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My Ultimate Travelpack

Page 1: Travelpack Basics
Page 2: General Prices of Travelpacks
Page 3: My Ultimate Travelpack (this page)
Page 4: My Opinion on the Travelpack Market

The ultimate travelpack for me is one that is not available on the market as far as I am aware of. While I am pretty happy with many of them, but I have not yet seen any on the market that clinches it for me. Features I'd like to see on my fantasy travelpack:

High-density Cordura nylon, of course
ONE short leather-covered handle, extra-reinforced stitching onto to the side of the bag, with a "no-sag bar" to keep the bag from sagging when I carry the pack with one hand.
Detachable shoulder straps, where the covered pad is both adjustable AND removable. Pad should easily move past the adjustment bracket in case I want to wear the strap short (most don't do this).
Shoulder straps should hook onto the bag on D-rings at each end of the no-sag bar. This provides balanced lift on the pack. Most don't do this.
The shoulder strap buckles and D-ring sewn into the pack should be of metal and not plastic. Plastic causes funny squeaks on a full pack and annoy the beegees out of me.
The D-ring that the shoulder straps clip to, should have its own hideaway zippered pocket to prevent snagging. If not, they should be very streamlined.
The front pocket should detach into its own zip-off day pack. Better yet, it itself should look rectangular with a hidden handle so it can be used as a small, soft-sided briefcase, day pack and shoulder bag.
However, the total size should be no larger than a maxibag, including the zip-off day pack. There are many travelpacks with zip-off day packs on the market, but many require you to take off the day pack for the main pack to qualify as a maxibag. [When I pointed this out to a manufacturer, their response was, "Why don't you just pack the daypack in your travelpack?" My gut reaction was, That's Not The Point! The point is to make maximum use out of your travelpack.]

By the way, you can cinch up the shoulder strap on your travelpack and clip each end of the strap to the D-rings where your backpack straps go. It will not provide you the support you'd get from a real back pack waist belt, but it will provide you with some stability.

Next: My Opinion on the Travelpack Market.

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