Matador GlobeRider 35 Backpack Review
Our review of the more airline-friendly version of the GlobeRider series.
Matador GlobeRider 35 Backpack Review Introduction
Matador came out of the gates hot a couple of years ago and put all the makers of 45L travel bags on notice with their Globerider 45. A pack that really brought a ton of things to enjoy like build, versatility, and organization. That said, it also brought weight and a bit more literage than a lot of people needed outside casual packers or gear haulers.
Enter the Globerider 35 - released earlier this year in 2025.
The bag promises to be a slightly paired down version of the 45, but not paired down too much. They want to use the same formula that allowed the 45 to get such great reviews overall but make it a bit more manageable from a size perspective for either those with smaller frames or those that are simply a bit more experienced in their onebagging and don’t need 45L for an extended trip. Count me in both of those groups. You can consider this an attempt to create a nice entry into the “standard” onebag travel category with the likes of MLCs from Patagonia, Tortuga, etc. That said, a standard entry with a lot of rugged features and typical Matador materials. How’d they do? Let’s find out.
This is my review of the Matador GlobeRider 35 backpack. I took this on a fantastic jaunt to France where I had 3 different flight legs, car rides, and even a long distance train ride. That includes 5 transfers between hotels, so I was getting good practice with this bag.
As always for full transparency, I did ask Matador if they could send me a review unit and they were kind enough to do so. That said, this is not a sponsored article and I received no money to write it. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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GlobeRider 35 Backpack Overview
Rearview.
Matador already had the wildly successful and well reviewed GlobeRider 45 - so it should be no surprise what this bag set out to do. I mean, it’s right in the name. They wanted to release another kick-ass travel bag, in the more traditional travel bag style (compared to say, their Seg series), but in a more manageable volume at 35L. The 45L is great for when you have gear - like boots and such - but the average person shouldn’t be packing that much. Hence, the 35L version.
It’s really meant to be the more practical of the two for more everyday travelers. But, it’s something that can stand up to taking a beating on the trail/outdoors, cars, trunks, truck beds, trains, plains, and boats. That’s the idea anyway and something Matador is known for.
Stats from the site:
Volume: 35 liters
Weight: 3lb 7oz (1560g) with hip belt, 3lb 1oz (1390g) without hip belt
Dimensions: 20.2 H x 12.5 W x 9 D in (51 H x 31 W x 22 D cm)
Soft-sided design conforms to carry-on requirements (most airlines)
Materials:
- 420D Bluesign®️ recycled nylon, PU waterproofing
Hardware:
- PU coated sealing zippers
- EVA foam padded back panel, shoulder straps, and hip belt
- HDPE framesheet with aluminum framestay
- 210D nylon bonded thread with bartack reinforced construction
It retails for $290 USD as of Sep 2025. We’ve got three colors - black, garnet (our version), and arctic white.
GlobeRider 35 Features
The AW fabric macro.
This bag is pretty feature packed - some expected and some special touches. So a quick recap here.
In terms of the “table stakes” features - you’ve got front admin panel, laptop sleeve, water bottle sleeve, compression straps, stowable straps and removable hip strap. Sternum strap, aquaguard zippers, clamshell opening, front stretch pocket, top felt-lined quick grab pocket, plenty of nice handles.
There are also some nice additional features here. The almost-cubes on the inside of the left flap offers nice flexibility in your packing methods. We’ve also got an option to top-open the bag if you want access to what you’ve packed on the top of the bag - think, to grab your toiletries or some such like that.
There are also touches like loops for the zippers to add some security, a couple lash points on the bag, etc. They’ve also put load lifters on the bag.
This is not a bag for minimalism - you won’t be missing features on this one.
The Wandering Loadout
I also wanted to give you a bit of an idea of how I packed it. I used a combination of packing cubes, the inside flap, and just a shoebag. I’m 5’6” for reference. One shot is before the trip, one shot is at the end before returning home.
Main Section:
Western Rise Compression Cube: 3 button up shirts
Heimplanet Medium Cube: 4 T-shirts
Flap Pocket 1: Undershirts
Flap Pocket 2: Underwear and 2 Darn Tough Socks
Matador Camera Base Layer with fixed lens camera inside
Pair of Oxford shoes
Single Pair of Pants I laid on top of all this, folder flat.
Western Rise StrongCore Merino shirt, folded flat
Front Pouch:
Pioneer Carry Global Tech Pouch
Bits and bobs in the zippered slots
Top Felted Slash Pocket: Passport in Pioneer Carry holder.
Front Mesh Pocket: Matador Refraction backpack, Montbell Ultralight Rain Shell (in its pouch)
The Good
Matador kind of lives and dies by its design and organization options, but also their quality. I have never had a product of theirs in my hand that was NOT top notch from a quality perspective. The larger version was, and this is no exception. Amazing materials throughout, the zippers, pulls, internal materials, etc. Home run.
New color! The Garnet that we have was an awesome addition, and I gotta be honest I still love the Panda/Stormtrooper color. But, like always with Matador, black is an option.
The organization on the bag is outstanding. While yes, it’s a standard clam shell design with a large opening for easy packing and a light interior, the outside pocket is great for org and big enough for a tech case and other stuff (like the Matador international adapter). On the inside, I loved the pockets in the flap and used them as packing cubes for t-shirts and my socks/underwear. That cut down on the extra things to bring. As I wore things, I ended up using one for what was still clean, and using the top one for the dirty items within that group.Worked great.
