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For several years I have used a Black Hole 25L (the smaller model) as carry on for air travel, and I loved how easily it could fit under airline seats when needed, and how practical it was. But after recent adventures with delayed luggage, I decided I wanted a pack in which I could put enough for 2-4 days. So I switched to the 32L after some advice from the forum, and here is a brief review as a thank-you.
I love it. I use two packing cubes in it, one medium and flat for shirts/trousers, one small one for socks/underwear. After that, all my travel essentials (that for me include binoculars, as an avid bird-watcher) fit easily. I like that the interior is a single space I can configure, so if I travel with my scope I can fit it in insoite of its odd shape.
The document pocket in front is super convenient for travel docs, and there is an internal pocket (which, crucially, is flat not to take space) for the truly important docs. The laptop sleeve is great, and it is infinitely more convenient to have a separate one as in the 32L than an interior one as in the 25L if you need to pull out your laptop in a flight.
I use it in conjunction with an REI Flash 18 pack. For travel, I put its rubber backing in the laptop sleeve of the Patagonia, I put what I need during flight in it (phone charger, earphones, etc) and I stuff it in the large top pocket of the Patagonia, where it fits easily. At destination, I put the backing back into it, and I have a backpack for day use.
I have traveled now for two weeks around the world with it and it was great.
I cannot say it’s better than the Cotipaxi Allpa. They are just different and I haven’t tried the Allpa; I think I would also have been quite happy with it. The Allpa is more organized and more capacious. Of the Patagonia, I love that it’s like a normal and very comfortable backpack (I am typing this while walking/standing in line for two hours at an airport somewhere), it has a bottle holder, narrow enough to fit under the seat, easy to access what I have at the top (hat, extra layer) without having to lay it flat to open, very practical layout.
I suspect that with the Allpa I would have found an equally long if somewhat different list of things to like, but as I am very happy with the Patagonia, I don’t think I will have an Allpa anytime soon!
Hey everyone! I'll keep this brief as there is an awful lot of opinion on this bag, but I thought I'd add a little further insight!
I’ll start with a caveat…. I found this for £93 (brand new) on sale in the UK recently. At that price, there is just nothing *decent* that can compare in my opinion. You would have to spend at least £150 before getting close to the “good” bags (RRP in the UK is £155).
Also, for reference, I’m a 6ft 4 (193 cm) man.
Common complaints:
Doesn’t stand on its own:
Absolutely valid, you’d need to be a balancing master to get this to stand upright. If you are very careful, and don’t add anything to the (very large) top pocket, you may be OK….. But I’d just assume it’s always going to fall forward onto the front.
If this is a deal breaker, avoid the bag (for me, I really don’t care that much).
“Top Heavy”
2 parts to this:
The top pocket is absolutely massive - I typically prefer this (snacks for the kids etc), but it does make the “lid” a little cumbersome if you are in and out of your pack a lot.
More annoyingly for me….. They have made the top part of the pack bigger than the bottom. It’s not a huge amount, but I don’t love the silhouette when it’s fully packed out - I’d much rather it was either the same size from top to bottom, or even a little tapered as you get up towards the neck.
Neither “issue” is that much of a game changer for me, but something to bear in mind.
Material:
I never had the “classic” shiny Black Hole material, so I can’t compare. However, I do very much like this material - It’s easy to clean, looks nice and is very lightweight.
Organisation:
This is an easy one…. If you like bags with built in organisation - Don’t get this. You can just assume this bag has NO organisation at all, because each pocket is just one big space.
I use cubes and pouches for all of my gear, so the big open space works much better for me personally.
Whenever I have lots of admin storage, I end up rarely using it, and the pens just become placeholders for aesthetic reasons!
OK, I think that’s covered the common complaints, so I’ll look at a few big plus points for me.
Positives:
Price:
Even RRP isn’t a bad deal, and any saving you can get makes this bag a very attractive option.
Comfort:
It’s a very light pack, and carries very well when packed out.
As I’m a relatively tall guy, the “one size fits all” hip belts rarely work for me, with the hip belt usually being around the top of my stomach, rather than closer to my hips, so the fact this can pack a lot, carry well and not have the hip belt is nice.
Ventilation is…. Average. If you typically sweat, I don’t think this pack will be any different for you.
Storage:
A bags main purpose is to carry stuff, and this does it extremely well.
Travel:
I’ll come back and update this soon, as I’m traveling with it as a personal item on the worlds tightest airline (Ryanair) - I have no doubt I’ll be fine providing I don’t overstuff it.
I have had a couple of trips (car) and it’s a great bag to travel with.
