Patagonia Black Hole Mini MLC Travel Backpack Review

The oversized laptop sleeve was large enough to hold both my MacBook Air and iPad Pro, plus a book and magazine. But if you really stuff all your gear in this pack, it’s barely going to fit under the seat of a plane. That said, if you pack less so it can fit there, it should still hold enough to work as an overnight bag. It’s an especially comfy carry with wide, strong backpack straps and a chest clasp that’ll adjust to many different torso lengths, making it versatile across different shapes and sizes. 

The backpack’s shiny and rugged exterior is made from 100 percent recycled ripstop polyester and seems too playful for a buttoned-up office. But it laughed off rain showers, and its overlarge grab handles at the top and side made it easy to tug out from under a seat and slide my arms through the straps. Despite not having a waist strap, I even found it fine dashing around town for over an hour of carry time. (See the Incase pack for another comfortable option without a waist belt.) It’s a big bag, but its versatility makes it multipurpose. It’s a do-a-lot-of-things, travel/commuter, haul-your-Greenmarket-groceries bag. 

Bonus: It has a slot-through for sliding onto the telescoping handle of your roll-aboard carry-on bag, so you can roll two bags at once through an airport. And it has a shoulder strap, though the pack is too ungainly to carry across your body when it’s fully laden.

See our review of the best travel backpacks for more information, including how we evaluated them. Check out the other travel backpacks we considered here: