Pakt One Backpack Review
The flagship backpack from Pakt takes flight. How does it hold up when packing and unpacking for onebag travel?
Pakt One Review Introduction
PAKT - we’re finally reviewing their flagship. Considering they are now on Version 3, it’s been quite a long time coming. But hey, one-man shows can’t review everything under the sun while still working a day job now, can they? I got there eventually. I recently reviewed their lightweight materials pack and loved it, so check out my Pakt Cero Backpack review if that sounds like it’s up your alley.
So what about the flagship? The One is their big focus, has a little bit more to offer and certainly more coverage. But do the additional features (and of course, additional weight) hold up when it comes to an evaluation and real life testing? Let’s find out.
This is my review of the Pakt One travel backpack in 35L. I test on real trips, and I just took this on a trip to Peru that involved 5 flight legs touching 4 airports, 3 cities on the ground, as well as a number of transfers inter-country. So, that means plenty of carrying, moving, and packing the bag as I went.
For full transparency, I really wanted to review this bag and I did reach out to Pakt to see if they’d provide me a review unit. They were nice enough to send one to me, but this is not a paid review and I received no money to write it. They do not see the review before it’s live. Most importantly - this review is 100% human written as are all of my reviews. I do use affiliate links if you’d like to help the site by using that link, but there is no obligation to do so. Thanks for stopping by!
-Looking for smaller travel essentials? Check out my new Amazon Storefront for a curated list of items that can help you wander more, and wander smarter. Many of which I own and use on every trip. We’re talking charging cables, chargers, toiletries, and some EDC stuff thrown in, too. Check it out!-
Pakt One Overview
Rearview.
The Pakt One backpack is their flagship and with that, their most feature packed. It comes in two different sizes as well, a 35L and a 45L.
This bag is really designed to be your go to for travel, for most people, and for most use cases. Rugged enough to hold up to some abuse, but streamlined and minimal to make sure you aren’t mistaken for someone going off to active duty or the top of the mountain (No shade at either, but that’s not the style for all). This is a bag for camping trips, city trips, and probably a lot in between. It’s carry-on compliant for most major airlines, but if you’re dabbling in smaller planes or discount carriers - always-always go by the limits listed on their website. That’s on us to check. The 35L will definitely fit the majority of the bigger airlines while the 45L should too, especially US airlines.
From the site:
Measurements & dimensions
Size:
35L+ (35L, expands to 40L): 19.5" x 12.5" x 9" (50cm x 32cm x 23cm)
45L+ (45L, expands to 50L): 20.5" x 13.5" x 9" (52cm x 34cm x 23cm)
Weight:
35L+: 3.6lbs (3.9lbs with hipbelt & sternum strap)
45L+: 3.7lbs (4lbs with hipbelt & sternum strap)
Materials
420D Recycled Wave exterior, 210D Recycled Nylon interior
Worth noting as well that the material itself on the outside of this bag is a recycled version of ballistic nylon. Super durable, super well loved in the bag space. One interesting note is that this material can be recycled MULTIPLE times. People can argue about greenwashing in marketing all they want, but you need brands to start doing things like this in order for it to become normal. And as long as they walk the walk, then how is that bad thing? Marketing be damned.
It’s designed with a real focus on access no matter what compartment, and uses an industry-unique middle-sleeve for laptops that doubles as the closure for the compartment. Choosing to use premium materials, with ideally premium carry feel and features, this is the bag that launched them into the premium travel pack space.
It retails for $349 USD and comes in three color choices: black, cypress (our version), and coyote.
Pakt One Backpack Features
Proof I went!
Tons of features here! So we’ll cover off on each. The first thing to discuss is the opening style and the access that comes with it. The bag opens suitcase style, my preferred style of opening. With that, due to the dividers, it’s got independent access to all four compartments (Left inside, right inside, and front admins). By that I mean there is a zipper that allows you to get into each internal section without having to open the entire bag. This means you can put things you might need on top, and easily access them. Same with the laptop sleeve, that’s how access is designed for that.
Let’s chat about those pockets though. The front has two large pockets, each with their own volume. Good for organizing small things and also things like a tech pouch (I’m a pouch guy), or over ear headphones in the lower compartment. These won’t eat into the volume of the internal bag itself, allegedly.
The harness system is worth discussing here. The straps are a bit thicker than on the Cero, but just a bit. Still, that adds to the perceived comfort. There’s sufficient padding on the back panel, and the harnesses are actually adjustable, something you’re seeing less and less in this space. So, if your torso might be a diff size than many, you can adjust up or down.
There are plenty of grab handles on board, in all the places I would expect them. These also get a bit of a comfort upgrade vs. the lighter sibling. The material is very comfortable in the hand.
The laptop sleeve is designed to be in the MIDDLE of the internal bag, something unique to Pakt. This gets a lot of debate in the space, but it’s what they’ve chosen. There is a nice power-mesh flap that is easy to move out of the way but also prevents the laptop from slipping out when the bag is tipped or open. It’s clever.
Another really big feature to note is that both of these bags have an expansion zipper. In fact the 35L expands all the way to 40L if you unzip this. Designed for those collectors that can’t go on a trip without coming back with something!
One of the most clever things Pakt does on their bags is that they have some compression bungees, but when not in use they tuck inside their own little caves - out of sight out of mind. We’ll see how I liked those a bit later, but it’s one of the only implementations of this in the space.
