A big question about Rick’s little backpack

This based on my decades of traveling with a back-door bag along with a Civita daypack:

1) The Civita is so light and unstructured it easily slips unnoticed into the back-door bag on travel days. For the flight to/from I pack my meds and all in-flight essentials such as Bose headphones, sweater, Kindle, phone charger, cords etc. in the Civita and grab it out when I get to my seat before I stow the back-door bag overhead.

2) On local travel days (short train rides)!I often put my camera bag along with a light jacket, cap, battery bank, sunglasses, guidebook, etc. in the Civita and wear it in front. The Civita itself weighs almost nothing and is un-padded so zero bulk. Leaves my hands free.

Yes,
The daypack goes inside the larger backpack on transportation. There are packable backpacks that compress into a small pouch. (Example: Eddie Bauer 20 liter, LL Bean stowaway, etc.). The civita lays flat and thin. I have the civita and Patagonia, old version, of terravia.

The Civita (which I use as a daypack) when it's empty, has about the size and consistency of a pillow case. It has no rigidity to it. You could clip it onto the carryon with a carabiner, for example. In a hurry, I've worn it on the front, with carryon on my back. May not look cool, but it's practical. After all, you're only carrying the backpack between hotels and transport.

I haven't needed to replace my carry-on size Kelty backpack (about 40L) and my ultra-light Osprey (about 15L) in the last decade so I cannot comment on Rick's packs specifically, but in general I have learned for travel days to have everything (including the Osprey) fit into the Kelty, with the Osprey on the top loaded with airplane/train essentials to be pulled out at my seat before stowing the larger bag. Only if the second bag tempts one to bring more things so both have to be carried on travel days that will become the issue.

I use an Osprey and a Civita. What I do to keep my hands free with the Civita is to not use the top strap but put the backpack straps over my arm. Easy peasy.

My travel bags include a 40L duffel/backpack and a small backpack. One goes on my back, using both shoulder straps and the other over a shoulder. Both hands are free.

During the RS Prague/Budapest tour last week, one of the guys was carrying Rick’s Veloce shoulder bag as a crossbody, so his hands were free while walking around.

I bring a Cotopaxi 35L as my “suitcase”, so it’s on my back between hotels when I’m traveling by train. I used to also bring a Sherpani as my plane personal item. It has the option of backpack straps, a crossbody/shoulder strap or handles. I carefully cut off the backpack straps and just used the other two options with it. But, I really disliked the bulk on my side or front, even though it wasn’t full. So now I just bring a lightweight crossbody purse & the Cotopaxi. Which for a guy could be Rick’s Veloce bag or something similar.

Full disclosure - I never carry a backpack when out walking during the day in Europe.

My wife and I have an RS Classic Backpack each.

She supplements it with a light weight backpack, which she carries in front.

I supplement it with a Veloce Shoulder Back, which I carry under the backpack, so I can easily put the backpack down.

Thanks for all these suggestions! I wasn't thinking about an "unstructured" daypack because mine, from Pacsafe, has what I think is a bit of padding bloat; it is very comfortable and has great security features but if I were to put it in a carry-on there wouldn't be much room left. I ordered the Packable Backpack because I think things that roll up into their own pouch are so clever. It only has one review, and that's from someone who hadn't tried it yet, so I'll review it after trying it a few times.

Just curious, which brand of packable backpack did you get? There are quite a few on the market.
LlBean has a few.

Sun-Baked: I ordered the one from the RS store.

RS bag quality is good. My family and I share several of his bags. The packable bag is quite small at 11 liters. If you are carrying a light jacket or vest, this may be an issue. Perhaps, there is a packing video on YouTube to demonstrate its size. If you are just carrying water bottle, guidebook, basics for walking around, you will be fine.