There are many ways to carry the essentials for business travel. After a few short business trips, I think WaterField's latest bag may be exactly what I have been looking for. It is very suitable for short trips without other luggage, or even long trips where you check in another piece of luggage.

Matthew Miller as a mobile gadget | October 29, 2021 | Topic: Mobility

Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, many of us continue to travel as part of an important business unit, and I continue to maintain the pace of business travel about once a month. In the past month, I have taken a few short trips, and I think I may finally find a bag designed to meet my needs. 

In the past three years, my main business trips have been conducted using WaterField Pro Executive laptop backpack and OGIO rolling travel bag. OGIO is a very good bag, but its space is not optimized according to its size. Rolling the bag in the airport requires a hand and an arm dedicated to walking around. Most of my trips are only 3-5 days, so I only pack large suitcases during family vacations, prefer small bags, so that I can avoid checking luggage and waiting at the destination.

See also: WaterField Air Duffel: Avoiding the battle for overhead space between airlines and optimizing the space under the seat.

I have used Air Duffel many times, but I still need one hand to carry it with me. For the past month, I have been traveling with the WaterField Air Travel Backpack, it can make almost every detail just right, if I carry it in backpack mode, I can use two hands-free travel. It is available in five different colors/styles, each priced at 419 US dollars, and its manufacturing quality will allow you to use it for many years.

The WaterField air travel backpack can be carried in two directions, vertical in backpack mode or horizontal in briefcase mode. There are two main compartments, one for storing clothes and accessories for a few days, and the other for business equipment.

The front compartment opposite the backpack strap is optimized for horizontal use. The long leather strip covers two sturdy zippers, allowing access to the two front compartments. These are very convenient for earphones, chargers, keys (there is a lanyard to protect your keys), and other equipment you want to use immediately when you travel. I always use a lanyard to secure my car keys, because when I park at the airport, I always worry that I will leave the keys at my work place, so I like to have a dedicated space to make sure the keys are there when I come back. by my side.

For backpack shoulder straps, we have a very large compartment for clothes and accessories next. In the past, I used the Pro Executive backpack for a day or two of travel, but there was not enough space for all my clothes and toiletries. There is plenty of space and a lovely gold waterproof and tear-proof lining, which is not a problem. There are two large zippered mesh pockets, which are perfect for underwear and socks. There are two straps to help fix your clothes, but I found that when the bag is rotated to the direction of the backpack and all the clothes slide to the bottom, they do not function well. Perhaps in future revisions, the cross pattern will be more effective for fixing clothes. WaterField also provides a zipper lock system for the compartment to help ensure the safety of the space. I like that this space is independent so that you don't have to expose your clothes to access any equipment when traveling.

Rotate back 90 degrees to enter backpack mode, and then we will see a cool external ballistic nylon pocket on the right that can hold water bottles up to 3.5 inches in diameter when you travel. The top of this pocket is elastic and can hold your bottle firmly.

One of the most commonly used pockets is located on the top of the bag, which is perfect for carrying my mask, passport and mobile phone. These are essential for travel, and I like to get this equipment quickly and easily in the top pocket.

Then we found a very large business compartment, which also has a large number of zippers and a mechanism to fix the two zippers on one side. Although I have TSA PreCheck and never have to take my laptop or tablet out of my bag, this compartment is TSA-friendly, so you can completely unlock it, lay it flat, and move it on your mobile The equipment is fixed in various compartments by metal detectors while keeping it safe.

On the front, we see a very large gold-lined compartment with two smaller pockets and three pen/stylus pockets. This large pocket is perfect for carrying Air Caddy until you get on the plane. On the side of the backpack strap, we find two large padded compartments, perfect for your laptop, tablet, e-book reader and other mobile devices. These upper mesh zipper pockets are a good place to put cables or earplugs. The orientation of these pockets is perfect for easy access when you close the zippers on both sides, and then you can pull your gear down quickly and easily.

