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This is a bit of a rant. Sorry.
I have been wistfully looking towards the patagonia MLC bags for almost three years now. I see everyone singing their praise here, and on paper, this seemed like the perfect bag for me.
Yet. It's expensive. And for a long time, I was still hoping i'd be able to find the dark redbeaurdeux coloured one that I fell in love with, even though it's been out of print for years now.
Like, *really* expensive for what it is, considering that the Quechua NH500 has almost the same features and size, and costs about 1/5 of it. And yet, I could never quite stop thinking about the MLC --- something just really spoke to me about it.
This autumn, I will be leaving to Japan for almost two years, and finally decided that it was time to splurge and treat myself. My old 50L Quechua backpack has seen better days, my NH500 is fine but didn't spark joy and I saw that the pufferfish gold variant of the MLC is being liquidated, and I couldn't stand the idea of missing out on another pretty colour.
I actually ordered both the MLC and MLC mini to really compare and contrast, and make an informed decision between not-too-bulky and uses-every-last-inch-of-my-luggage-allowance.
And boy, those bags are beautiful. The colours are amazing, no screen has been able to show that properly, the materials feel good to touch, I LOVE the way the laptop compartment opens like a clamshell for the MLC bag, too, but ----
They don't fit me. Neither of them.
The shoulder straps always stick out a little bit from my chest in an awkward angle, the sternum strap is way too long, even at the shortest setting, and the hip-belt reminds me that I oughta loose a few pounds but definitely doesn't keep the bag where it should be or puts any weight onto my hips.
They are both just so uncomfortable -- even with minimum load.
It's probably just me and my body, and not any fault of the bag. I'm a weak 5'8 woman. No big harm done, I am just going to send them back. I feel like this would be a fine bag to take from my home to a car, and take from a car to the hotel, and then from the hotel back to the car to my home. It's not going to be fun to carry around from an airport through the city while waiting for 4-5 hours for my hotel to open up my room. And that's just not worth the premium price, if my decathlon bag does the same thing AND is more comfortable for a fraction of the price.
I am honestly writing this because I am a little sad. I was really looking forward to owning these bags. I finally convinced myself to spend a little bit more on them, after thinking about them for years. They look so good and I read so much about them. Pufferfish gold is such a wonderful colour, too!! Now I gotta look into finding a different bag -- and will most likely have to settle on some sad, boring, normal black-grey-olive colour or splurge on a Cotopaxi and look like a clown.
I currently run a 25l black hole backpack with the 40l black hole duffel, but have been wanting to get something a bit larger to size up the backpack. I have my eyes looking at the 30/45l MLC bags and they seem to have great tech storage based on photos, but am curious to see if anyone has feedback? I typically carry the following in my backpack when on the road:
Surface laptop
11” iPad pro
14” Dell portable monitor
2-3 days worth of clothing (frequently flying on RJs and get forced bag checks)
Wallet, keys, passport, couple of pens/pencils
Sony XM5s and airpods
Snacks (very important as travels often exceed 5-6 hours and like… snacks?)
I prefer to keep the dual bag setup when traveling 1+ week as I tend to have to carry additional equipment in the duffel (thank you IT) but think the MLC will be a perfect candidate for shorter trips where I don’t need it. Also hoping someone could recommend 30 or 45 based on experience, the most I can repurpose a bag the better and I find that lacking with the 25l Black Hole Backpack
Like many of you I'm searching for the perfect travel backpack to suit my needs. You may ask yourself: why does he have all of these bags simultaneously? Well yeah more on that later.
However in this comparison I want to help out the people in this sub to make an educated decision. You can always find all the specs online, but a direct comparison between these bags isn't very common. Since I now have all of the three laying around I figured it might be helpful to compare them.
I'll go over the features, comfort, pockets, what they fit and ultimately how I use them.
The way I normally travel is fairly simple. I often go for a maximum of three weeks, where I'll visit different hotels, bed and breakfasts and a camping trip from here to there. I'm not a digital nomad and won't be gone for months. I need a bag that I can use as (kinda) a daily carry while also big enough to bring stuff for two weeks (sometimes three). Also occasionally I carry a camera set with me, which also must fit in the bags.
Packing list
Above you see my full packing list. I don't go into too much detail but this is what I'd usually pack. Depending on the trip I need different clothing or more/less like more underwear, less shorts, more long sleeve shirts and a camera or not.
Anyway, let's get to the bags!
Design
This is probably the most subjective part. Everyone has got a different taste. In the image above you can see the bags next to each other. The size difference is there especially with the Thule. Later on you'll see that this is also the pack that can fit the least amount. Personally I like the Aer the most. I'm using the Thule as my work, gym and weekend getaway bag because of it's size its a perfect EDC for me.