This bag is not light, and when you have Oxfords (shoes) and a weighty camera in it, plus a 13in iPad, it’s not going to get any lighter. So I was QUITE happy with how comfortable it was to carry. Hip belt and straps can be stowed away if needed, but I never did. I also never used the hip straps (old lazy habit) but still found the carry to be really comfy on the bag. I wasn’t exactly ultralight. Good stuff here.
The top entry zipper is a very clever idea. This is one of those things where I didn’t need to use it - but say if I was at security and got called out and needed to take my toiletries out, I had them stored right there and could have done so with ease. It’s like a good NFL offensive linemen. You hope to never need to hear about it, but you’re glad it’s there. Really clever design addition to the bag, and adds no weight or anything of course so it’s not frivolous.
Load lifters! At 35L and up, I think these are important.
The front pouch was also great. I had my Refraction in there, and also a rolled up/pouch stowed rain shell and never noticed them once. I don’t always bring that last one, but I definitely needed it on this trip and it was nice to have it not take up volume inside the bag.
Having four-sided, well built handles on this bag is glorious. I’m not sure if it’s a weight saving measure on most bags, or a cost saving measure. But Matador tends to do this really well and I love having them on all four sides. Who knows which end will be facing you from a plane bin or train luggage rack? I sure don’t. The GlobeRider 35 doesn’t care which side it is, you’re safe no matter which chocolate you get in the box. I hear that’s life, right? Yup, I just made that reference. Read my Black Ember review, I actually reference the Golden Girls. I’m not above it.
If the style works for you, Matador’s packing cubes fit right in this bag, especially the gear cubes. I don’t have them on hand, but you can see from the website pics. If you want your cubes to fit like a glove, they’ve got that option for you. Obviously you can use whatever cubes you want, like I did.
Great laptop slot, I like seeing a luggage pass through, water bottle holder if you need (I ended up putting my belt in here, which is ridiculous and I’m not sure why I did that, haha).
This bag also has a LOT of zippers - so I really like that they made the main compartment zips in all-white. This made it WAY easier to find them and I think it’s a nicely thought out detail. More brands should do this.
Oh and I do want to mention the compression straps they implemented - the lower ones. It’s kind of this V or triangle pattern and I think it’s a really clever design. I noticed this on some of their other bags too and I think they are really easy to pull and tighten when you need to. Great work there.
The Bad
OK well similar to the 45L, the bag is on the heavy end. That comfortable harness, the materials, zippers, straps, all that stuff adds eight. Now, I wasn’t using this for trekking and I’m not walking 1-2 miles to my hotel at my destination, so I don’t think most people are going to have huge issues with that. If that describes you - then I think you’ll want to consider this point. There are lighter bags that will make that a better fit for you. But at the same time, I was carrying it around some big airports (JFK, Schipol, and CDG) and never got tired with the bag on my back - even when I was pushing my wife’s roller occasionally.
The bag is a bit - jangly. I don’t mean that in a noisy way. But there are a LOT of straps and a lot of zippers here. Now I like the quality of them all, but for folks that like that to be really minimal, it might be annoying for you. I like that they color coded the main zippers for sure - but that said there are a lot to keep track of. For long term use I’d probably get rid of the chest strap.
Removable hip belt - if you’ve seen the reviews on YouTube, you know this. That thing, while I think well meaning, has some overly engineered hook and loop stickiness. The belt has it on both sides that goe inside the slot, which means it’s crazy hard to get it out. You separate one side, but by nature of pulling that away, you’re pressing the other side into the fastener. It’s like an old finger trap - you’re damned if you do no matter which side you pull off. That said this is an EASY fix - just make a change so that only one side has the hook and loop on it. I don’t think this is the end of the world, I just never removed it because I knew this going in.
This is super nit-picky - but one thing I noticed in use is that when you had the front top pocket packed out with some weight (like my tech kit) and wanted to open and close the bag to work with it, it got super floppy. And if that was unzipped, all that stuff flew out. This is partly my fault for being lazy - but I’m noting it because I don’t think anyone is really that perfectly regimented that they use a checklist when operating their bags. Something I noted, but it’s more so you’re aware while using. If this is something you rule out a bag for, you need to get that checked out, friend.
Final Thoughts On My Matador GlobeRider 35 Backpack Review
In our room in Brittany.
Honestly, I think the GlobeRider 35 is one of my contenders for “bag of the year”. I really really liked the 45L - but one of my biggest complaints was that I felt it was just too much bag for most people (certainly me, since I can pack pretty light compared to the average cat). My biggest request was frankly that they come out with a 35L. And here we are today.
It’s got the classic shape that makes it really easy to pack, has all sorts of Matador’s usual quality and well thought out features around usability and organization, and comes with a really comfortable harness system (to me at least, this is always personal). Did I mention it’s got their water resistant coating? It does.
I also REALLY like the color choices, and how their cubes integrate with it (also in great colors).
It’s definitely heavier than some bags, and has a lot going on with zippers and straps. I do also think they need to make some design adjustments on that hip belt. But none of this is a deal breaker for me personally. You need to decide that on your own.
Matador managed to take an already well regarded bag, that might be TOO much bag for many, and pack that into a smaller version that you can still use for indefinite travel. With packing cubes, if you can’t pack all you need into this bag - I don’t think it’s the bag’s problem. Haha. You can work on that though. If I didn’t pack shoes and a camera, I’d have had even more space to play with.
The Matador GlobeRider 35 should definitely be on your list to consider. It’s a good one.
As always with the indie brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service.
And remember - wander more, and wander smarter.
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Head on over to our Travel Bag reviews page for more like this as well as the Black Ember Forge 30 review or the recent Level8 Gibraltar Carry On review.
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