Last month I purchased the Tortuga Air and wrote up some of my first impressions. Over the weekend just now I finally got to have my first test drive with using this bag for trips. So far I’ve only been using it as my daily commute bag since no trips were planned.

I forgot to take a photo of the bag when I first packed it, so instead you’re getting photos of the bag as it was on my way home.

I opened the bottle holder side pocket and stuffed my umbrella in there. The front strap held it in place just fine.

Hanging Pocket

That top little hanging pocket ended up serving as the “oh crap I forgot to pack my ____” pocket. Here’s a pic of what I had in there:

Macbook Air charger

Jam Classic bluetooth speaker

Nexus 5 usb/ac charging cable



I still had room in there to shove a mini train schedule when I got to the station and could have fit maybe 1 or 2 smaller items as well if needed.

Front Pocket

Pairs card game

Whatchamadrawit card game

Standard deck of cards — Zelda themed

Mini umbrella



There wasn’t much in here. I took some card games in case I got bored –a rarity for me on trips. But I haven’t played Pairs or Whatchamadrawit yet so I figured that might happen on this trip. I ended up not using any of them.

Also in the bottom of that pocket I forgot I have a small umbrella. It’s always in there as a last resort since it’s one of those $4 cheap NYC umbrellas that is good for one use before the wind tears it apart and you have to toss it. Better safe than sorry. I forgot that was in there until I emptied out that pocket for the photos.

Midori Traveler’s Notebook. Passport size

Leatherman pocket knife. The kind that has screwdrivers in the handle

Spare keys



The zippered pocket in there has a Midori Traveler’s Notebook. I always have this in there as my backup. I carry a sketchbook everywhere I go pretty much, but in the event I forget it somehow (gasp!) I know I always have this tiny guy as a backup. I also will use it if I need to rip out a sheet of paper for something.

Main Compartment

I use Eagle Creek packing cubes for everything, so there won’t be any neat traveler’s tetris style packing to see. But here it is:

Right Side:

Large Eagle Creek packing cube with a tshirt, tank top and some sweat shorts for sleep. On my trip going there it also held a fleece sweater.

Large Eagle Creek zipper bag used as a dirty laundry bag– in this pic it had a button down shirt, a pair of socks, and boxers in it.



Here’s a better view of those two items outside of the bag so you get an idea of size:

This was a new experience for me, having a travel bag that opened flat. In the past I’ve used top loading backpacks, so I end up slotting in the packing cubes next to each other in stacks of 2x2. Having the more traditional compression straps there, which normally would be holding down clothing was not something I had used before.

Even though the straps weren’t made for packing cubes of this size at all, they ended up fitting in quite well. I even cinched the straps tight to keep the cubes in place– they stayed put.

Perhaps if/when Tortuga comes out with their own packing cubes they might be tailored to fit this bag perfectly and I’ll have to do a new review. Because I’ll have to buy them, of course.

Left Side:

This is normally supposed to be used for dirty laundry maybe? Or also to serve as a built-in packing cube of sorts? Either way, I ended up just stuffing it full of packing cubes and bags.

And here’s that stuff outside of the bag for size:

Timberland dopp kit.

Eagle Creek medium zippered bag.

Eagle Creek medium packing cube. This had 2 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of boxers. These could have easily been put in the large packing cube. I was just lazy.



Dopp Kit contents (if you’re curious what I fit in there):

Two travel size Clear Care contacts solutions and cases. I didn’t realize I had two cases in there. One has been tossed in the trash since I took this photo.

Small size deodorant

Travel toothbrush — the cheap ones you find in CVS

Travel toothpaste

Comb — for keeping the beard tidy



I’m not a big fan of that Timberland kit at all. I like the thinness since it forces me to be frugal with what I bring, but the zipper doesn’t open in a way that gives you any good view of what’s inside. I will probably replace it soon.



Medium zippered bag contents:

Spare lightning/micro USB cable

Soundlogic XT backup battery. This was something I got in a company gift exchange. It’s only good for a single charge of the phone, but it’s small enough to keep it in my bag always.

Sketchbook Saddleback passport wallet

Laptop sleeve:

I carry an 11” Macbook Air. I doubt anyone needs a photo of that, but I took one anyway:

Weight/Feel:

This was only an overnight trip so I didn’t take much care with making sure I was packing as light as possible. I didn’t even do a good job rolling my clothes in the packing cubes. I knew I had plenty of room to spare, so I could afford to be sloppy.

But the single night’s worth of gear never felt a hassle at all. The chest strap took care of keeping that weight off my shoulders just fine. I’m still not happy with how small and mushy that chest clasp feels (I wrote more about that and showed some pics in my first impressions post), but it’s doing ok.

Update 6/29/15: I forgot I had recorded a short video to show the mushy quality I was talking about with the clasp. You’ll see that when I press the clasp down with my two fingers normally, the clasp will not release. You have to really use the tips of your fingers to push them in. Check it out:

I love how straight this bag stands on its own. You can feel that support on your back. The bag sits high, which I am a fan of. Every time I see someone with a backpack that is hanging low on their backs with the shoulder straps stretched out I get phantom spasms in my muscles. That can’t be comfortable right?

The Tortuga Air feels great though. No complaints.

Problems:

None that I can think of besides the clasp I mentioned already. I’m not entirely sure if I’m upset or ok with the side of the bag that the water bottle pocket is on. I definitely grabbed at the wrong side once or twice.

This was a super short trip though, so it wasn’t like I got to push it to any extent to see where any other weaknesses might show up.

Final Thoughts:

This sort of trip is ideal for a bag like the Air. I can’t imagine having to schlep the full size Tortuga backpack just for an overnight or weekend trip. In this sense the Air performed excellently. I was excited to get this bag back when I was still pining for a Minaal, and now I think the Air might be the better bag. It has a better system for packing it (the Minaal doesn’t have much structure when you are packing it. You just have to lay stuff down and sort of pull the bag over your bundle), it has that Hanging pocket which I love, and it’s ~$130 cheaper. That’s a lot of pluses in my book.

So far so good. My recommendation of this bag remains!

I’ll post again when I take a longer trip.