The author received a backpack, free of charge, in exchange for writing a review for the Black Voyage backpack mentioned in this post. All experience with it is firsthand. All opinions stated are my own.

First Impressions

I was recently contacted by Black Voyage to see if I would be interested in trying one of their travel bags. Let me be honest. I had never heard of them. I also wasn’t really looking for a new bag, but since bags are a frequent question in my Facebook group for full-time travelers, I thought I’d try it out. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I didn’t know which bag I was getting, and whether I’d find it suitable for longer term travel.

When my bag arrived, a 60L Zephyr, and I removed it from the box, I have to admit, it blew my expectations out of the water. First, the feel of the bag is wonderful. A soft leather. Second, it’s a really nice size. It looks and feels like very high quality.

I opened up the back flap, and found wonderful storage and padding for my laptop. I definitely feel it will be safe if it gets bounced around. It’s so fun when you first get it to discover all the amazing features. In fact, there are so many that they actually have a user guide!

How Much Does It Fit??

The real fun, of course, was the vacuum seal! I did need to check out the user guide for instructions, and, to figure out that there were 2 ports on the rechargeable vacuum sealer/pump. 

I happened to be taking a 3-day trip for Memorial Day weekend, and planned to go hiking, so this was the perfect time to try out packing an extra pair of shoes, and, literally, everything I needed for the weekend. I laid everything out, rolled my clothes, and popped them in the zippered section.

(Note, the zipper is VERY tight. To pull it open, I was afraid I would break it – then I watched one of those video tutorials and learned that the tight seal was intentional.)

Once my clothes were packed, I attached the pump (getting the wrong air slot and attachment the first time I tried, but then figured it out!) and in less than 10 seconds, all the air was removed.

The bag had so much space left that I could fit a pair of shoes, and my cosmetics bag, and still had room to spare! I packed extra clothes, pajamas, and a sweater just to see how much I could get in there.

I noticed a slight air leak, which was because I hadn’t fully closed the zipper. Once I did, there were no more leaks until I unzipped it 12 hours later.

Here’s a before and after photo:

Some Great Features

At first glance, it looked like a really nice bag. The quality is excellent. But, what really makes the bag are some of it’s amazing features:

1. Expansion Zipper. If you’re packing a lot of stuff, the expansion zipper lets you cram it in! I was surprised how such a seemingly small bag could fit so much.
2. Vacuum Seal. This made the bag for me! Unlike a compression packing cube, this really sucks every ounce of air out of the pocket. That means TONS of extra space. I fit not only a spare pair of hiking shoes, but also a travel-sized version of Rummikub. Of course, you will need to carry a vacuum sealer with you. It’s rechargeable, 
3. Handy Side Pocket. From an umbrella to a water bottle, you can securely stow it in a zippered side pocket that keeps it snug.
4. Laptop Storage. If you’re living the laptop life, this bag has you covered. There’s so much padding your laptop isn’t going anywhere, and you can fit your plug, cables, and chargers in there too.
5. Extra Pockets. Inside and out, you’ll find tons of pockets to store, whatever you want to bring!

Check out this video I made, showing just how much you can fit and what it’s like using the bag!

Final Thoughts

There is definitely a learning curve to using the bag, but once you have it down, it’s pretty easy. There are so many features I was really surprised (in a good way!) In fact, I just found a hidden zippered pocket at the back of the bag – ideal for a passport, or something you want to keep hidden.

The one traveler it might not suit is the photographer with the big camera and lots of lenses. But, if you’re the average traveler, with a laptop, looking for an ideal carry-on sized bag that looks great, feels great on your bag, and stores more than you expect, this may be made for you!

As part of my review, I was given an affiliate code – you can save $15 with “heather15“!