“What’s up dudes Aaron Radcliffe here with NomadsNation.com where we do the best backpack review on the web. And today’s backpack review will be a nomatic travel pack review.

In this guide, I’m gonna show you everything you need to know about this backpack. We’re gonna take it through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, so you can see exactly the way the bag looks, the way that it feels and most importantly how it functions while you’re traveling in an urban environment. We’re gonna discuss every last thing you need to know, we’re gonna talk about the specs in the bag, the style, the feel, the front, the middle of the back, so then you can know whether or not this is the pack for you. But then at the end of this video we’re gonna take this review off the streets and back into my co-working space. I’ll let you know the overall pros in this bag, the overall cons and who I think it’s perfect for. And one last thing guys Before we jump into it, if you were enjoying what we’re doing, show us some love baby. Hit that likee like button give us a little subscribe. It helps our channel grow, and you’ll know anytime we make a new video 

First up, let’s talk about the specs. Two things; price – $260 US dollars and the size is 20 litres that can expand to 30 litres. Take a look at what I mean with this size. As you can see right here, you’re like “oh my god that’s not 20 litres”, and you’re right. That’s because right now, I currently have it expanded to 30 litres, but if you close this area here, I would have to unpack a bunch of stuff. I’ll show you what that looks like later, but then it shrinks down by 10 litres to the original 20 litre size. So for context 20 litre backpack is gonna be great for an everyday carry bag. Think of it like a day pack, it’s you going from your apartment to your co-working space, dinner with your friends, to kind of carry your day-to-day stuff. 

A 30 litre backpack can still be used as a day-to-day backpack, but it’s also just big enough as to where it can be used for a travel pack for shorter trips. Think like 1 to 2 days if you pack really heavy or like 5 to 7 days if you’re a super minimalist and light. That’s what’s so interesting and sort of appealing about the nomatic travel pack. You get both, if you just want it to be that day pack, you can compress it, take it down to 20 litres and just use it for your day to day carries and it’s pretty small, it works pretty well. But then in the situations where you need it for a three four five six-day trip, you just expand this or add a week’s worth of cloths and bam you got the travel pack. The versatility of this bad boy is one of its bestselling points and while $260 US dollars seems like a bit of a hike it’s pretty worth it considering all that you’re getting.

Let’s talk about the style of the nomatic travel pack. Now all nomatic backpacks are sexy. They’re sexy because they’re designed to be that way. They use this super smooth leathery kind of a feel. We’ll talk about what that material is in the next section and more or less the entire design. It’s kind of like meant to be just kind of smooth you know, it’s got that smooth sexy leathery sort of a business sea look and that’s one of the reasons this is one of the most popular backpacks for business professionals. It’s just got a good mature look to it, but with the nomatic travel pack there’s a few things to take into consideration. 

So first off, when you’re in 20 litre mode and it’s not expanded it’s like this…. the pack looks great, smaller, its compact and overall has a really nice subtle flow to it. But things change a bit when you expand it. So right now we’re in full expansion mode, this gives an extra 10 litres of expansion and while it works from a functionality perspective, from a style perspective you’re definitely losing a few, not a ton, but a few style points. So that’s the whole thing with expanders man, it’s like the way that the game works more or less though, it’s not that big of a deal, because it still looks good and it’s about functionality with this, as opposed to the way that it looks. And then finally, the last thing to know about the style are the color options – nomatic – all their packs only have one color option and it is all black. Their backpacks are styled to be modern business, sleek, sexy. That’s it.

Now let’s chat about the way that the nomatic Travel Pack feels. First off, like how does it feel when you wear it? It’s really important. Like is it good? Does it fit? Does it feel okay? And the answer to all of those questions is Yes. Really, most of the feel of this backpack is awesome. It’s tight, it feels secure, it goes on the body really nicely, like it’s a really comfortable backpack. I will criticize and say the back panel though does get a bit sweaty. Yet again this bag was designed for functionality and style. First, comfort for a little bit less, so while the back panel is comfortable there’s not as much ventilation as I wish that there was especially for a pack this size. Like this is a bigger pack okay. When you’re wearing this, through the streets of Saigon and it’s hot and you’re sweating, the pack gets splashed a little bit, and that’s what’s happening right now. So “A” for comfort, “C “for ventilation 

But when it comes to the feel of a backpack it’s not just like how does it feel when you’re wearing it, it’s also like what do the materials feel like, what are the zippers feel like, you know when you’re interacting with it on a day-to-day basis. So check it out, the exterior materials of the nomatic travel pack are a tarpaulin. That’s what gives it kind of a smooth leathery feel. Pros of tarpaulin – look smooth, look sexy. Cons of tarpaulin – if you scratch this, it’s permanent. On my nomatic travel backpack, I accidentally grazed against the table or something and I got a slash right through there, and you can’t buff that out. You can’t do anything. So this material is durable in some ways but strangely super sensitive in other ways. So it’s something really important to keep in mind. Like you know you want that business look, you want to maintain that business look and keep your nomatic trial pack looking fresh. You gotta take care of it. 

As for the interior materials which I would argue are just as important. Think about it. You’re opening the bag all the time your hands are going in there. Interior materials suck, but good thing is actually all the interior materials on the nomatic travel pack all feel great. We’ll actually go into a bit more detail on them when we open up the pack, but for now just know that they feel like they’re very high quality. 

And finally we got the zips. Nomatic zips are pretty good with one caveat, most of which are great because they’re YKK weather resistant. So do you see this whole lining they have right here, it adds to the sleek leathery look okay but it also means it’s water-resistant ain’t no water gonna get in there and that water-resistant sleek look matches the speak exterior of the tarpaulin. I think it works really well together and YKK zippers always the best in the business. But with every pro comes a con so while the zippers look great they have that sleek sort of a leathery look that matches the tarpaulin and it’s water-resistant, unfortunately these zippers get a little snaggy. This is because of this water-resistant material; it’s pinched so close together. It’s great to make sure water doesn’t get in but it’s not great for a smooth zipping experience all the time. Having said all that though, I want to clarify the zipping experience is smooth like 75% of the time. Like perfectly smooth. It’s a part of the process, it comes with the territory.

The front of the nomatic travel pack and like what’s the front supposed to do? In my opinion the front has a lot to say about the style of the backpack probably the most but from a functional perspective it has to do with quick access. This is where things are that when you need them quickly you can grab them quickly, and the nomatic travel pack executes that perfectly. First up before we get into the pockets we have a little bit of nice branding here from nomatic, it’s not too big not too small. I like it. It’s a big improvement over their previous branding. Two, they used to have these imprints of little triangular mountains plaguing the entire bottom of the backpack and it was a mess man, so nice cleanup job they nomatic. 

On that theme of quick access, we have this pocket right here which I refer to as the quick access pocket. This is a soft line pocket which makes it perfect for things like your cell phone or your shades. In the quick access pocket, we have this little guy right here which is a cord pass-through hole, what this means is that you can keep like a battery in the next section that we’ll discuss, pop the cord through there, slide it through and keep your phone charging, while it’s still in the soft protection of this very very nice material. It’s a great pocket. It’s everything you need a quick access pocket to be, but that sort of quick access pocket is fairly ubiquitous amongst backpacks, but here is a pocket that is nice. This pocket brings out next level organization and check it out. Like I said, nomatic does two things really well that’s functionality and that’s style, and the functionality here shows what they are committed to and that is next level organization and compartmentalization. That means that this front area of this backpack literally has more pockets than some backpacks in their entirety. Here on the top we have two elastic mesh pockets good for things like you know health stuff, like a hand sanitizer, sunscreen. The whole point of this guy’s is things that you need to grab quickly. So you’re walking around you know, your Italian skin is bronzing in the Sun, you’re like “I could use some sunscreen”, you pop the backpack down unzip, squirt some sunscreen out and pop it back in and keep moving on with your day. Same thing with like my headphones, okay two pairs of headphones, I need my Jam’s or maybe a battery in case your phone starts dying on you, your iPod starts dying. 

