Looking For The Best Minimalist Travel Backpack

I’m travelling at the moment from city to city to find the place I want to live. My constant companion, besides my boyfriend Jack, is my backpack. And it’s finally time… time for a new one! A new backpack that is, not a new boyfriend ;). But I don’t just want any new backpack, I want to find the best eco-friendly minimalist travel backpack out there. Join me on my journey to look for a new backpack and help me decide. I’m planning to buy my new backpack in December this year, so if you’re reading this before then, you can help me decide.

(Unfortunately) I’m not sponsored by any of those backpack companies, they are just the ones I found in my research on the topic. If you know any better companies or backpacks, I’m happy to hear about them. Just write it in a comment or contact me via e-mail.

Goodbye Old Friend 

First, I have to say goodbye to an old friend. To be honest, my current backpack is quite sucky when it comes to functionality, but we went through a lot together. 

I’ve had my old backpack for over 15 years, it started out as my gym bag for school. Then it might have been abandoned in the cellar for a few years. When I started to try to be more minimalist, I got it back out and used it as my travelling bag. It accompanied me on some longer journeys, for example, a month-long trip to Australia’s west coast. But also on smaller journeys like a hike in the alps, near my home town. 

It only has one big compartment and four small pockets on the outside, which simply isn’t enough anymore. 

Requirements For My New Minimalist Travel Backpack 

I’ve come up with a list of things which I want in a new backpack. Some things I was missing in my current backpack and some I liked in my current backpack and also want in a new one. Okay, there are not many things, my backpack has now which I also want in my new one. Anyway, here we go:

• Side pocket for my water bottle. I’m bringing my water bottle on every journey to save waste. It’s quite bulky inside a backpack so I definitely want a place for it on the outside. 
• A separate, padded laptop compartment. Since I want to use the backpack for long trips, I’m gonna bring my laptop with me and I want a secure place for it. 
• I want either an included wardrobe system or a backpack with good measurements for smart packing cubes. Yes, I use packing cubes, they are amazing. For now, I only got one basic one as a loan from my boyfriend, but I would like to upgrade to a compressible one.
• The backpack shouldn’t be too heavy when it’s empty. I’m not really a taxi taking kinda person, so I walk with the backpack to the next public transport stop and I don’t want it to be too heavy. 
• The backpack has to pass as a plane carry-on. Preferably as the small cabin bag, which only allows a measurement of 40-25-20 cm. I know this is gonna be a tough one to check off. 
• Different pockets to be more organised. I’m not exactly sure how the different compartments should look, I just know, I didn’t like the only one big compartment in my current backpack. 
• My ethical requirements for the bag are that it should be produced eco-friendly, for example, made from recycled materials. The workers should be paid fairly for their work on the backpack. And it has to be vegan, of course. This means no leather patches or straps. 

Tropicfeel: Hive

The first backpack brand I looked into was Tropicfeel. It was recommended to me in an Instagram advertisement and I thought Instagram knows me very well, so, let’s check it out. 

The model I’d be interested in is called Hive and comes in three different colour options. It has a special wardrobe system which you can hang up or zip together very small. I quite like that, so you don’t have to live out of your bag if your accommodation doesn’t have a shelf or something. It has many special features like an optional compressible front pocket and a toiletry bag which can be fixed to the front.

The wardrobe system, as well as other special features, need to be bought separately though. Without the special features, the backpack looks kind of lame, to be honest. It only has one big compartment, a laptop compartment in the front with some little pockets and a pocket at the back for the passport and a kangaroo pouch at the bottom for shoes. With all the add ons it looks cool, but it gets quite bulky and really expensive. Just with one accessory (like the wardrobe system) the backpack already costs about €280!

I don’t like that you can’t find the measurements and weight on the webpage directly. On Packhacker I managed to find the weight and measurements, 1.5 kg and 50 x 30.5 x 19.1 cm. In the compressed version, it fits 22 litres, and in the expanded one 40 litres. For carrying comfort it got adjustable sternum straps. I’m also not sure about the location of the laptop compartment, on the inside of the front flap. 

Tropicfeel says that it has a transparent production process and it uses recycled and eco materials. Considering it’s supposed to be a super transparent process, I can’t find much about it on their webpage.

Nordace: Siena

The second backpack I looked into is as well from an Instagram advertisement. 

Nordace doesn’t have a wardrobe system but offers its own packing cubes, which fit perfectly in the backpack and they have a double zipper system to compress the content. The backpack is available in 9 different colours and the packing cubes are available in four different colours.

