys in this leash and you want to unlock your door and boom, they just go right back into place, it’s awesome. But on the con, I wonder and debate about if this is the best place to put it. So think about it, you have the backpack on and you want to swing it around in front of you and grab your keys as quickly as possible, you have to actually open this and like get into here to do that. So I wish that there was just some way that nomatic would have figured out a better way to perhaps put the key system in this pocket, which is a little bit more accessible. So you win some you lose some.

After that we have what I refer to as the digital Nomad Mecca. This is where you keep your Bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse. I’m telling you digital nomads, if you are not using an external bluetooth mouse you need to change. It is so important for economics and comfort on a day to day basis, this is a game changer. We’ve got our charger, a little bit tight fit for all these things but they feel secure and at the end of the day in digital Nomad Mecca you just don’t complain. You’ve got a tablet holder which I don’t have any tablets, so I carry things like books, I’ve got notebooks stash and then finally at the top part, we have the actual laptop compartment. 

This whole digital Nomad Mecca area feels a little bit loose and flimsy for my taste. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that, I don’t know, I feel like maybe it could have been tightened up a little bit but aside from that, I really can’t complain because this is one of the coolest features of any backpack I’ve ever seen. 

Like I said if you’re just some average Joe looking for like a day to day gym bag, you don’t need all this, but for a business professional or a digital Nomad this is a godsend man. Like this is your portable office, and think about it if you’re a digital Nomad that’s what you need. Like as a digital Nomad, the world is your office. I’m at a bar to seeing some french fries on my special sauce and all of a sudden, I want to get some work done. Boom!!! Bust on my laptop, bust on my mouse, bust on my keyboard, bust up my mouse pad all that stuff and now my office is here. And the best part is when you need that little extra space, you can see that 24 litres does add a bit. Let’s take a look at the before and the after. This is before man and it definitely tightens up okay, but if you want to let it breathe a little bit you got a little more digital Nomad gear, you open this up, pop it in and boom we have life.

Now the last thing that I want to say about this and this is really speaking to my digital nomads out there, I want to put it out there, you don’t need the digital nomad Mecca. There’s an alternative, you still can organize your gear without having all this stuff, without the nomatic backpack and it’s called using a tech pouch. I use the peak design tech pouch with my other backpacks and all of these slots and containers and everything I can put it all into there, maybe not all but like most of it. So the thing to take into consideration is that if you still want this sort of organization, but you just don’t want to have a walking office with you, you can carry a tech pouch around that’ll have most of your nooks and crannies and your digital nomad gear. But having said that, no tech pouch can hold as much or organize as well as the nomatic backpack can and that’s why I still think it’s probably the overall best option. I think they did an amazing job with this backpack and I’m really blown away or am I? Let’s now end all the happy vibes, let’s take you to the back of the pack where I’m gonna have a few more critical things to say.

 Last section, let’s talk about the back of the nomatic backpack. First up we have something very very interesting and unique and kind of cool but also kind of off, this handle. First of the handle itself is fine but I’ll prefer a little bit more, I don’t know like it gets a little weird with the grab, with the two materials. This bottom material is nice and soft which feels great, but this top material isn’t so much and when you reach around and grab it, these top tarpaulin material is actually kind of hard and doesn’t really work too well but it’s okay. But here’s what’s weird about it is that, normally a top handle is attached to the top part but given this whole setup and like this little diagonal thing, they put the top handle on the straps. Now this occurs in backpacks sometimes but it’s a little bit rare in the world of like more crafts like luxury backpacks and it has more cons than I think that it has pros. I know that they were forced into this decision, but some things really suck about it most of which there’s not like a firmness when you’re holding it. Normally if there’s a top handle here it’s connected to the base of the backpack so like it’s firm and it’s stiff, but here when you’re holding the handle, it’s connected to the straps and it kind of like just lacks that strength. We’ll jump into a little bit more about the actual handle and how it affects like the functionality a little bit later. Let’s move down. 

We’ve got the shoulder straps, super comfortable shoulder straps, more on the firm side. The mesh is really nice actually but like they’re pretty thin but they feel great man, like they just got a really nice feel and they sit on a torso and the upper chest, like really nicely. Now we’ll go down into the sternum strap, the sternum strap is pretty basic. It is removable, you can go ahead and pop it off if you want, it’s not the easiest one to take off. Actually for me this side always seems to come off a little bit easier, but yeah more of a less removable sternum strap with that sternum strap. The buckle is fine, really not a lot to be said, I just wish that there was the nylon dangle holder right there to kind of keep that chest dangle out of the game, but you know dangle lives another day.