If you go a little further south, we have a note book pocket right here. I have more notebooks than I do nicknames, and I got a lot of nicknames so this backpack is great because it’s a spot for all of my notebooks. On the flip side we got a couple pen holders here you can never have too many pens in my opinion. A little pocket right here, this is where I like to keep a little extra spare cash. A couple of mesh pockets here, they’re elastic as well and then on the top we have an RFID safe pocket, this means that anything that is scannable like a credit card or a passport or anything with chip technology in it that hackers can scan and hack into, you can keep it safe in here, so it’s great for your passport. I’ve got a key in there, not that it’s scannable, I just put it in there and it’s also a perfect spot for your wallets. All in all, this pocket illustrates why nomatic and the nomatic Travel Pack in particular is so great. The pocket is so cool, it’s so easy to grab them and the whole thing is like I said guys, it’s the point you know. You’re walking along, you got your backpack, you’re moving and you’re like “oh my god I want to kick out some jams.” You go in here you just like grab your headphones done, and you just keep on moving, that’s functionality in a pack. That’s nomatic thinking about how somebody uses their pack and making it it’s easy to access as possible or “oh my god” “the Sun setting, I no longer need my sunglasses”, here, right there…. where it’s easily accessible is my sunglass holder because it’s where the soft little material is. So that’s why nomatic has done such a great job making this backpack functional and just making it have an awesome user experience.

Now let’s chat about the middle of the nomatic travel pack, because in essence it’s the most important part of the backpack. First up, let’s talk about the sides of the backpacks. The sides are the exact same we have handle and interesting water bottle holder. The handle itself is on the average side. It looks great, it sticks with like the sleek sort of a style this backpack has. But on the cons, it’s not that comfortable and it’s not that easy to grab and it just not a great side handle but it does look good. I’ll give him that. Now onto the water bottle holder, this water bottle holder is one of the most controversial in the game so let me show you why. First off like I said, it’s magnetized, so when you are not using it, the stripper magnet right there, they connect keeping it nice and tight. So when you’re not using your water bottle holder, it’s not flapping around all over the place, it stays nice and sleek. So yet again, thrash that, it’s just like the handle, it looks great. But how does it function when you actually place the water bottle in there? And the results are a little bit more mixed, the reason being that if you look at it straight on now, you went from like this really sleek backpack to “oh my god does it have wings?” It looks like a fish tail, doesn’t it? It’s right here and tail is just popping out, that’s why it’s controversial, as some people are like “wait so you put so much effort into making sure it looks good like this, which it does, but then you completely neglected the fact that when it’s like this, it just looks bizarre.” But I will say from a functional perspective, it works really well, the water bottle is nice and snug, you have a little bit of elasticity right here so you can fit a larger bottle. Keep in mind this is a smaller one, this is like a three hundred milliliters, so this one’s a little tight, you ain’t gonna fit more than a 500 in there probably or at least I wouldn’t recommend it.

Now let’s jump to that good stuff. By that good stuff I mean the main compartment. First off, the main compartment has a different sort of a zipping experience and like it zips up and then in the backpack and then back out a little bit to reveal this. Now remember we are currently in 30 litre mode, so you’re seeing the backpack at its utmost capacity. In here I just have some packing cubes, I have a peak design tech pouch, where I keep most of my tech stuff, I’ll put a link to this in the bottom, it’s awesome, laptop stand. Okay now we’re cleared out. Let me run you through the inside. On this panel right here, here’s the pass-through cord that I spoke to you about earlier, so you can keep this with like your charger in there, pop the cord through there so your phone can stay charged in this pocket, pretty nifty. Here we have two mesh pockets, each with really nice zippers, these zippers are great. In here, I have a small little notebook. I wasn’t lying, I’ve got a lot of notebooks guys. I’ve used these pockets for a lot of different things. I like them, they don’t take up a lot of extra space, and like I said those zippers are great super 

