The NOMATIC Travel Pack Lineup, Weighed in Grams

NOMATIC sells six bags that could all reasonably be called a travel backpack, with names that do not make the differences obvious. Two are called Travel Pack, one is called Backpack, two are duffels and one is a Navigator. They range from 15 L to 41 L expanded, from $199.99 MSRP to $419.99 MSRP, and the heaviest is more than twice the weight of the lightest. This page puts all six on one table with the maker's own figures.

Nobody here has carried any of them. Every weight, dimension and material below is NOMATIC's own published specification, linked to the page it came from, and every score is built from those numbers the same way a tent's is.

How the range divides

Three families, and the split is about structure. The Travel Pack and Backpack share a water-resistant tarpaulin shell that holds its shape, a perimeter zip that opens the bag flat and a fold-down laptop compartment; the Travel Pack adds briefcase carry and more expansion. The Navigator bags are the softer, more conventional ones: the RS Pack 15L in 420D ripstop and the 32 L in polyester/nylon with a padded interior. The duffels are a different shape entirely, with removable waist straps bolted on so they can be worn for short distances.

The practical consequence: the tarpaulin bags stand up on their own and pack like a hard case, and they are heavy for their volume because of it. 1,860 g (4 lb 1.6 oz) buys 20 L that expands to 30 L. The 1,551 g (3 lb 6.7 oz) duffel buys 40 L outright. That is 309 g (10.9 oz) less for twice the space, and it is the single clearest trade in the range.

The weights, side by side

Everything here is measured against the Osprey Farpoint 40 at 1,483 g (3 lb 4.3 oz), which is the default 40 L carry-on most people buy. Grams saved is that figure minus the bag's own weight, so a bag heavier than the reference saves nothing — and five of these six do not.

That is not a criticism of the rest so much as a description of what they are. A bag that holds 20 L and weighs more than a 40 L one is not failing at being light; it was never trying. It is a structured case with straps. The number simply makes the trade explicit, which is the whole point of putting it on a table.

Which ones fit a cabin allowance

Litres do not get you through a gate, centimetres do, and depth is where expandable bags fail. The widely cited guideline is 55 x 40 x 20 cm and each airline sets its own, so check yours. Against that figure, using NOMATIC's own published dimensions:

Centimetre conversions are ours, from NOMATIC's inch figures. The two biggest bags are over a strict cabin allowance before you pack them, which is worth knowing at $329.99 MSRP and $419.99 MSRP respectively. On airlines that measure, they are hold bags.

What the weight buys

Published features, not impressions. The Travel Pack line gets a perimeter zip that opens the bag flat on a bed, 22 purpose-built pockets, a fold-down laptop compartment sized to a 16 in machine, RFID-safe and hidden pockets and magnetic water-bottle pockets. The Navigator 32 L gets a 22 in main compartment and a padded polyester and PU-foam interior. The duffels get removable waist straps and, on the 40 L, a laundry bag in the box.

None of that exists on an ultralight backpacking pack, and all of it weighs something. If you are flying with a laptop and want to open your bag flat in a hotel room rather than dig down through a roll-top, this is what you are paying the grams for. If you are not, the honest answer is on the travel pack ranking, where a 1,588 g (3 lb 8.0 oz) budget does rather more.

What is not ranked here

The Navigator Pack 15L. NOMATIC lists it at 2.7 lbs, 15 L expanding to 20 L, in 840D ballistic nylon — a heavier, tougher sibling of the RS Pack. Every colour was out of stock on its own product page when this page was written, so it is not ranked.

The Travel Duffel Bag 30L. At 3.27 lbs and 19 x 13 x 9 in it is the 40 L duffel's smaller twin at a lower list price, and most of what is said above about the 40 L applies. Two of its three colours were out of stock, so the 40 L represents the duffels here. It is on NOMATIC's site if the smaller size is what you want.

Camera bags, luggage and apparel. NOMATIC sells wheeled cases, camera packs and clothing. None of it is backpacking gear, none of it is scored on this site, and adding it would turn a gear site into a luggage shop.

How to choose between them

Start with the airline, not the bag. If your carrier measures cabin bags, the Navigator 32 L and the 40 L duffel are out before you start, and the Travel Pack 20 L only works unexpanded. That decision removes half the range on its own.

Then ask whether it is a laptop bag. The tarpaulin Travel Pack and Backpack exist for the fold-down laptop compartment and the flat opening. If a laptop is not coming, you are carrying several hundred grams of structure for nothing, and the RS Pack or the duffel does the job lighter and cheaper.

Then size it honestly. 14 L is a day; 20 L expanded to 30 L is a long weekend if you pack like a backpacker; 41 L is a fortnight. Buying larger “to be safe” costs grams on every trip for capacity you use on one.

And if you already own a backpacking pack, the cheapest answer to this whole page is a cheap duffel to protect it in the hold. That is covered on the travel pack ranking, and it costs a fraction of any bag here.