Side profile
On the image you'll see the side profile of all the backpacks. The Aer being 35L is obviously the biggest, however you can make it significantly smaller using the 4 side compression straps which I really like. You can see the Thule hanging down quite a bit more. This is especially something I noticed when packing it. It just doesn't feel as comfy. Talking about comfort ->
Back panel
Here are the back panels of the bag. They're very similar but feel very different. Comfort can also be subjective depending on height, weight and even things like a sour back. I'm 1,86m or roughly 6 ft. Funnily enough I found the Mini MLC the most comfortable. It's got a very long and soft back panel. It's followed closely by the Aer. The load lifters of the Aer help quite a bit, but when fully loaded the straps and pack just feel a bit tight somehow. Also the extra 500 grams doesn't help the Aer. The Thule is comfortable as an EDC bag but not when fully loaded. Especially not when using the expansion zipper from 28L to 32L. It bulges outward creating an even more hanging profile like the side profile shows.
Back profile
Here you'll see them on my back. Again I think the Aer is the best looking one but obviously a bit bulky. The Mini MLC looks great as well with the added paracord. Thule is a bit blue-ish.
What do you think?
Main compartments
Okay, let's get into the main compartment. The place where almost all travel backpacks show what they're worth. It's a bit hard to show on the pictures but the Mini MLC was by far the deepest main compartment of them all. The Thule is very shallow and the Aer sitting right in between with a bit more width to it. What I don't like about the Aer is that the front admin panel and especially the laptop compartment eat up a lot of the space in the main compartment. That's what I absolutely love about the Mini MLC. It fits just as much in the main while being smaller and 5L less backpack space.
The compartments are quite similar. The Thule features an extra TPU pocket which is water sealed. Wet towels, nasty underwear or some trash can easily go in there without spilling in the main compartment. THhis also divides my work laptop from dirty gym clothes. The divider would've been useful during my trip to Mexico where my towel just didn't dry quick enough and moisturized my whole clothes.
The Mini MLC has a separate netting over the main compartment making you able to split it kinda. It prevents things from falling out and you can use the rest of the space well. The lid itself has got one other mesh and one closed compartment for some flat items like a book, wallet, passport or cables.
The Aer has got one zippered compartment in the main as well as an hidden Airtag pocket beneath the flap (quick acces top pocket). On the lid it's got a long pocket which goes all the way across the lid and the black mesh pocket above it.
What does the main compartment fit?
Likely the most important part is what these bags can fit. Above you'll find them below each other. You can already see the extra depth of the Mini MLC the way the grey peak design cube fits under the zippers. Like I said before, funnily enough I was able to fit exactly the same things in the Mini MLC which is quite a bit smaller than the Aer. The Thule was not able to fit everything. One packing cube had to go out and even the rest was a tight fit. On the Mini MLC and Aer the camera cube is below my toiletry. By the way that's my PGYtech camera cube and it's great and the perfect shape for these bags.
Admin panels
Another thing I prefer in a backpack is having a quick access admin panel. Here I stow batteries, chargers, cables and even my tablet. This is probably the biggest difference between these bags. On the left you'll see the Thule which only goes halfway, However it's a decent pocket with enough going for it. It does eat up a bit inside or bulges outward. In the middle you have the Mini MLC which combines the laptop compartment with the admin panel. You have 4 big sleeves for chargers etc, a pen slot and a zippered compartment below. The Aer is by far the most versatile admin panel, however for me it's a bit overengineered. Personally I'd never need so many pockets although it's nice to have. In the mini MCL I put my travel towel in the laptop compartment and my tablet in front of it, same as with the Aer. The Aer has still got plenty of room to take a big shirt, jacket, rain cover or hipbelt which is nice. That pocket goes all the way down.
Top pocket
All of the bags contain a top quick grab pocket. While these are not very exciting, it's a nice to have and doesn't sit in the way too much. The Thule is the smallest. The Aer and Mini MLC are similar but the Aer has got very soft materials inside while the Patagonia is just the same inside material. The Aer again does eat up more space because of that.
I often put sunglasses, airpods and a powerbank inside of these. Or my passport.
Water bottle pocket
Last but not least a water bottle pocket. I always travel with a thermosflask. Mine is 600ML so big enough to fill up and use for half a day. All the bags fit it perfectly. The Aer can fit a 1L or 32 oz easily but the other two couldn't. Maybe if you try hard enough. Also the Aer's tucks away with a zipper which is clean!
Verdict
These are all great bags, and to be hones I think I'll only keep two of the three. Like I said before, the Thule is being used as a gym, work and EDC bag wherever it goes. I get a lot of miles out of that. Also it's perfect for weekend getaways of trips less than a week.
When I wanted to pack for more than a week I couldn't fit it all in the Thule so I searched for a bigger alternative. I bought the MLC from someone in this sub for a very good price and I bought the Aer new. They basically fit the same things, but in a different way... I think the Aer is looking the best, most badass and it can compress down more making it look more like a daypack sort off. However it's heavy and a lot of space which has been designed for a laptop or lots of tech I would never use. That's where the Mini MLC came in. It's quite a basic bag but very satisfying to have organized. It does tick all the boxes of what I want in a pack, apart from being able to compress when everything is out.
Lastly, I love that the Mini MLC can be carried around like a briefcase or just tuck the straps in and have this cute small suitcase thing.
I'm very curious what you think about this post and I hope it helps some of you guys! If you've made it this far, thanks a lot!
TLDR;
I compared some of the most popular bags for travel. Compared all their features and talked about how I would use them in day to day life