onto the actual main compartment right here this is awesome this is a great example of nomatic going the extra mile this is included with the nomatic travel pack it’s a hardshell glasses container in here I’ve got my reading glasses and this little linen pouch comes with it as well so this is nomatic just again going the extra mile. Say hey what’s the hell does everyone carry? Either sunglasses or reading glasses. Here is a container with a pouch it fits perfectly in there. Here’s another one of those elastic pouches as well, where you can put another container or something else. I love these little side pouches. On the other side we have elastic pocket as well, but these are smaller. I like this for like my watch to pop in there, but really these fit a ton of stuff. 

Here’s something else that’s also interesting, on this bottom one, nomatic supplies you with a keyring holder, that comes on a retractable leash. I both love this and I’m also simultaneously confused by this. I love this because the whole point of a keyring is to be functional you know, like you want it to be able to unlock your door and then go back and that’s exactly what a retractable leash allows you to do. Like the speed of lightning, it’s retracted back into your backpack into the safety zone. That’s the good side, the bad side though is, I wonder is this the easiest place? is this a simplest solution for where to put the keyring holder? For instance, I feel like something maybe in this quick access pocket or in this organizational pocket, maybe it would have been a better location for the keyring holder. Just to be clear you can unhook this and put it somewhere else but there’s a little nylon strap set as its hooked into, so nomatic clearly designed it in a way where they think that this is the best location for it. In essence, I love the idea I just don’t know if I like the implementation of this location

Now let’s really get into what this backpack is all about and that’s this whole like expandability, middle section and there’s a lot to talk about. Let’s just talk about this mesh divider first, this thing is phenomenal. It’s a great zipping experience, the mesh is nice, it’s not the softest mesh. I like my mesh like an ever touching mesh and it’s like super firm, it’s like a sheet of metal paint mesh like that. This is a nice mesh, it’s pretty soft, it’s malleable, it’s got a little bit of a stretch to it, good mesh job. So the whole point is that this mesh compartment gives you access to the next part, which we’ll just jump into it. The main compartment number two which opens like a traditional clamshell. Now we’re getting into the expansion system, which is really only 10 litres because remember, this helps expand the backpack from 20 litres to 30 litres. So in here, you have 10 litres of storage, right here you have elastic compartments it (never use). I think I would have been happier without it being there because it would have been less in the way, I just would have eliminated this all together, and on this side you’ve got a little bit more space and because of this mesh compartment they can push in a little bit further. You unhinge this which I’ll show you how to do in one second, and then you create this area. This is a really good area for like packing cubes, like I’m a big packing cube guy recently, so you can pop a couple of things there, close it shut. and then this is like stuff that you need for your three four five six-day trip.

Like I said if you’re a light packer, you can fit a week’s worth of stuff in here no problem and when it comes to like how many days’ worth of stuff you can pack in here, the numbers are always depending on how often you do laundry so keep that in mind. So if you do laundry every two days, you know you can just keep using a week’s worth of clothes over and over and over. But more or less for the average Joe, you’re looking for a three to seven-day trip max. Let me show you how this guy works though, so let’s close the clamshell style opening. And now that that’s closed, you can see right here, this is the actual expansion section, so we’re gonna close that. So we actually got to go around circular the entire backpack, it’s actually not that bad, you can do the whole thing in about 15 seconds and once you go full circle you have now closed the expansion system, and now you’re looking at a twenty litre backpack. This is everything when it comes to the nomatic travel pack, like this feature is so important. This is what takes it from just a day pack into a pack that you can take on a week-long trip somewhere, and the best part is that transitioning from a 20 litre to a 30 litre and back and forth is pretty easy stuff actually.

