TIMBUK2 Wingman Travel Backpack Duffel, Jet Black, Medium

Very well constructed backpack, worth the money. I’ve had this for several months now and have taken it on multiple long trips where I rucked throughout a city carrying probably 15-30lb of stuff. Its very comfortable. I had an upper back injury for a while that made it annoying to sit on a chair for longer than an hour but had no issues wearing this backpack. Fits under an airplane seat no problem. Enough room in the laptop pocket for a 13inch MBP and iPad. Shoe compartment is great. So is the water bottle pocket. Overall, the design is thoughtful and there are a bunch of little details that stand out. For example, the bottom being waterproof is great for when you have to put the backpack down on a messy subway train car floor in NYC. Happy I bought this. I have one other Timbuk2 backpack that I purchased over 8 years ago that’s still going strong and this bag seems even more robustly constructed, if anything.

This is by far the best quality bag/luggage I’ve ever had. I’ve already used it on some trips and I’ve nothing to complain about, the materials and functional divisions are excelent. I do reccomend it.

This duffel style backpack is perfect for planes, trains, boats and airport bivouacs. The backpack and waistbelt straps tuck away perfectly and deploy easily. There are handles all over the bag which makes it easy to store and grab from overhead. The main compartment zips open like a duffel and the interior has strap curtain to hold things in place. There is a large laptop sleeve between the back padding and the bag, with the zipper running the entire seam of the bag, that easily fits a 15" laptop. There is also a tablet sleeve that zippers on the seam, a waterproof bottle pocket, and a a pocket on the back (duffel lid/flap) that fits wallet, passport and sunglasses. (All making it really easy to both stuff and pull out the necessary objects as you go through TSA security.) A seperate lower shoe compartment and top of bag zipper pocket round out the extreme fumctionality. I've traveled domestic and internationally for 1.5 years now with the bag and it still looks new. No harware has failed. All clips and closures still functional. This replaced a roller bag as a carry on for me.

Bought this backpack/dufful for a domestic flight and was very happy to have it. I'm 5'2 and worried it would be too large for me as a backpack, but it's essentially a camping pack and when I'm flying, I don't really care about how it looks. I would rather use it as a backpack than a duffel. The main durability concern for me is definitely the zippers. I have the TimBuk2 Never Check backpack as well and that bag had larger gauge zippers despite being a smaller size. I worry that with time and some carelessness, the zippers will eventually fail. But the Wingman fit a week's worth of clothing and toiletries easily. I got through TSA without a hitch and the water bottle compartment, laptop compartments and shoe compartment were perfect for my needs. The mesh compression panel is so-so; it did compress my clothes a bit but slipped easily. Overall very useful pack for week-long trips and works well as a carry-on for most domestic airlines.

After researching a few days for travel backpacks, it came to the conclusion that The Wingman is best option for easy access thanks to the clamshell opening mechanism, and slots for easy access to your tablets/ laptop and other gadgets. The 38L capacity offers tons of room to pack a week of clothes and a separate shoe compartment keeps stuff separated well. The Wingman’s price range also beats other travel backpacks of similar sizes, quality of the material is also great and should last a long time !