The Knack Pack Series 2 is a magnificent, convertible, multi-sized, professional travel pack for One Bag Life. Picture the nicest Swiss-army knife you can imagine: flexible, practical, but damn good looking. This is the luggage version of that knife. It’s the best travel pack I’ve ever enjoyed.
Quick Pros:
- Convertible design
- Great materials
- Sleek aesthetic
- Terrific layout
- Flexible usage
- Really, just read on
Quick Cons:
- Back-side hanger would be nice.
- Ummmm… it doesn’t make a good latte?
- Seriously, I got nothing. This is a damn good bag.
WHY THIS REVIEW
At its core, One Bag Life — the ability to travel pretty much anywhere for pretty much anything with just a single, carry-on bag — requires getting maximal benefit out of minimal goods. Quality multi-purpose tools are the name of the game, and the bag that holds those tools should be viewed as one itself: a One Bag bag needs to be flexible and sensible.
Last March, I reviewed a travel bag that aims for just that: the Large-size Series 1 Knack Pack (v2) from Knack Bags. Though I loved many of its features — enough to consider it the best thing I’d yet encountered for my One Bag Life — I still had issues with a few aspects of its design.
Lo and behold, Knack recently released a new version of their Medium-size bag: Knack Pack Series 2. They sent me one to give it a look-see (per my standing policy: no strings attached), and I honestly couldn’t be more pleased. It fixes almost every issue I had with the previous generation’s design. It’s just stunning.
Knack’s Series 2 is a staggering leap forward for One Baggers.
How staggered am I? I made my first video review comparing to give you a run through of the bag’s features while comparing it to my Series 1.
WHAT IT IS
This is a bag that converts between briefcase and backpack carry modes while also converting between long-haul and short-haul sizes — and looking professional no matter what.
Let me start with some specs and such, comparing this new Medium bag to the old Large one I’ve been using for the past year:
DIMENSIONS
Series 2 Medium:
- Size: 19 x 12 x 4.5 / 9”
- Volume: 24 / 35L
- Weight: 3lb
Series 1 Large:
- Size: 21.5 x 14 x 4.5 / 9.5”
- Volume: 30 / 46L
- Weight: 3lb 4oz
I should say that these numbers are a bit deceptive in that the Series 2 design — at least for the way I pack and travel — provides a greater percentage of its volume as usable space. In fact, I’ve been testing whether this Medium pack could replace the Large pack as my go-to One Bag for travel. More on that good news below.
Materials and Make
Knack’s bags aren’t cheap, because nothing they use is cheap. In a world of shoddy, throw-away workmanship that lasts a trip or two before breaking, Knack is attempting to build products for years of use. I’ve been highly impressed with the build quality on my Series 1 pack, and this Series 2 pack looks even better. When you factor “length of use” into these kinds of buying decisions you quickly find that durable products might be more expensive up front — but over the long haul they’ll almost always be less expensive than multiple cheap replacements. It’s also a huge relief to feel confident that the One Bag you’ve got isn’t going to break mid-trip.
The nylon parts of this new bag are 420 denier (the “Storm Gray” color takes this up to 600 denier), with PU coating for water-resistance. So it’s solid, durable, and weather-ready without weighing a ton. The bottom part of the bag is a thick pleather that looks refined and adds to long-term life, while the handles are foam-padded mesh topped with full-grain napa leather that feels really great in the hand.
The liner inside is 150 denier, anti-microbial, and stain-resistant: winner, winner, winner. Knack has consistently used a light-colored liner in their packs, which is exactly the right thing to do: traditional black linings make it harder to find things inside a bag. On the Series 1 pack, this liner was a bright white-and-orange. It made me smile every time I opened it, though I admit it might have been a little too much sunshine for some folks. The Series 2 pack has a slightly more subdued white-and-gray that strikes a really terrific balance between professionalism and practicality. Just A+ work.