And now let’s take a look at what the pack looks like with that area closed off. It looks the exact same way, but as opposed to opening this and there being this much space, now if you open it, there’s this much space. So really, when you’re close down to the 20 litre there’s no real reason to use this mesh divider. I mean I guess you could have access to that pocket and that’s pretty cool but more or less, I never use that (this whole compartment) unless I’m expanding it, using the nomatic travel pack for the 30 litre and using it for like a trip variety to pack more clothes and more in general. So that’s all for the middle of the pack.

Last but not the least before we take it back to the co-working space, let’s talk about the back of the nomatic travel pack, some really important gig in here. And also, although I’m a big fan of this backpack, the back of the pack is where I get a little more critical alright. So first things first, let’s talk about this top handle. Top handle is good in terms of like its grabability, you got a decent amount of air room in there, your hand can easily slide in and grab it which is what you need it to do. The whole point of a top handle is quick access dude, you walk around like “oh my god I gotta run,” grab it…… you know and a lot of the handles like this, it’s like “I gotta grab it” … I can’t, I need like a crowbar to pry it up to actually wedge your fingers underneath, not this one. But on the bad side it’s not the most comfortable. On top there’s like a lot of plastic that you can feel and although the bottom is a really nice squishy and comfortable material, like when you’re grabbing it, it just doesn’t work in terms of comfort very very well. It’s not attached to the top of the backpack, it’s actually attached to the shoulder straps, but we’ll get into that in a minute 

Let’s unleash this baby and look at the tech compartments. So right here is a nice zipper experience and you can unhinge the last compartment of the nomatic travel pack. This is a stellar tech compartment for a few reasons. 1. Simplicity; there’s not a lot going on which is nice because you don’t need too many things, you’ve got a pocket right here which I use for my mousepad and for my wrist protector, but you could use this for anything. You can use this for documents, you can use this for maybe a book, a bottle of gin, the choice is yours. 

Up next we actually have the tech area. Now it’s protected by a nice velcro strap which will keep your stuff in place, we have the tablet compartment which I don’t have a tablet so I use it for my Bluetooth keyboard and notebook. And then, we also have the actual laptop compartment, good for up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro. Now here is something that’s really important for a tech compartment that nomatic nails, and that’s like an overall sense of tightness and security. Some tech compartments like, you just feel like the stuffs are flopping around in the back… not the travel pack. Once you secure the velcro strap right here, everything feels nice and secure. This is important because obviously my laptop is worth like $1,500 and I want to keep that super protected and this is a really nice tech compartment where I just feel like nothing bad is gonna happen to my stuff. Overall, a simple and great tech compartment. 

Let’s bring our attention out to these shoulder straps. The shoulder straps are great, there’s a nice comfort to them. This mesh padding right here is super nice, enough breathability and enough comfort to it, I swear there’s no complaints. Down here, we have a sternum strap that connects on both sides obviously. The sternum straps are removable but here’s an important note, I removed the sternum strap on my smaller nomatic backpack, I can’t get it back on. This side, I was able to get it on but this side, I tried for like an hour, trying to do virtually everything. Boras and I tried together and we were unable to actually rehook it. For that reason, I’m leaving this guy on because I’m a big fan of sternum straps especially for a larger travel pack. Super important for taking weight off of your back and redistributing way across your chest. Another negative I have about these straps is, on the sternum strap we’ve got a lot of dangle going on, and on the bottom part we’ve got a lot of dangle going on as well, and when this is all going around flapping in the wind there’s nothing more annoying. And you think with like a sophisticated backpack bake maker like nomatic, they would have implemented a very simple solution where you can add like a little nylon right here, little circular strap, and you just tuck it in, or maybe even some sort of system here as to where these aren’t flapping all over the place. 

