The Patagonia Lightweight Travel Courier is lightweight, compact, and much like everything Patagonia makes, it’s made in way that’s as environmentally conscious as possible. It makes a great carry-on for airline trips, and it’s perfect for carrying books around campus. Those books are already heavy enough, why add weight with excessively thick layers of canvas, codura, or nylon?
This courier bag has 1281 cu. in. of storage space, measures 10.5″ high, 18″ wide and 6″ deep. It’s quite sizable, yet it comes in at only 9 oz. This means you can carry everything you need without worrying about the additional weight from the bag. This bad is also the ultimate in simplicity; it only has one main compartment accessible by zipper, and adjustable draw string. In addition, it has one full length side pocket. This is unlike other bags that have a hundred pockets that make you feel like you need to put something in each one, and then forget where everything went later. This construction also keeps the materials used, and the weight of the bag to a minimum.
Another cool feature of this bag is that it’s packable. This means it can all be tucked into its own pocket. Pull the drawstring tight, and this bag makes for a tiny and light package that can be stowed in a cargo pocket, or within another bag, just in case you feel you will need extra storage for the return home.
The fabric is a 50-denier triple ripstop nylon that is both lightweight and tough. It is coated with polyurethane and uses a DWR (durable water resistent finish). The bottom is reinforced with 150-denier made from 47% recycled polyester. This reinforcement layer is a double-weave ShiftLayer, which means that instead of the bag rubbing between the the contents of your bag, and the abrasive ground, it is able to shift or slide against itself, making for less chance of tearing or wear-through.
It is available in a variety of colors, and, true to Patagonia’s form, the dyes used for the bag are environmentally friendly. According to their website, they “eliminated colors from the line that required the use of toxic metals and sulfides” in the mid-1990′s [Source: Patagonia.com]. Being a person who greatly enjoys the outdoors and the environment, I think it’s pretty awesome when a company makes a commitment like this, let alone that they did it long before “going green” was the “cool” thing to do.
Overall the bag is a great piece of kit for your lightweight travels. It is great by itself for short trips, or as a supplement to your lightweight luggage set.