CabinZero backpack – my new travel friend!

I love traveling light. Lately, I noticed that many airlines wish to restrict amount of hand luggage taken on board. As a result, hand luggage sized bags are stored with checked baggage and thus suitcases tend to break faster. In fact – no wonder, considering how they are being tossed.

Luckily, this problem will soon be over, since I discovered amazing and lightweight cabin size backpacks by CabinZero, which may be just as good as those hunting packs!

Who are CabinZero?

CabinZero was founded by Neil Varden, passionate traveler from UK. During his trips, he noticed lack of good quality, lightweight, cabin-sized bags and saw an opportunity to develop such bags specifically keeping long time travelers in mind. Now, 7 years later, the demand is certainly high – most airlines are charging for checked luggage and cabin sized bags are a must have.


CabinZero bags are produced keeping environment in mind, made to last for many years (25 years warranty!). Each bag has a unique code and can be registered with Okoban luggage tracking (lost & found network) system.

Features

CabinZero offers impressive amount of various travel bags – from smaller, 36L day packs to full size 44L cabin luggage. There is a great variety of colors to choose from as well as styles.

Mine is Royal Blue, classic 44L cabin size. It fits all my carry on equipment, such as DSLR camera, laptop, clothes, shoes and snacks for the flight. I love that it has many compartments, where I can store chargers and smaller items. The locks are solid and durable, made to last for more that just one trip.

Despite it’s large size, the bag is made very ergonomically and my back doesn’t hurt from wearing it. The straps are padded and easily adjustable. It’s perfect for almost any cause – day trips, weekend trips, 1 week sightseeing trips etc. thanks to being so light and easily foldable, you could even wash it in your washing machine!

Some technical info:

Lightweight: Vintage or Classic – 760 grams; Military backpack – 950 grams

Dimensions: Fits 55*40*20 cm

YKK Zippers – easily lockable if needed

Handles – top and side handles, easily to place in overhead locker

The bag fits incredible amount of luggage compared to hard shell suitcase. In fact, you can stuff it quite tightly and it stretches a bit too. Compared to other similar backpacks with top loading, this one opens just like a suitcase, making it easier to access your belongings.

Things to improve

With such a good backpack, it’s difficult to think of areas for improvement. Personally, I’m a huge design fan, so I would love to see more color schemes/color combinations. I really like vintage collection and think there should be more 2-3 color combinations for these packs. Of course, tastes are different, some folks prefer it with one color.

Another suggestion would be to have side pockets for water bottle. Sometimes, especially when hiking, you really need to have easy access to water or snacks on the go.

Finally, a feature I really love on some hiking bags – rain cover. Rain cover is a thin cover that can be pulled out of the bottom of a backpack and stretched all over the backpack to protect it from rain. Although CabinZero backpacks are waterproof, an additional protection from heavy rain would be a good feature.

Field test

I took my CabinZero for a weekend trip to Hiiumaa island and found it to be a great travel companion. It didn’t take too much space in the car compartment, was easy to load and unload, fit all the necessary travel gear and served me well on a day hiking trip in the woods. During the hike we happened to get caught in the light rain, but the bag withstood it quite nicely.

By the end of a 2 hour walk neither my back nor shoulders hurt, which means the straps did a good job despite all the groceries I was carrying with me. As a reward – fantastic picnic in the wilderness!

Disclaimer: Please be informed, that a free Cabin Zero backpack was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own.