Moving down, we have more dangle right here which sucks, it’s like dude “give me the little nylon strap” but what it cost? like half of a penny and I can keep my dangle out of the way. When it comes to the dangle, it’s not so great but when it comes to comfort, these shoulder straps rock. A little side thing here is we have a hit in the back pocket, I’ve never actually used this pocket A) because I forget about it and B) there’s actually like super hidden to me, it’s kind of like it’s obvious there’s a pocket there. I think it’s supposed to be like some safety secret pocket, but it’s visible to me and also which is kind of hard to get to, like if you want to open it, you have to do like this thing. I could have just done without that altogether.

But now let’s jump into some major criticism that I have for the nomatic backpack and it is this back panel, not the comfort. The comfort feels fine, it actually got this nice little foam to it man, I actually find it really comfortable. It’s pretty well ventilated, I think there could be a little bit better ventilation but it works. It gets a little plastered to your back though, I think that’s more because of the material than it is the actual design. It can get a little back sweaty plastery kind of a feel but there’s a decent enough ventilation and the comfort is great. But here’s what I don’t like about it, so nomatic made a system that you can unbuckle right here, hide the strap and then re buckle and then you can transform it from a backpack into like a briefcase, I guess. Here’s the problem though A) it’s a bunch to do and B) it doesn’t look that good. 

Let’s start with Part A, let me show you (and this is gonna be me going as fast as possible) let’s see how long it takes me to actually do. That was without a doubt a world record time. I’ve never done it that fast so I guess it was a bright side. You get better at it the more and more you practice it. But let’s talk about why it’s so difficult, A) you’ve got all this excess dangle so you’re trying to shove that all in there and get in there and wedge it in there and keep it in there and then B) you got this buckle system. Maybe just when it was new it was difficult for me to kind of unbuckle and rebuckle, maybe it’s getting easier with time but man I’ve had some times where I couldn’t buckle this thing for minutes at a time, it was a nightmare. Now it seems like it works a little bit better, but like I said I don’t like this feature for two reasons A) it’s difficult to do but B) I don’t think it looks like that great because like I said I don’t really love the feel of these side handles, so I’m not like super excited to go into briefcase mode and to start carrying it with this handle. Now on top of that, I just don’t really like the way that it looks as a briefcase but I love the way it looks and feels as a backpack, so I’m just going to keep it as a backpack all the time. 

So let’s bring it back to this guy, so when you now are like “oh I’ll just carry it with this,” right? well because it’s connected to the shoulder straps you end up pulling it out. So now you got this weird thing with the shoulder straps you’re like bursting out of the top, okay and the handles there, and you know if you’re trying to have this sexy business backpack, it just looks like “what the hell is growing in that thing” so you’re like “oh I’m done now” and you’re like “well I gotta like push this back in”, it just kind of like, logistically it doesn’t all sync up. So nomatic, I see what you’re trying to do here, y’all are innovators, y’all are a bunch of badass backpack makers. I just don’t think this worked out very well, and I just personally wish you would have been like “hey this is a backpack and we’re going to market it as a backpack and we’re going to remove this whole thing and charge $40 less” and just keep it as the world’s best digital Nomad backpack, because I will never ever forever use it like this.

Alright dudes we are done with our breakdown of the nomatic backpack, now we’re gonna take it back to the co-working space where I’m gonna tell you the overall pros of this bag, the overall cons and I’ll let you know exactly who this pack is perfect for and who it’s not for. I’ll see you there. 

Okay guys, welcome to my co-working space where we’re gonna continue to break the nomatic back pack down for you, so you can know whether or not it’s a great fit for you. Let’s do the overall pros of the nomatic backpack. Pro number one – the aesthetics. I think nomatic really does two things well that’s their functionality and it’s their look, because if you look at this backpack, it is a sexy hunk of meat. It looks great, it can be used in a casual environment, it can be used in a business environment and everything in between, the look is awesome. Pro number 2 is the next level organization. If you are a digital nomad or a business professional or you just carry a laptop around and a bunch of other tech gear on a day to day basis, then the organization of this backpack is literally on another level. Chargers, keyboards, Mouse, batteries, phone chargers, all that stuff. If that sounds like you, you’re carrying it all on a day-to-day basis and you want pocket for all of it, then this nomatic backpack is going to be a game-changer for you. And the third overall Pro of the nomatic backpack is the feel. Whether it’s the really nice exterior tarpaulin or the great interior materials or the YKK zippers or just the way that it feels and the overall comfort when you’re wearing it, this bag feels great, it’s comfortable, it’s just a joy to kind of carry on a day to day basis.