Hardware is more of the good stuff. Buckles and sliders are Duraflex. Zippers are YKK, water-resistant, reverse coil, and lockable. Because of design changes I’ll get into below, the lockable zippers on the Series 2 make this a far more secure bag than the previous generation, which is a huge improvement to me.
I should note, regarding the locking zippers, that while the bag is designed to take standard TSA-approved travel locks, Knack makes their own such locks. I can’t say for sure — since I don’t have any — but my assumption is they’re great. That’s been my track record from Knack so far, for sure.
On the Outside
SHOULDER STRAPS. Aside from adding a classy touch of leather across the top of the shoulder, there’s not a lot of difference between the new Series 2 straps and the Series 1 straps — and that’s fine. They already had the basics right, after all: ergonomic shape, good foam padding with comfortable mesh backing. I felt that the Large size pack could use load lifters at the shoulder, but the Medium size feels fine without them.
As on the Series 1, the Series 2 design allows the shoulder straps to be quick released and tucked away for safe-keeping. This is essential on a good travel bag. If you are forced to check your bag — heavens forbid! — you don’t want those straps flopping around into conveyer belts and the like. Two really great changes here, though.
One, the strap slot can be zippered shut! The Series 1 had a flap that was inexplicably open to the elements. This is so much better now.
Two, unlike the Series 1, the Series 2 bag has a side handle: so you can also use it in “briefcase mode” once the straps are tucked away. This makes a professional-styled bag more useful for the traveling professional. No more walking into meetings looking like a backpacking nomad … even if you are one!
The only complaint I can manage here is that the bottom corner attachment points for these straps, as they did on the Series 1 bags, detract a bit from the bag’s sleek design when you go into briefcase mode. It’s not a big deal, though. It may be something that no one will notice but me.
STERNUM STRAP. The Sternum Strap works basically like it did on the Series 1 bags — it’s adjustable and easily removable — but Knack has added a quick-release buckle in the middle of it that makes the whole apparatus less floppy if you have it attached but not in use. I still prefer a strap that clips away like my very first (and very old) Minaal bag has, but this is still a big improvement over Knack’s previous offering.
HIP BELT. There isn’t one here, but I don’t feel its loss on this Medium bag like I did with the Large bag. No big deal. Carry on. (rimshot)
BACK PAD. Knack does a good job here. The back padding is a comfortable EVA memory foam: not too thick and not too thin. The material chosen has a low R-factor — meaning it doesn’t trap heat against your back — and this Medium one even has one more airflow channel than my old Large one. There’s a slot for a trolley handle behind the pad, which is great, and the Series 2 design actually hides a full-width secret zippered pocket inside of that. Winner winner!
HANDLE. Leather up top, mesh underneath, framing just enough firm-but-squishy foam to make the handle grip nicely in the hand without making it stick out and ruin the aesthetic. And, again, there are two of them. Another huge improvement.
The only complaint I can have here — and it was a problem on the Series 1 bags, too — is that the position of the handle on the front is not ideal. For one thing, it means that the weight of the bag isn’t evenly set in the hand, especially if it’s loaded full. Worse, it means that the bag can only be hung up with its face against the wall or door: if you’re wanting to hang the bag to access things you’ll be doing it all blind and backwards.
The way I think of it is this: picture yourself needing to make a quick-change in a public bathroom. You’ll want to hang your bag up — setting it down in the floor soup is no good — but hanging it by the front-mounted handle means you can’t access the front compartment at all, and to get to the other two main compartments you’ll be reaching around the stiff back of the bag. This makes it harder to get to things, harder to find things, and more likely to drop things in the aforementioned floor soup. Is this a worst-case scenario? Sure. But I’ve been there. Multiple times.
The most elegant solution is to move the handle towards the back of the bag, though it looks to me like that’s not possible given Knack’s wonderful expansion compartment (more on that in a moment). As an alternative, I’d suggest incorporating a simple, unobtrusive hanging loop on the back of the bag. Nothing fancy. Nothing large. Just enough to hang the bag face-out when needed. I’m hoping this is something Knack will incorporate on a Series 2 Large bag down the line (please oh please make one!).