Now let’s take a look at the actual back panel or as Boris calls it “the turtle belly”. Two things to know, padding and comfort? Great…. This just got a nice feel to it man, like it’s really really comfortable. When you got a lot of stuff packed in your backpack, it’s really important to have that kind of comfort to take the blow, and like it’s just comfortable. But on the negative side I would say that because of the material they use here, this gets a little sticky when you start sweating, like you really feel this sticking to your back a little bit and there’s a bit of ventilation with this main spine section and these slashes. But it’s not enough. So because of that, if you’re taking this around on a hot-ass sweaty ass Saigon, expect to have a little bit of back sweat going on. It’s gonna be sticking to your back, which is really unfortunate.

And then finally, we have these waist straps below. Now while this backpack is similar to the nomatic backpack, the backpack does not have the waist straps. The waist straps tag on right here with an EZ buckle / unbuckle system, and they’re really nice waist straps for most of it, but I got one thing off about it. On the good side we’ve got these little pockets right here, these are waterproof and that makes it perfect for like a passport so notice right here, I have my second passport. This is great because it’s easy to access, you know you’re at the airport, you’ve got your backpack on, somebody at some random Security check asks you for your passport, you’re just like “this is it right here bro,” that’s nice to have. Also these waist straps are super comfy nice mesh similar to the shoulder straps but actually a lot more padding, and they’re really comfortable. Also a good thing about these waist straps is they’re not too heavy, so they’re not adding too much additional weight to the backpack which is good because I think of like Tortuga, their waist straps are like these Goliath waist straps, and they’re super heavy. Unfortunately, though on the negative side is yet again, we got some dangle going on man. Nomatic this is a super easy thing. This is like backpack 101. Create some sort of pockets, I’m sort of like little rivet right there that I can just slide that in because otherwise, I got this dangle going on plus I got the shoulder strap dangle going on plus, I got the sternum strap dangling going on. It’s just like this is a lieutenant dangle it’s annoying, and I just wish that they would have created a solution for all this excess dangle.

Let’s show you the last part of this bag and how it transforms from a backpack to a duffel sort of briefcase thing. First of all, you gotta take these guys off, so you see a little turtle belly up here, we have buttons. If you unbutton these buttons, you can put these straps behind the back panel and re button it. One thing I want to note is yesterday we were doing the nomatic backpack review with the same feature and “oh my god” it’s a nightmare to do the duffel system thing. This buckle system on the nomatic backpack, or at least my particular one is a nightmare. But I want to say right now, my experience with the travel pack has been completely different so either; A. my nomatic backpack was just screwed up or B. (which is what I suspect, because the nomatic travel pack is a little bit bigger) it gives it more ability to breathe and it’s less tight so therefore buckling and unbuckling certain areas it’s just a little bit more seamless and there’s less sort of friction when you’re trying to do that. So here we go, as you can see this is actually done pretty easily. What took me like I don’t know up to a minute on the nomatic backpack, takes me like 15 to 20 seconds on the nomatic travel pack. But while it’s easier on this one, I share the same opinion that it looks like horse speeds. You see this thing? it looks like a fat guy. It’s like who’s got the bigger belly near this guy and like that’s what this thing does and if the nomatic pack is going for this super sleek and sexy thing, unfortunately this duffle really doesn’t do it for me and to make matters worse remember when I was talking about this top handle and how it’s connected to the shoulder straps, you’re like “oh I’ve got important business meeting to go to” … time to do it, and you grab it and then all of a sudden the top handle is pulling the straps out of the underneath of the back panel. Let’s bring it back, so now you’re in a situation where yet again you’ve got this like dangle sticking out of the sides, you’ve got this little belly thing right here and then you’ve got the top handle …. it’s a mess. 

So the bright side is, you don’t have to worry about it because you just don’t have to really utilize this function if you don’t want to, which I do not recommend utilizing. But on the negative side, it’s like this is obviously more parts and more innovation, and more parts of more innovation equals a higher cost. So maybe this backpack instead of being 260 with this whole system was 230 without it. I’d be a much happier camper because I am never ever ever going to use this.