Weight and measurement wise Nordace’s Siena is the clear winner with 0.88kg and 42 x 29 x 16 cm. That’s actually the main reason I picked the Siena and not the Siena 2, which put on a bit of weight on its predecessor (1.29 kg). The Siena is the smallest backpack on my list with 19 litres. I wish I were, but I’m not sure if I’m that minimalist yet.

The Siena backpack is also cheaper than the Siena 2. It’s the cheapest backpack on my list with about €125 for the backpack and one packing cube.

The Siena backpack has a separate laptop compartment at the back, one main compartment with many organisational pockets and an “anti-theft” pocket at the back. It has a side pocket for a water bottle and a fleece-lined front pocket for sunglasses (don’t know if I would trust that though).

Eco-friendly wise this company seems the least promising. The company only states that they use “eco-friendly Microfiber vegan leather” for their logo patches. 

Solgaard: Endeavor 

Looking into eco-friendly backpacks, you’ll sooner or later find Solgaard. Solgaard uses “ocean-bound plastic” for its products and saves 229 plastic bottles from the ocean for every item sold.

The Solgaard Endeavor backpack seems to have it all. It has a wardrobe system, which looks and functions very similar to the one from Tropicfeel. You can hang it up and sip it together. It has drop-proof laptop storage in a “Workzone” compartment which also has little pockets to organise your cables and stuff like that. There are 4 secret pockets, a sunglass pocket, and sternum straps. You can expand the 27 litres compartment to 35 litres and it even has a wrinkle-free paper storage area. So far it sounds like the perfect minimalist travel backpack right?

It’s available in five boring colours, ah, I meant five different colours.

On the downside, it’s one of the heavier bags with 1.57 kg (including the wardrobe system) and also more on the expensive side at about €245. The measurements of the non-expanded Endeavor are 47 x 30 x 19 cm.

Cotopaxi: Del Dia

Cotopaxi says about itself that it creates sustainable products and it sets itself the goal to end extreme poverty through ethical working conditions and by donating 1% of its profits. The Del Dia collection only uses scraps from other companies. Which results in very colourful backpacks. I’m a very colourful person, so optic-wise, they are my winners. The colour pattern is definitely not for everyone though. 

I’d be most interested in the model Allpa 35L Travel Pack Backpack. The measurements are 51 x 30 x 20 cm, it weighs 1.59 kg and fits 35 litres. It’s the only backpack I’ve ever seen with a suitcase-style, full-wrap zipper opening the main compartment and both compartments have a safety net on them. There is a shortcut zipper to the main compartment and a pocket on the top. It also has a padded laptop sleeve, I can not clearly see where it is located though.

Unfortunately, the Cotopaxi backpack does not have a pocket on the side for a water bottle. But you have a removable waist belt and an included rain cover. The price is €220, it’s in the middle price range of the backpacks on my list.

Tom Bihn: Techonaut

Someone on Reddit recommended Tom Bihn and I’m surprised I didn’t stumble upon that brand in my research. It seems like a well-thought-through backpack from an eco-friendly company. The only downside is the price.

The Techonaut model has a separate laptop compartment and one big compartment, which you can open up almost all the way. There’s one end pocket, which you can use if you want to separate your things, otherwise, you can open it up and make the main compartment bigger. And there are 3 smaller pockets on the outside, one of those is supposed to fit a water bottle.

Very unique to the Techonaut is that you can carry it comfortably in three different ways, as a backpack, as a duffle bag or over one shoulder. The second unique thing is that you can choose between different materials for your backpack. You can decide what’s most important, that it’s super durable for all outdoorsy adventures or that it’s lightweight. 

The Volume of the model I’d be interested in is 30 litres, and it’s 50 x 32 x 20.5 cm. As I said before, you can choose the material, depending on what you choose the weight is between 0.98 and 1.235 kg.

Tom Bihn has the whole production based in Seattle, USA, and on their webpage, they introduce every member of their team.

Now to the downside, the price is about €372; with that, it’s the most expensive backpack on the list. 

Which Minimalist Travel Backpack To Choose?

Like I said at the beginning, I’ve not bought my new minimalist travel backpack yet. This backpack is gonna accompany me for years, so I don’t want to make the wrong choice. Is it just me, who needs weeks of research before making a purchase?

I’ve looked into it for a while and narrowed it down to four options. Which option do you think I should buy? If you know a better brand or backpack altogether let me know in the comments.

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