Lastly worth mentioning is that the bag has a PFAS free DWR coating to help with water resistance on the external material.
The Wandering Loadout
I packed this out for a full-on trip to Peru, so it had a good amount of stuff in it. I also had the added challenge of wanting a second pair of shoes, as well as packing a full frame camera. I used a combination of pouches and brands for the cubes. Here’s what I packed:
Evergoods Civic Access Pouch .5 - Tech kit
Matador New Medium Cube - Woolx Long Sleeve Merino, Tshirts, undershirts, gym shorts, gym tee
Matador New Small Cube - Underwear and socks
Matador Soap Kit (not visible but it’s there)
MontBell Ultralight Gortex Rain Jacked (packed into it’s own pouch)
Matador New Large Cube - 4 button up shirts and one pair of pants
Matador Camera Baselayer - 1 Compact-Full Frame Camera w fixed lens
Oxford Dress Shoes
Other: iPad Air w Keyboard case in laptop sleeve; Bellroy Sling in the expandable compartment.
The Good
Dinner at Central. Worth it by far.
Aside from build quality which should not even be a question at this price point, the packability on this thing was its obvious benefit. You get the flexibility and space to really decide how you want to do it. On top of that, you get access to virtually any pocket you want from the outside of the bag, that’s a great choice by Pakt.
While I didn’t need it for more space, the expandable portion is an obvious plus on this one. I found it really handy for putting my flat sling in there while we were moving from place to place.
The harness adjustability is a RARE feature, and I’m glad to see it. I also like that this has real load lifters, too. Travel bags can get droopy with the weight, so I like seeing that we can pull that bag closer to our body as needed.
I always like to point this out and while it sounds like a small feature, it’s actually something that gets a lot of use so it’s important that it’s great: the handles. The Pakt One is using that great, classic seatbelt material on most of its handles and you notice that in the hand feel. They aren’t big and bulky, just silky smooth and really nice to use.
One of the little heroes on the design front here are the hidden compression straps. These were some real all stars - but the quiet kind. I loved the implementation of this, just like I did on the Cero, and I got good use out of them while traveling around with an insulated jacket. It worked perfectly for securing the jacket to the bag and not having to worry about it. You can see this in the pictures.
Lastly, I’m a fan of the Pakt laptop sleeve. It’s great for access, I find zero issues with the weight balance even though that gets argued about online a lot, and I think the little mesh flap is a genius way to keep it from falling out. I found it was perfect for my iPad setup.
The Bad
So what are some areas to consider if we’re looking at the cons of the Pakt One travel backpack? For one, all that access comes at a price: Which Zipper? I’d like to see Pakt implement some colored zipper pulls or even a different colored zipper track altogether in some places so that you can identify much quicker which compartment you’re unzipping. Matador does this really well and it’s a small choice that can create some big results in usability.
Second, while I love that it has the front pouches with volume, as I’m generally a pouch guy for tech, I found these two compartments not that usable once the bag was really packed out. Which is a shame because it means you then need to use the internal volume for your tech pouch (which I did). Not an issue if you want to use the Admin panel for tech instead, but just something I noticed in use. If your bag is really packed, you’ll lose usable volume in these front pockets. This was more noticeable with the lower front pocket than the top. But the top still got pretty tight.
I think the straps could be a bit wider for better support, and I think they need to do a better job of preventing the adjustments from slipping. With weight, when I’d go to put the bag on, the strap that took the brunt of that force would always slide open and I’d need to tighten it again. I’d say this happened 2 out of 4 times so it’s not nothing and it’s generally very noticeable. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s something you can’t ignore in use. I found the Cero more comfortable from a strap perspective, but that could also be because Pakt One does come with more weight to start with.
Final Thoughts On My Pakt Cero Backpack Review
The Fabric Macro
The Pakt One travel backpack from Pakt is certainly an overall great bag, and I can see why it’s as popular as it is.
It’s extremely well made and has a really well thought out design that is great for onebag travelers. The compression straps and the expansion come to mind here as two of the biggest selling points.
It does come with a few compromises however. The weight is more, and I think with that added weight the Cero had more comfortable carry being the lighter package. I think in the next iteration they can color code those zippers for better usability, too.
I did find I could pack more, and more comfortably in this one vs the Cero so that’s a big consideration here. Know how you pack and what you need to bring. It was much better putting a camera and extra shoes in this, and I felt like I had plenty of room for my clothes with absolutely no issues. It’s also important to note that you can get this in a bigger version as well. That will definitely provide more packing comfort but that’s also a lot of bag - so no need to fully pack that size out. That said it does offer a bit more forgiving of a set up when you need to bring that camera and extra shoes.
Materials on Pakt One are pretty pristine. Nice choices, good manufacturing decisions and values, and it looks great in person. I have no issues here. After the 11 day trip to Peru, the bag still looks new and doesn’t pick up random fuzz and what not.
I’d say ultimately, if you’re in the market for a premium travel bag to invest in and own for years - it would be pretty crazy to not give this one a look (or its lighter sibling). It’s very high quality and really is built for travelers.
For the best experience, I’d recommend always buying direct.
Wander more, and wander smarter everyone.
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Head on over to our Travel Bag reviews page for more like this as well as the Osprey Daylite Carry On 35L review or the Evergoods CTB20 review.
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