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A big question about Rick’s little backpack

Posted by (Denver) on

I have just ordered a Through the Back Door carry-on sized backpack because I wholeheartedly agree with Rick on the value of traveling hands-free, and an upcoming trip will involve some uneven terrain, making my spinner inappropriate.

I have read and reread his article on choosing a luggage style and this question isn’t going to answer itself no matter how many more times I do. He says he wants his hands free for, e.g., buying a bus ticket while eating a sandwich—a compelling use case indeed. But he also says he travels with a daypack, and that he dislikes the detachable ones that come on some larger packs (he doesn’t elaborate).

Two backpacks, one back … that means one of the bags is going in a hand, interfering with either the bus ticket or the sandwich. The accompanying photo even shows him wearing his larger pack and holding the smaller one by its top strap.

So that’s not hands-free and it looks like a really uncomfortable way to travel. What am I missing? Does the daypack get packed into the carry-on pack on travel days? That seems like it would consume a lot of space.

Posted by
100 posts

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.

Posted by
2194 posts

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.

Posted by
9708 posts

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. Just dont keep anything valuable in hot as it would be vulnerable. 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.

Posted by
1161 posts

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.

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