Then last but not least we have this little secretish pocket right here. I hate this pocket. I hate it for a few reasons; 1 – it’s not secretish, 2 – I just flat-out forget about it, and 3 – it’s really annoying to have to access. I’m sure if you want to like unbuckle this thing and like get in that way, but more or less I try to forget that this buckle system even exists and therefore access in this pocket. I have to just do this little like finger dance, “come on zip pockets open” and it’s ridiculous. But having said that I guess secret pockets can be a little cool like if you want to pop a little extra cash in there. Also keep in mind, it’s not a secret pocket, you can totally see it. Overall I never use that pocket and I wish that it never existed. Alright guys we are done with tearing the bag apart now let’s take it back to my co-working space.

Now let’s finish this review by talking about the overall prose and the overall cons of a nomatic travel pack. overall Pro number one is the look, I personally think that nomatic has, in a masterful job, at creating backpacks that looks sexy as it looks great. It’s sleek, it’s great for somebody who wants a backpack that is more casual, but it’s definitely meant for somebody who is looking for a business backpack. The next overall Pro of the nomatic Travel Pack is the versatility of capacity. Check it out! You see this expander right here; this helps you go from 20 litres to 30 litres. This is fantastic because as opposed to the nomatic backpack which just goes from 20 to 24 litres, which isn’t that big of a jump, the ability to expand from 20 litres to 30 litres means that you have a 20-meter day pack and a 30-meter travel pack. You have the best of both worlds and that’s why this thing is so freakin cool man because you get both. I think that the nomatic Travel Pack is one of the few backpacks that really pulled it off. 

And overall pro number three is going to be the features. If you like organization, if you like pockets, then you’re gonna love the nomatic travel pack like all these pockets in this organization. You got zippers here and you know hidden compartments over here, this is just so much stuff and if you value that kind of stuff especially if you have a lot of tech equipment then you’re gonna love the nomatic travel pack. It’s what they do best, they advertise themselves as creating the world’s most functional backpack and while that is a semi bold statement, I like their audacity and I think they’re probably not far from the mark. In terms of functionality, this thing rocks. 

But while I’m definitely a fan of the nomatic travel pack and automatic products I still have some cons that I want to highlight about the nomatic travel pack. Con number one – is going to be this exterior tarpaulin material. Now this might be confusing because I came across as someone who really likes it and I still do, but it’s a double-edged sword and you have to realize that while you’re getting this sort of sneak leathery sexy look, it’s fragile man. If you rub this against the wrong corner or against like, with the wrong sharp object, it’s going to scratch it and that scratch is going to be permanent. I have less of a problem with it on a smaller nomatic backpack, it’s kind of on a day to day pack, you know you’re not gonna be in those kind of situations as much, but I think on a larger travel pack when you’re taking it in and out of planes and trains and you know around the world, then you’re opening it up and it’s much more likely for it to get scratched. So that con is something to keep in mind. 

Con number two – is going to be the back padding section. Now while I said that it’s comfortable, it definitely gets a little sweaty. I think this is because of these materials, whatever material this is, it’s great for comfort but it’s bad for ventilation. This was like pasted to my back at one point today, more so than I feel like other larger travel packs usually do.

And then finally my last con is this back panel system turning into a duffel. Now to be clear, compared to the nomatic backpack which is smaller, we had an easier time transforming this from a backpack into a duffel. The buttons worked better, but while it was still easier, it didn’t look any better. It still looked like a turd, it was still bloated out at the ends right here, there was still a bunch of dangle hanging out besides. Like the transformation from backpack to duffel is advertised as an awesome thing but the implementation just kind of sucked and I will without a doubt never use it again. If you check out my Osprey Farpoint 40 review or the manam carry-on 2.0 review, both of which allow you to stow away the straps and use it as a duffel, but they utilize a completely different system and one that I think is superior in every way shape and form. So taking all the pros and all of the cons into consideration we at nomads nation give the nomatic Travel Pack an overall score of 4.3 out of 5. 

