Knack Bags – Our New Favorite Work and Travel Bag
I’ll admit that during Covid, the idea of trying out a new bag, or adding a new travel bag to my arsenal, was the last thing on my mind. On the other hand, I’d become so accustomed to traveling with the same boring backpack for so many years, that I had not even considered looking at any other bags.
We got turned on to this new company, Knack, and their line of bags designed to give you a #OneBagLife, one bag designed for work, travel, and play.
We gave the bag a run for its money on a recent trip across Europe, so we thought we’d highlight what we liked, what we didn’t, and why you should consider getting this bag for yourself or a fellow traveler. We all know travel is coming back, so what better gift to start 2021 out right by saying “Forget 2020, let’s focus on 2021 and beyond.â€
The Knack Bag
The Knack Bag markets itself as a “bag for mobile workers, designed by mobile workers.†But any bag out there can come with a laptop sleeve and compartments for charging cables, right? What makes Knack special and different from any other bag on the market?
The Knack bags both Large (on the left) and Medium (on the right)
In short – its versatility. We took Knack on an 11 day cross-continent road trip in Europe, jammed it full of dirty laundry and our work gear, and hit the ground running once we landed back in the USA. It checked off all of the necessary items on my list and was a great combo bag for work/travel.
Use it for Work
I always felt that if I brought my previous travel backpack with me to work, it would look unprofessional, or that I just came back from a backpacking trip up to the top of Mount Rainier. Knack had this in mind, and made sure that their bags have all the right compartments for work while still maintaining the ability to look classy and sharp for the office.
A laptop sleeve hides your laptop while a compartment underneath the bag holds the bulky charging cables out of the way.
The front passport/document holder is the best place to stash all of your credit cards/business cards along with your passport or other important paperwork.
The inside compartment has a fleece lined pocket for a tablet or smaller laptop, along with clips for your keys (or Covid hand sanitizer). To give you an idea, we have our regular headphones, our Bose headphones, a travel charger, and more. Still, after all of that, it didn’t feel puffy or stuffed.
Finally, if it rains a lot where you live (like it does in Seattle) the waterproof bag means that neither the documents inside or your laptop suffer from getting soaked. You’ll be AOK.
Use it for Travel
Finding a bag that works while you’re on a walking tour through Germany, or a biking trip around the canals in Amsterdam, is a struggle. Some bags don’t hold everything you need, and some bags seem way too big and bulky. The last thing I want is to feel like I’ve got a turtle shell on my back the entire trip.
We used our bag to carry our things with us on our trip and it wasn’t a hinderance at all. Ben snagged the medium size and I opted for the large. The medium is plenty spacious for most travelers and you’ll find all the necessary compartments make packing a ton of stuff easy.
Back pain wasn’t a worry either, as the Knack sat perfectly on our bag and gave us a pretty good posture. I didn’t feel like I was becoming a hunchback by virtue of carrying a heavy load in the Knack.
Lastly, the hidden luggage sleeve means that you can slide the knack over top of the handle of most roller suitcases, meaning you keep all your vauables in sight.
Use it for Play
If you’re heading to the gym after your day, the mesh compartments in the bag allow for storage of both clean and dirty clothes. The fabric on the inside is treated with a special antimicrobial treatment to help keep everything smelling fresh, even when you packed away those gross post workout threads.
Trust me, after over a week in Europe with our bags, we had some funky clothes stored in there. When we got on the plane to head home, sure, you could smell the clothes (I mean they were gross) but the inside of the bag didn’t carry that funk with it.
What would we change?
Honestly, not a lot. There were a couple of minor things that bugged me, but after a few weeks of using it, I mostly forgot about it.
First, there’s a compartment for documents and business cards which they also advertise as a pen/pencil compartment. The problem? There’s no holder for the pen, so your writing instruments are going to end up at the bottom of your bag. You might have to go digging around for it, instead of having it hang vertically at easy reach.
Secondly, the luggage trolley function is great, but it does have a slight flaw. Perhaps because of the waterproofing, but there’s a little lip where the stitching comes into contact with the bag. When you’re sliding the bag on, it catches, so you need to use two hands to place the bag on the trolley. Ideally, this would get reword in a version 2.0 but it’s a pretty minor complaint to what’s an overall very versatile bag.
Traveling on Airplanes
As a last little benefit, the Knack Bag works marvelously in airline cabins. If you’re flying domestically, the bag is designed to fit great underneath the seat in front of you, and of course will be great above in the overhead compartment.
If you’re heading somewhere overseas and you like to travel up front like us, it looks great in both business class…
Or, even in First Class 🙂
You can pick up your Knack Bag here, or choose one of their other products like their packing cubes as well.
