Best Travel Backpacks

We've replaced our entire bag lineup. Every travel pack, everyday bag, and packable bag below is new, built together with the same materials, hardware, and construction, then shaped differently depending on how you travel. Here's why.

Here’s a guide to the whole lineup: what's built into every Matador bag, how they stack up against each other, and which one fits the way you actually travel, whether that's a two-week trip across three countries or a Tuesday commute.

Every new bag in the lineup shares the same core materials and hardware, then adjusts size, shape, and organization for the trip it's built for. Here's what carries across the whole collection.

Building every bag around the same materials and hardware changed more than how the bags look together. It let us invest more in the components that mattered, the frame platform, the zipper system, the fabric, because that investment now works across eleven bags instead of one. 

Where a feature didn't earn its place, we cut it rather than build around it. That's also why the new lineup costs less on average than the bags it replaces: a smarter design, better efficiency, lower costs. 

• 420D Bluesign-certified recycled nylon, PFAS free. The main fabric across every bag, selected for durability over repeated trips rather than chosen product by product.
• DuraGlide™ sealing zippers. Developed with Zoom®, these are the exterior zippers on every bag, built for smoother pulls and weather resistance. Here's how we tested them.
• YKK zippers on interior compartments and organization.
• Switchback Stitch finish, our reinforced construction detail used across the line. More on how it's built.
• RFID Smuggler's Pocket™, a hidden, RFID-blocking pocket for passports, cash, and cards, included on most bags in the lineup.
• A dedicated location tracker pocket, included on most bags, sized for a standard tracker tile.
• A shared frame platform used across the pack line, built to keep fit and durability consistent from bag to bag.

The full lineup launches in three colorways, each built to the same standards and materials as the rest of the collection.

Black is the core, all-black colorway across the full lineup, travel packs, packable bags, everyday bags, and the sling.

Juniper is Matador's green and teal colorway, a shade built to stand out on a baggage carousel or in a crowded terminal.

Garnet rounds out the lineup in a deep burgundy and maroon. 

Most bags across all three colorways are compatible with Drip Kits, which let you swap the cords and zipper pullers on your bag into a contrasting color. See the customization options.

One system in every size, built for crossing time zones with everything you need on your back.

The 30L Carry-On Travel Pack is carry-on compliant, sized to handle a long weekend entirely on its own. The rolling luggage handle pass-through also lets it ride on top of a suitcase when the trip runs longer and you want more room without more weight on your shoulders.

Short trips flying solo, or longer trips paired with rolling luggage.

Need something smaller that fits under the seat instead of the overhead bin? See the 18L Personal Item Travel Pack below.

Packing tip: Pack your carry-on the same way every trip, same pocket for chargers, same pocket for documents, so you're never searching mid-security-line for the thing you always put in the same place.

See the full Carry-On collection for everything sized to fly with you.

The 18L Personal Item Travel Pack is personal item compliant, sized to sit under the seat in front of you while still holding a 16-inch laptop in its own padded sleeve. It's the same system as the larger packs, scaled down, not stripped down.

Flying without a checked or carry-on bag, or short trips where you'd rather skip the overhead bin entirely.

Want more room for a longer trip? See the 30L Carry-On Travel Pack above.

Packing tip: Use the admin pocket for anything you'll need to pull out at security or the gate, boarding pass, ID, headphones, so the main compartment stays untouched until you're seated.

Browse the full Personal Item collection for more built to fly free.

The 24L Adventure Pack is carry-on compliant and hydration compatible, with a bladder hanger and sleeve built in alongside dual hiking pole and ice axe attachment points. It's built to go from the trailhead to the terminal without switching bags.

Day hikes, trail runs, fit for clothes, travel gear, and water

Packing tip: Use the hip belt any time you're on your feet for more than an hour straight. It's removable for days you don't need it, but it's the difference between a pack that rides well on a trail and one that just rides. 

See the rest of the Adventure Travel collection for more built to go off trail.

The 24L Tote Pack is a great daypack, personal item friendly with convertible backpack straps and extendable handles, so it changes shape depending on whether you're walking, standing on a train, or setting it down at a desk. The laptop and tablet pocket fits up to 14 inches, with its own padded bottom to keep your device separate from everything else in the bag.

Workdays that need three carry options, backpack for the commute, hand carry for the office, shoulder carry for everything in between.

The 2L Lite Sling wears as a sling or hip pack, with a secure pocket that sits flat against your body and a dedicated location tracker pocket for the one thing you can't afford to lose track of.

The days you only need your phone, cards, and keys within reach, not a full bag.

Packing tip: If you're switching the Tote Pack between carry styles throughout the day, set the strap length once in the morning for backpack mode and once for shoulder mode. Guessing at it every time you switch is what makes a convertible bag feel like a hassle instead of a feature.

Browse the full Everyday Bags collection, or shop the Tote Packs collection specifically.

Your travel bag holds more than just your gear. It holds memories. Usually in the form of mystery stains, crumpled boarding passes and the stroopwafel stuck to your passport. 

The new Matador lineup keep you organized and ready to go with with weatherproof construction and secure storage built in so your memories are tied less to the crumpled stroopwafel stuck to your passport and more to the moments you experienced worry free with all the gear to match.

The frequent flyer: Three trips a month, most under a week, never checks a bag. → 30L Carry-On Travel Pack

The budget flyer: Books the cheapest fare, skips the bag fees. → 18L Personal Item Travel Pack

The long-haul packer: Multi-city, multi-week, more than one climate. → 35L or 45L Global Travel Pack

The trail-to-terminal type: Hikes on Saturday, flies out Sunday. → 24L Adventure Pack

The daily commuter: Same bag, every day, laptop and lunch and everything else. → 24L Tote Pack

The just-in-case traveler: Doesn't want extra space, just wants it available when the trip calls for it. → 18L Packable Backpack or 30L Packable Duffel