Travel Backpack Guides
Seven guides covering the parts of a travel backpack that decide whether it suits a trip: how airlines measure a bag, what vacuum compression actually saves, how many litres a trip needs, and how to keep the fabric and zips working. Written around the VGCUB range, but the mechanics apply to any bag in the same class.
The seven guides
The personal item size guide →
18 × 14 × 8 inches, what a sizer actually measures, which carriers enforce it, and why the number on the website is not always the number at the gate.
Vacuum compression backpacks explained →
What compression saves, what it cannot save, how the check valve works and the one mistake that breaks the seal on first use.
How to choose a travel backpack →
Opening style, back panel, trolley sleeve and capacity — the four specifications that decide whether a bag suits a trip.
How many litres do you need →
What 24, 30 and 40 litres hold in practice, by trip length and by season, with the packing arithmetic behind it.
Carry-on versus personal item →
Two allowances, two boxes, two sets of rules. What each one permits and how to travel on the smaller of them.
Laptop fit in a backpack →
Why a 15.6-inch compartment does not fit every 15.6-inch laptop, and how to measure before buying.
Cleaning and caring for a travel backpack →
Washing water-resistant fabric without stripping the coating, zip maintenance, and storing a compression bag so the valve survives.