There is a pad with an opening on the back, so when the bag is in a horizontal orientation, you can slide the Air Travel Backpack onto the roller bag. This shows great attention to detail and function. The two straps are also padded, so you can carry heavy objects comfortably. A detachable sternum strap system provides four connection points to suit people of all sizes and body types. As expected by WaterField Designs, the fixing mechanism of this sternum strap is made of metal and is easy to release. There is also a shoulder strap system so that you can tuck the shoulder straps in when not in use, because it is clear that WaterField has already considered everything about this bag.

See also: WaterField Designs Pro Executive laptop backpack: the perfect business backpack created with the help of customers.

The Air Travel backpack is made of black ballistic nylon, available in chocolate-colored leather, black leather, blue leather and dark red leather, and is priced at $419. The fifth color/material option, also priced at $419, is tan waxed canvas and chocolate leather. Leather is located on the top edge of the handle and front double pockets.

The ballistic nylon version of the Travel Air Backpack weighs 3.9 pounds, and the waxed canvas bag weighs 4.6 pounds. The bag is 22.5 inches long, 16 inches high, and 7.5 inches deep. For most major airlines, these dimensions happen to be the largest and the depth is small, so it should be easily placed in the overhead compartment. The size under the seat is small, so you should consider also including things like Air Caddy, Executive Folio or Tech Folio to carry the equipment you use in flight. I personally use Executive Folio and a small bag to hold my movie snacks.

WaterField also gave me a blue leather Air Travel Backpack for a trial. The experience was very enjoyable. The soft leather suitcase handles are very comfortable and firmly connected, so I never worry about overloading the bag. The stitching, zippers, lining and shoulder straps are all of the highest quality. In typical WaterField fashion, I expect this bag to look the same in 5 to 10 years, even with regular monthly use.

The compartment has been optimized and is very suitable for short business trips. As someone who travels most of the time in 3-5 days, this bag is obviously designed for ordinary business travelers. Another advantage of this bag is that you can unload all your clothes and toiletries in the hotel room and then take it to the workplace. It looks like a slightly larger backpack. This surpasses the need to carry multiple luggage during a business trip, and is a good inspiration for the two trips I have undertaken so far.

Sometimes I even go to mobile technology conferences, where I take a red-eye flight and land in the morning, handling business all day, maybe staying overnight, and then flying out the next day. This WaterField air travel backpack is the perfect companion for this type of travel. I carry it with me and keep both hands available for work during the trip.

WaterField's sizing guide shows you all the various sizes that fit your laptop and tablet pockets, and as you can see, it covers almost everything you can throw at it. I have been traveling with Surface Pro 6, Surface Book 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab S7, Kindle Oasis and several smartphones without any problems.

As I mentioned before, the only update I made to the bag was on the straps in the clothes compartment. It is difficult to make everything perfect, but WaterField Designs once again proved that it listens to customers and makes products to help us complete the work and carry all our business travel essentials.

These USB-C and Qi accessories multiply your device charging options

ZDNet 2021 Black Friday buying guide

As demand exceeds component supply, smartphone sales fell by 6.8% in the third quarter

Santa Square: Holiday gift ideas from two nerds

Smartphones: Apple beats Samsung, shortage of parts plagues the industry

How to add MagSafe to your iPhone XR (and make it look like iPhone 13)

Xiaomi's Q3 smartphone revenue is stable, investment impacts net profit

Explanation of the inner workings of Australia's digital birth certificate

Black Friday Android phone deals: Google Pixel 6 US$499, OnePlus 9 Pro off US$270

Please review our terms of service to complete your newsletter subscription.

You agree to receive updates, promotions and reminders from ZDNet.com. You can unsubscribe at any time. By joining ZDNet, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

You agree to receive updates, promotions and reminders from ZDNet.com. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to receive selected newsletters that you can unsubscribe at any time. You also agree to the terms of use and acknowledge the data collection and use practices outlined in our privacy policy.

© 2021 ZDNET, a red venture capital company. all rights reserved. Privacy Policy| Cookie Settings| Advertising| Terms of Use