Totin' Around: Patagonia MLC Travel Bag

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, many of us are gearing up for the Biggest Traveling Week of the Year. For some of us, traveling can be a bit intense with the cramped seats, hours of sitting on a plane or in an airport...and then there's the panic when the baggage carousel comes around and there's a million black rolling suitcases and none of them are yours. Which is why we decided to go out and find ourselves a great carry-on bag that's both roomy but still within regulation size: the Patagonia MLC travel bag.

This handy suitcase can hold up to five days worth of clothing (within reason, that is--for those of you who pack heavy, cut that number in half. Or more), and it comes with either a shoulder strap that can clip off, or backpack style straps that zip up easily if you opt not to use them. There's also a handy compartment that separates your clothes (ie dirty vs clean; or for the outdoorsy types, "town garb from climbing gear"). And while it doesn't have built-in padding for laptops, it's big enough to fit a 17" in a soft case.

Available at Patagonia for $148.

Anyone else have any great carry-on bags that have withstood the travel test?

Comments (5)

I'd prefer something a bit brighter and more feminine.

This looks great for those who are more on the "duffle" side of backpack/duffle hybrid--that clip attachment of the shoulder strap to the bag body looks less heavy-duty. I'm on the "backpack" side and cannot recommend my Mountainsmith Ramble highly enough: packed lightly, you can fit two weeks' worth of clothes and gear in a pack with real suspension shoulder straps (that zip beneath a built-in cover for checking)--and it was touted as meeting carry-on requirements if not overpacked (haven't tested that yet--I check and hope for the best). Grey exterior and bright yellow interior, with a "book" zip-around style opening so it loads more like a suitcase than a backpack. It's a tough, rough bag and I love using it. The Ramble doesn't appear to be made anymore--not on their homepage or on eBags, but I bet if you haunt eBay, you might find one.

I have the eBags "Weekender," and I'm extremely happy with it. Similar design to the Patagonia bag above, but only $60.

Looking closely at the Patagonia bag description/views, I think the eBags option might actually have some advantages, including better padding on the shoulder straps, and cinch straps to help keep everything as compact as possible.

http://tinyurl.com/2dvko

I have an older edition (probably 5 years old) of the Patagonia MLC. I really like the bag and it's great for those trips that involve a lot of walking around before checking in to a hotel room, or after checking out. One of the backpack straps is ripping at the connnection point, though. I just haven't gotten around to sending it back to Patagonia for repairs. (I'm terrible about getting around to sending out packages.)