I recently (as in two months ago) started a trip through Southeast Asia armed with my LTT Commuter Backpack. I kept notes for the first month on my experiences with it, and thought they deserved a write up!
Obviously, the main point of a commuter backpack is not to travel to SEA for four months, but I thought it was a pretty great way to check to see what this backpack can handle just a few days after getting it.
I received my bag on January 17, 2025 (the beauty of living in Langley, BC), and left for Japan on January 20.
Loadout
Tech Area
- 13” Dell XPS
- Small Wacom tablet
- 2x Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (5th generation)
- Elastic pockets: iPhone/Apple Watch chargers, USB-C dongle, tablet pen
- Zippered pocket: nothing, but became a postcard holder as I traveled
Pocket of Holding
- Zippered pocket: 2x AirPods, cards, sunscreen, bug spray, tiny 7-Eleven yogurt spoons, camping utensils, assorted knickknacks
- Magnet pocket: portable charger, two sets of charging cables
- Elastic pocket: mini wipes
- Screwdriver pocket: umbrella
- AirTag pocket: AirTag
- GoPro kit/case
- DJI Neo
- First aid kit
- Toilet Paper roll
- Laptop charger
- Travel adapter
- Scarf
- Snacks
Side Pockets
- 1 40oz Hydroflask
- 1 40oz Grayl
- Sunglasses pocket: sunglasses, small Lidl tissue pack, gum, motion sickness pills, chapstick, assorted hair ties
Storage
A backpack is mainly for storing things, so I thought it would be best to start with this.
The laptop pocket fit my 13” Dell XPS perfectly. I will test with more laptops when I get home, but this was great (as to be expected). The pocket directly in front of the laptop pocket was great for a Wacom tablet, but I can see myself switching it to an iPad pocket while using the backpack for school. The zippered pocket at the bottom is a nice-to-have feature, however, I do not really see how I will use it in my daily life. Two Amazon Kindles fit perfectly at the bottom of the tech area, a great place to store them while on the go. The elastic pockets at the top are the perfect size for chargers, adapters, and dongles, and they are super easy to access on the go. They do not stick in to your back when wearing the bag, which is a big plus.
I have not used the screwdriver storage pocket for its intended purpose yet, but the zipper looks like it will come in handy. Right now it is holding an umbrella, and it honestly might stay that way when I am back on the rainy Wet Coast of Canada. I will test it with the screwdriver, and see how it fits, and which one I use more in my daily life before making a final decision, however.
The AirTag pocket was a little hard to find (and that seems to be the consensus on Reddit), but hopefully, that works the way it was intended to! Additionally, the zippered hold-everything pocket is very nice, and I found it serves its purpose best as a catch-all pocket.
Design
While I am by no means a clothing designer, I found the design of this backpack to be really nice, and I like it a lot more than the other one. The other backpack was great as a piece of luggage, but I could not use it for school unless I wanted to take up all the space on public transportation. This backpack is much more of an everyday carry and is much less of a statement. No one gave me weird looks on the Tokyo Metro for having a gigantic bag, and Flair will actually be ok with this being an under-seat bag.
I love the orange accents on the inside, and so the colour is an added bonus for me when picking this backpack. I do see how that could turn some people off, but I find it quite subdued, especially when coupled with the minimal branding. On the subject of branding, it is nonchalant, and I only had one person recognize the bag while visiting Plaza Low Yat in Malaysia.
That being said, I do wish that the zipper pulls were slightly shorter, especially the one on the sunglasses pocket. I find that it can get stuck in the main Pocket of Holding zipper if you are not careful.
For traveling, I thought I would take advantage of the passport holder more often, but I found it to be in an inconvenient spot. It is difficult to swing the bag around and get at the pocket without stopping to set the bag down somewhere. The integrated suitcase strap is a great improvement with this bag, however, since on the old one I disposed of it immediately.
Having the freedom to use the side pockets for a water bottle or the zippered pocket is awesome. Despite my partner’s insistence, we (I) do not need to carry two water bottles all day, so having the freedom to use the other one as a secure pocket is super.
Fit
As a 6’ guy who likes to wear their backpacks slightly lower, with the bottom around the waistline, this backpack fit well and was comfortable fully loaded. I had to let out the straps quite a bit, and it took a week or so of adjusting them based on load to get it to the way I wanted it. I also had to move the chest strap down to the lowest “setting”, to get it across a comfortable part of my chest.
Durability
The backpack has been in daily use while walking through the city, going to the beach, hiking, and doing volunteer work - usually for 8+ hours a day on my back and it’s held up amazingly. It definitely gets dirty, but was returned to a clean state by having it take a shower. I will test out how it holds in the washing machine when I get back from the trip and properly clean everything inside and out.
I previously traveled with a black Herschel backpack, and after four months that when from being black to a weird brown - people used to ask me how I got the “custom colourway”. So far, there has been no discolouration here - and I have spent a lot more time in the sun on this trip in Southeast Asia than going through Europe…
The only other gripe is that when closing the tech pocket, sometimes the extra side fabric that makes the pockets be pockets can get stuck in the zipper, which makes me worried that there could be tears in the future. I usually fix this by running my finger along that part as I pull up the zipper.
In Conclusion
I will continue to use the backpack daily for the remaining months of the trip, and will most likely do another post at the conclusion, so I can document how it held up over the entire period.
Finally, a request - please make a rain cover for this bag ASAP, since the rainy season is approaching in Southeast Asia, and there is a rainy forever on the west coast of BC. The bag wicks off water pretty decently in the light rain I’ve seen, but with a heavy downpour I don’t think it’s going to hold off a lot.
