Have We Found The Perfect Carry On Backpack?
Have We Found The Perfect Carry On Backpack?
Heard of the Slicks range of backpacks?
Well, we have, and we were super excited to receive this pack from the Swedish company! The backpack was recently funded on Kickstarter and is now available for pre-order here!
We were kindly sent one to use and review, so we took it out for a few test runs, paraded it around Brisbane and Noosa, and also used it on the flight back from the UK.
So, this is the 'Slicks Trip', a multi-functional and dynamic day-pack hybrid, which comes with a multi-section packing cube, plus a toiletry bag, and something less common in day-packs, a shirt protector. It also has a waterproof cover hidden in the side perfect for a sudden change in weather.
This pack is targeted at active professionals who might want to combine a briefcase, with a travel bag and gym kit. It also has a secure place for your laptop or devices, which helps us as digital nomads; we don't carry much but we do have tech!
It is designed as a multi-purpose pack suited to all these needs, but is also suited as over-night luggage, with its handy packing cube, multiple compartments and front zipped section ideal for shoes or a camera.
We found it was a treasure trove of hidden pockets and places, great for if you have a lot of different stuff to carry and you want to separate it, but it might be an under-utilized feature for the average day-to-day user looking for quick access to their things.
So what did we like about the Slicks Trip? Here are our Pro's & Con's:
Pros:
So its very apparent that the materials used in making this bag are of the highest quality. The bag itself feels like it could easily withstand some heavy usage and the zips are very chunky. The material near the zip's is rounded under itself to stop it sticking. These kind of small but thoughtful features are all over the bag and show how much care and thought has been put into developing this.
The amount of compartments this bag has amazes us. There are 8 on the main bag itself and that number increases to 16 when you are using the packing cube and wash bag included! If you are a fanatic about everything having its place then you will love this bag. We even found a tiny zipped pocket on the hanging wash bag, only big enough to fit a few small pieces of jewellery, but still, a neat little compartment to have.
The straps on the Slicks bag have an amazing design that allows you to take them apart and turn them into one across the body strap. You can even fold them away entirely and use the side handle to turn the bag into a briefcase!
At the back of the bag sits the laptop compartment which includes yet another small but thoughtful design element; the lining hangs a few inches above the bottom of the bag meaning that if you plonk the bag down on a hard surface, the laptop will be suspended inside the bag and thus safe from the impact!
Cons:
As previously noted, the bag has a tremendous amount of compartments, but this can also be a negative. When packing the bag for our flight back to Australia from the UK, we struggled to fit in the same amount that we previously fit into our smaller 1 compartment bag. This is because the two main compartments (the front zipped part and the main clam shell opening part) fight for space, and so you might end up putting everything in these two big places and ignoring the others as the space will have been maxed out. We feel like the large pocket accessible from the side (which we've seen displayed as a good place to put shoes) could easily be removed, along with the small zipped pocket above it, as they wont allow you to store anything when using the other compartments.
The bag itself is quite heavy. This is due to the high quality materials used, the extra padding and the double lining from all the pockets. This makes the bag feel overly heavier than it should when only carrying a few items. This only really matters when using it long term like we do, walking for hours on end, or carrying it on your front with a bigger pack on your back..
To sum up...
From our experience, the Slicks Trip would be ideally suited to someone needing a long-term quality option to use on overnight business trips. It could easily pass as a professional looking briefcase with its sleek and muted design, but it combines this with a widely creative use of compartments for lots of storage.
There is another version of the Slicks pack available, called the Biz, which includes a suit-bag.
This multi-functional pack delivers on many points, with only a few con's to speak of. So its possible this could be the perfect carry on backpack for the dynamic traveller going on short trips, combining business and pleasure.
Grab yours here!
Thanks for reading!
Hannah and Taran here. We hail from Southern England, where we met online and are now realizing our mutual passion for travel here at Nomad'erHowFar. We discuss Nomadic Living, Simplifying your Life and Long-term Travel, to empower, motivate and inspire our readers. Get to know us here!
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