Brand:
Slightly controversial maybe, but the history and customer service of Patagonia is a nice sweetener. With some other companies, you just don’t know what you’re gonna get!
Size:
For a 32L bag, it’s really not that big at all - I actually prefer the sleekness of the 25L, but the 32L just wins in all departments and isn’t much bigger (from a dimensions POV).
Conclusion:
There are SO many good bags these days, it’s hard to narrow it down to the one that will fit your needs.
Had this not been on offer for what was the lowest price I’d ever seen it for, I’m not sure I’d have picked it up necessarily.
Once you get into that £150 - £200 bracket, it's easy to gradually creep up and up and before you know it you are looking at £250 bags.
The reality is..... Are they *that* much better? Absolutely not.
After £120 ish, you are getting incredibly small improvements for a much larger price.
It’s definitely a “bare bones” sort of bag, but with that comes some advantages (weight, customisation) that other, more structured bags don’t have.
I’ll report back after my week away at the end of the month, but overall, I think it’s a winner.
Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer!
TL;DR: Bought the 25L, returned it and bought the 32L. Much happier with the 32L. 32L is bigger and has a more accessible main compartment, a separate laptop compartment, a flatter bottom which allows it to stand up on its own (compared to the 25L which does not stand on its own for some dumb reason) and an additional row of daisy-chained webbing. If you're okay with the size of the 32L, definitely go with it over the 25L!
Hey OneBag!
I ordered the 25L Patagonia Black Hole backpack after looking around for an EDC/adventure backpack that would last me a long time, be functional and still look great. Now, everyone doesn't like the glossy finish of the Black Hole bags, but I think they look fantastic (especially the black ones). It arrived and I was initially really excited about it. But after a few days of using it I realised there were some major drawbacks with the 25L version that I had ordered.
I ended up sending it back and ordering the 32L version instead, and it's been nothing but fantastic so far. It improves on everything I disliked about the 25L version. When I was considering buying these backpacks I had a hard time finding discussion about the different versions. In this post I'd like to go over a few of the pro's and con's of the two backpacks if anyone is in the same position I was.
Size
The optimal size for you will ultimately depend on how tall you are (and what you need it for). I'm a reasonably tall dude, coming in at about 6'1, and I found the 25L to be a little too small. The "height" of the bag is perfect, but it's very lacking depth-wise. It's also not very wide, which gives it a bit of an awkward shape when it's worn. Packing it is also more difficult compared to a wider backpack, where you don't have to dig into as narrow of a compartment that the 25L is.
The 32L is both wider and has greater depth (distance between your back and the outer part of the backpack), which makes it both easier to pack and unpack. I was worried that it would be too bulky and large when it's not full of stuff, but it sort of magically shrinks down when it's only half packed.
The one thing I actually prefer about the 25L is the smaller top compartment where you usually keep your wallet, keys, etc. On the 32L the zipper goes lower on the sides, which means stuff falls out if you accidentally open it too wide.
Looks
This part is obviously subjective, so take my review with a grain of salt. I initially liked how the 25L looked, but quickly realised it hugged my back a bit too tightly. It looked more like it was a part of my back rather than a classical "backpack"-look.
The Black Hole material is fantastic. It looks really nice and is extremely durable. Luckily I haven't been in a position where it would be able to rip, but from what I've heard the material is incredibly durable.
The 32L does not look "too big" even when it's fully packed, which was something I was initially worried about when considering the 32L over the 25L. As I said earlier I'm a 6'1 dude with reasonably broad shoulders.
Features
One of the main differences between the 25L and 32L is that the 32L version has a separate laptop compartment. It's "TSA-approved" which means you can unzip it all the way to the bottom and lay the compartment out flat from the rest of the backpack. Since I use the backpack for EDC i usually only zip it open on the side of the backpack and access my laptop that way. But I guess it's nice to have the option of opening it all the way when traveling eventually opens up again.
The 32L features two rows of daisy-chained webbing instead of the single row of the 25L. Two rows allows for treading string between them and keeping shoes and other stuff secured on the outside of the packpack.
There's also an additional carrying-strap on the outside of the backpack which allows for picking it up easily when it's laying backside-down.
One of the most annoying things about the 25L is how the bottom of it is formed. Since the backpack is designed to hug your back tighter than a traditional backpack the bottom part is not parallell to the ground. This means that when you set it down, no matter how much is packed into it, it does not stand on its own. This gets very annoying as an EDC-bag, since you're constantly putting it on the ground/floor and picking it up. The 32L, however has a flatter bottom, which stands on its own even when it's not heavily/fully packed.
If you're considering buying either of these two backpacks I hope you found this somewhat helpful!