Planning a two week trip to Italy and considering the Portland Gear packpack as a personal item in either the standard or compact size. 5’1” woman for size. Does anyone recommend this bag for quality from experience and what size do you recommend. Thank you
Posted by
West Coast
435 posts
Oh. I can help! I'm a 5'1" PNWesterner :) and have highly reviewed my (black) Portland Gear here previously. I have the compact and frequently use it as my personal item.
It has a trolley sleeve and the water bottle side pocket just fits my small aluminum style. (I don't think it could expand to a big Nalgene.)
The top feature is my favorite, in that it stays open and also lets you fit a surprising amount. It's about 3 years old and still looks new after many trips, and I like supporting local smaller businesses.
Edited for your helpful responses below: I am able to fit my Patagonia lightweight puffer rolled into a small ball in the bottom, and a couple of times my lightweight hiking shoes. But I don't take a ton of stuff- my 3-1-1 bag fits with room for a Kindle Fire and charger and etc...
I will add that for hiking days I pack a small zip into itself polyester material backpack. And for city days, a similar style market tote. It may be personal taste, but the Portland Gear is heavier than I like for being out all day.
Posted by
166 posts
Hello,
My husband recently bought the standard size as his personal item. He's used it on two trips so far and said it fit nicely under his seat on the airplane.
He likes the standard size because he can fit a jacket and other items in the bag for the flight, but his previous bag had too many compartments. He doesn't really use the backpack feature except for going up and down stairs --- he attaches the bag to his carry-on size suitcase with the trolly strap most of the time.
If you think you will use the backpack feature more often than the trolly strap, I think the compact would make sense. Unless you need the extra space of the standard :) When I compared the two sizes at the Portland Gear store, I felt like the compact (13.5 Liter) might be too small for everything I like to put into my personal item. I have a Sherpani Viso bag (12 Liter) that I bought from REI a couple of years ago and it will hold about the same amount as the compact Portland Gear. I usually only use the Sherpani for shorter, domestic trips as my underseat bag or as a day bag on international trips during cooler months to hold my raincoat, etc. while out for the day.
I hope this helps.
Posted by
2151 posts
I believe the smaller one is around 13.5 liters. The larger one is about 21 liters. (I don’t have this bag.)
13.5 liters is the size of a handbag. 21 liters is the size of a generous daypack. Think about what you want to pack. If packing a jacket, I would go for the larger one.