But now let’s look at 3 cons. Overall con number one (I’m sure as you may have guessed) is this disaster of a back panel, transitioning into a duffel type thing. The buttons were so difficult to button and unbutton. When you actually hid the shoulder strap behind the back panel, it was all bloated and just a little too blobby, and finally when you pulled on the actual handle, the shoulder straps were being yanked out of the actual back panel creating just another nightmare on top of a nightmare. Overall, I like the Nomatic idea was, but the implementation and execution really lacks for me and I just wish that this feature was gone altogether. Overall con number two is the features. Now I know what you’re saying, I include the features as the pros, but there’s something if you take into consideration, not everyone needs this much organization and for most people like 80% of people especially if you don’t work with a laptop, all these pockets and nooks and crannies and cubbies and things, it’s gonna be really really overkill for you and what’s the point of paying for all that excess stuff if you don’t need it. And finally con number three is the scratch ability of the exterior materials. Now while I like the smooth tarpaulin, it looks great and it feels great and it’s durable, that durability has like a little asterisk and that’s that. While it’s durable, don’t scratch it because as you can see right here as I showed you earlier we got a little scratch and I’ve used backpacks with this material and if you get one big-ass scratch on there man, you cannot buff that out, that is the bag’s new look. Now for some people you’re not gonna mind because you’re like, a little bit of character, a little bit extra you know scar on the muscari on the backpack is not terrible, but some people want to maintain that sleekness, that new sort of a look and the exterior materials can compromise that. 

so all things considered, all the pros and all the cons, I give the nomatic backpack an overall score of 4.5 out of 5. Really, if it weren’t for the back panels, this would get a perfect 5 out of 5 rating, for me what it is for a digital nomad daily carry backpack. So now let’s conclude the most important part, who I think this backpack is perfect for and who it’s not perfect for. The nomatic backpack is going to be perfect for you if you work on a laptop and are looking for a day pack. Nothing more needs to be said. It’s so good at this that it’s astonishing, like if you are used to carrying your office with you on your bag, your office on a day-to-day basis then this is possibly the best way to carry that office. This backpack is also perfect for you if you’re looking for a pack with a ton of functionality and pockets even if you don’t necessarily work on your laptop, but sometimes you’re traveling with your laptop or maybe your iPad or you got a bunch of tech stuff, maybe you got some photography gear. If you just in general need of a backpack that you know has lots of pockets for lots of different stuff, and the nomatic backpack probably has the most pockets on the market, and you’re not gonna find this type of organization anywhere else, if that sounds like you, the type of person who could use this backpack? then please do yourself a favor and click the links in the description below. If you do end up making a purchase, we get a small little kickback at no extra cost to you and that keeps the channel running and the lights on.

But on the flip side let’s talk about who this backpack is not for. This backpack is not for you if you’re looking for a normal everyday carry. If you’re looking for a day-to-day backpack the good news about this is that the range of 20 to 24 litres is right in the size that you want to be, the bad news is that the $260 dollar US price tag is because of all these pockets and all these tech compartments, and if you’re not working online, if you’re not digital nomads, you’re not gonna need all this stuff, it’s gonna be overkill and you’re paying too much for a bag that does more than you need. 

Number two, this backpack is not going to be the pack for you if you’re looking for a longer-term larger travel pack. Why? because this bad boy is 20 and expands to 24 liters which is just way too small, but if you love the nomatic look and the nomatic style and you want a larger travel pack, then be excited because nomatic has other options. Check the links below and I’ll link you to specifically the nomatic travel pack and the 30 and 40 liter nomatic travel pack. Those are a larger liter age, higher capacity, so they’ll be so much better for long-term travel. 

And finally this backpack is not for you if you are looking for a backpack that can carry photography gear. Now I know I’m kind of contradicting myself, I said if you have some photography gear you can use this and you can. But if you’re a real serious photographer and you’re lugging around off a ton of DSLR equipment then there are amazing photography design backpacks just for you. If that sounds like you and you’re looking for a more professional level photography/DSLR backpack, check the links below for some of my favorite photography backpacks. There’s so many, I got boundary supply, peak design, wandered, check the links below.

If you have stuck around this long then it is because of one reason, you’re in love with me, NO it’s because you like backpack reviews and if that sounds like you then do yourself a favor and hit the subscribe button below. It lets us know we’re doing a great job and also you’ll be notified whenever we do more awesome backpack reviews or travel content or digital Nomad content, all of it. And like I said if you do end up making a purchase please use the links below, we’ll get a small little kickback at no extra cost to you and that’s what keeps the lights on and keeps us making dope-ass backpack review videos. Guys we are finished. Thank you so much for watching this insanely, massively, huge nomatic backpack review. That’s all. We’ll see you next time.

 

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Written by Aaron Radcliffe

City dweller. Dumpling crusher. Aaron is a serial entrepreneur, and the founder of Nomads Nation. Connect with Aaron Radcliffe -