Finally let’s wrap this thing up with my opinion of who this backpack is perfect for and who it’s not. The nomatic travel pack is perfect for anybody who’s looking for a day pack that can also double as a smaller travel pack. Because this guy is 20 litres when not expanded, it’s great as a day pack and there’s a lot of functionality organization and you might even forget that it expands to a 30 litre. I literally did, I was just like this is just a cool last day pack man, but then you booked a weekend trip to Miami and you’re like what bag am I gonna use, like “oh my god” …. that’s right! You can use the nomatic travel pack. You just unzip the expanders and now you have a travel pack that’s good for three, five, seven days. If you’re looking for something that can really kill two birds with one stone, if you’re looking for a type of pack that can do that, then this is my favorite option on the market. That’s a bold statement, but I can’t think of any other that I do like, that doubles as a smaller 20 litreish pack and then expands to a larger 30 ish litre pack. You did a great job with this! 

This backpack is also perfect for you if you’re a digital nomad or business professional who travels with a laptop. Nomatic has a relentless commitment to functionality and their features are really a reflection of that, and they’re really for people who travel with a ton of laptop and tech equipment. So if you are a business professional looking for a backpack or if you’re one of my peeps, if you’re a digital nomad and you’re looking for a backpack, something that can comfortably carry your laptop. If you’re looking for a backpack and you are a digital Nomad or a business professional, this is going to be one of the best ones on the market, it’s because it has a professional look to it and it has the features to you know get you going on a day to day basis. Then also if you want to take that sick-ass five, six, seven-day trip, it can also fit your stuff for that as well. If any of those sound like you and this is the type of person this backpack is for, please use the links in the description below. Ultimately, use of those links is what funds our channel and no extra cost to you which is a win-win.

But while I’m definitely the fan of the nomatic travel pack let’s talk about a few people this backpack is absolutely not for. So this backpack is not for you if you’re looking for a larger travel back. While this 20 litre can expand to 30 litres, 30 litres is good for that five, six, seven-day trip to Miami or wherever you’re going, but it’s not good for long-term travel. It’s just gonna be too small. Is it good for long-term travel? Personally I think 40 to 45 litres is that perfect little sweet spot. If that sounds like you, check the links below. I’ve got some awesome recommendations for backpacks that are a little bit bigger and don’t worry if you’re digging nomatic some of my recommendations are the larger nomatic travel bags. 

The second type of person this backpack is absolutely not for is if you’re looking for a simple everyday carry day pack. While this bad boy can compress, I wouldn’t say compress, it exists as a 20 litre. That’s like its primary form, its primary function. It probably has way too many features, way too many pockets, way too many functions for the average Joe. Is it great for digital nomads who have a ton of laptop gear? YES. Is it as great for just someone who’s looking for a backpack to get them from A to B on a day to day basis? Hell no man…. it’s too much, gonna be overkill. If you’re looking for just like a cool basic minimalist sort of simple day to day day pack, check the links below. I’ve got some awesome ones down there. 

And the third person this backpack is definitely, absolutely without a shriveled of a doubt not for, is photographers. Now listen, photographers can definitely use this backpack, photographers can use any backpack, but if you’re a professional photographer and you carry DSLR equipment you know lenses and batteries and the camera body and all stuff, there are backpacks that are specifically designed for your awesome photography lifestyle dude. If you’re looking for a backpack that could handle your photography gear, check the links below. There, I got three brands in particular that I love, just check the links below, I’m constantly updating it so whatever the best thing that I find there are there right now.

Thanks so much for sticking around if you have stuck around this long. Thanks a ton for sticking around, but I’m telling you if you stuck around this long then do yourself a favor, find the subscribe button, I’m not sure which side it’s on and then click it and then you’re done and that means you’ll get notified any time we make a backpack review video because if you have stuck through this entire review it means you love backpacks and we’re just gonna keep giving you badass awesome content. Please as I said before, if you do make any purchases, use the links below and make sure you get the best price and to make sure that we get a little bit of a kick back and that kick back is what keeps this channel running, like the circle of life. Travel on nomads.”