Travel Gear: Carry-On Backpack

I love to travel with just one piece of luggage: a backpack small enough to carry on to flights.

Earlier this year, I decided it was time to buy a new backpack. The final impetus was a flight I would be taking from Miami MIA to Lisbon LIS, Portugal. I would be traveling with only a carry-on, but I was concerned my backpack might not quite meet TAP Air Portugal’s stringent requirements. If I was forced to do a gate check, I would be out $180. This would hurt, as I had snagged a ticket for $100 plus the usual fees for the 8-hour journey.

My old backpack was 35 liters, but I wanted smaller, so I opted for a 30-liter Deuter ACT Trail 30.

30-liter backpack standing tall beside a 24-liter grocery bag.

It easily met TAP's carry-on size limits.

With my hiking boots, jacket, and computer tablet in the pack, it might have been on the edge of TAP's 17 lbs weight limit. Had the weight been questioned, I would've pulled myself out of the line and put on my hiking boots.

At Madrid MAD I stood in line for a flight on budget airline easyJet. Anxious passengers were stuffing their carry-ons into the luggage gauge. (See the photo at the top of this post.) One passenger managed to force her bag into the gauge, but needed help to extricate the bag.

At Newcastle upon Tyne NCL I had time to kill, so I walked around the terminal, trying each airline's luggage gauge. It fitted them all with room to spare. It even passed muster with the stingiest airline, Flybe.

(Top) Flybe, Jet2.com. (Bottom) British Airways, easyJet.

Air France/KLM and Thomas Cook Airlines.

The pack held everything I needed, including hiking boots, two changes of clothes, and rain gear. There was room to spare, so I'm tempted to downsize further.

2 lbs 7 ozs.