As we get out of the house, the gear-obsessed WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite bags and EDCs. Today, reviewer Martin Cizmar raves about his Topo Designs backpack. You can also check out other Bag Check stories where WIRED writers share their carryall of choice.
Topo Designs may just make the best bags in the world. The Denver-based gorpcore brand sells gear that looks cool, lasts forever, and has every feature a sensible person desires in a bag without making the product feel overbuilt. If I ever win the lottery, I won’t tell anyone, but there will be signs—like me hauling groceries from Trader Joe’s in two Mountain Gear bags. (I currently use blue polypropylene Ikea bags and shop at Aldi.)
In March, I took a spring break trip to Ireland and Scotland with a carry-on-sized roller bag and the Topo Designs Rover Trail pack as my personal item. I am frequently testing new bags, and I didn’t think much about the decision to commit to the Rover for a week. I quickly learned that you get to know a bag pretty well when you take it on seven flights and stay at eight different hotels in 10 days. By the time I landed back home, I was fully convinced the Rover is the best backpack I have ever used.
Like the six or seven other models of Topo Designs bags I’ve tested—and maybe more extensively than any of the others—the Rover manages to artfully incorporate all the thoughtful little features I appreciated in other backpacks without even a hint of showiness.
At the top of the bag, there’s a zipped compartment that flips open to reveal the rucksack-style opening, which closes with a drawstring. This is where I like to put my keys, any important paperwork I may have on me, and sometimes my wallet. Typically, I find myself double- and triple-checking the zipper to make sure nothing is falling out. No need with the Rover, because inside that zipped compartment, there’s also a clip for keys and an additional zipped mesh sleeve. This feature lets you double-bag anything you don’t want to risk falling out—in my case, passports for myself and my daughter. When I got through the TSA line at the airport, I clipped in my car keys for the week, zipped the passports into the mesh sleeve, and never worried about losing either.
As for the main compartment, unlike most bags of this small size, you don’t have to rummage through it from the top. Instead, there’s a handy J-shaped zipper running the length of the bag so you can get to things at the bottom without needing to first deal with everything on top. After boarding a flight, I got to my Turtl pillow and off-brand Sondor travel cushion—both toward the bottom of the pack—as soon as I got to my seat, then zipped back up without having to unpack my fleece or toiletries that were situated toward the top.
The side pockets, which are designed for water bottles, have some spandex to them so they can accommodate bottles of various sizes. I don’t drink water on airplanes, but I can confirm they were able to accommodate cans of Diet Coke.
This bag is ostensibly for the trail, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take it on a day hike and use the lightly padded waist belt to keep it from jostling around. But this was the type of trip where you just toss a strap or two over your shoulder and tuck away the waist belt under the foam backing layer—an easy modification on the Rover. You can also use that foam layer to protect a laptop or tablet, as there’s a side zipper to put something between it and the inside of the bag.
This pack is 22 liters, perfect as a personal item or for a day hike. An enterprising ultralight backpacker could probably do a summer overnighter with it using the clipped straps on the bottom and the single row of nylon loops to attach a sleeping bag and shelter. They’re also useful for strapping on dirty gear you don’t want to stuff inside the bag.
Like many of my colleagues, I’m a huge fan of Topo Designs and could have written a love letter to a few of the brand’s bags—I’ve got the Global Pro Travel Roller here waiting for a trip next week—but I think the Rover Trail is the most versatile of the bunch, and it’s what I’d recommend as a gateway bag to others.
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