On the Inside
FRONT COMPARTMENT. When I reviewed Knack’s Series 1 Large back, I thought that its biggest weaknesses — outside of the missing side handle — were its front-facing triangle pocket and its bottom compartment. I thought these were ill-designed and inflexible, which are big no-nos to One Bag Life. I am elated, therefore, to say that Knack completely eliminated the bottom compartment for the Series 2 Medium bag, and totally redesigned its former triangle pocket into a sensible front pocket. So much winning.
The Series 2 front compartment now features both a U-zip configuration and a “mobile office” layout that’s flexible and modern. Pens and pencils, chargers and adapters … everything finds a ready home in the various pockets — including a nicely sized monofilament mesh pocket up front. There’s also a fleece-lined pocket for sunglasses and a detachable key leash in here. It’s just great. Plus, the zippers on this compartment are lockable, and Knack’s lining blocks RFID scanners, which means this is a perfectly secure place to carry your passport. Terrific improvements over the Series 1 design.
SIDE (BOTTLE) COMPARTMENT. Knack says this is sized for the popular 17 oz S’well or 24 oz Hydro Flask bottles, as well as their own 20 oz insulated bottle (I don’t own one, but like their locks I assume it’s great given Knack’s quality builds). I’ve tested the pocked with my current go-to bottles: the 24 oz Coleman Autoseal and the Grayl Ultralight Purifier. Both are very tight fits, which makes me wish the compartment had maybe a quarter inch more depth. Maybe I just need to check out Knack’s bottle and see if they can convert me to it.
Anyway, at a design level I really like the way this pocket allows my bottle to be open and ready when I’m hiking … or zipped out of view when I don’t want to look like a hiker. It’s clever, practical, and professional. Just like everything else on this bag!
MAIN COMPARTMENT. In here you’ve got two generously sized monofilament mesh pockets (one zippered, one quick-access), another zippered pocket, and a fleece-lined tablet pocket. And between them all is an open compartment for books, jackets, or whatever you want that isn’t reduced by the bottom compartment that was part of the Series 1 design. And (and!) the U-zip access isn’t hampered by the gussets that were on the older bag. In sum, the Series 2 is flexible and sensible. Sense a theme?
If you’re planning to go the One Bag Travel route, I’d highly recommend picking up Knack’s Shoe Compression Bag, which allows you to pack an extra pair of shoes into this space along with your toiletries. I’ll go into this more when I do my latest One Bag Gear post.
LAPTOP COMPARTMENT. This compartment is sized for a 15” (diagonal) laptop to slip in from the side. I don’t carry a laptop, so this is where my iPad lives. The only tweak I’d suggest here (if it’s possible) is the same thing I said about the same compartment on the Series 1: an L-zip or U-zip compartment (rather than a slot-zip) would increase access to this space, which would also increase its flexibility.
LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT. The best for last! Like the Series 1 bag, the Series 2 bag has a hidden zipper that, once undone, expands its volume with another packing compartment: in this case, it’s 11 liters of clamshell packing fun! This feature, more than any other, is the reason Knack is my go-to bag right now.
In the past, despite my dedication to One Bag travel, I’ve had to carry a second bag with me for daily excursions. Hauling a big and bulky bag around the city or countryside isn’t ideal when all you really need it for is a few things that day. But with Knack, the luggage compartment can be zipped away when you don’t need it. This means I can get to my lodgings, empty this luggage compartment, and then convert the bag from a long-haul size to a short-haul size. No longer do I need a second bag!
Even better, Knack has incorporated a compressing panel on one side of this compartment — compression panels are superior than criss-crossing straps — along with a monofilament mesh pocket on the other side. And unlike the Series 1 design, this Series 2 pocket has actual depth, making it far more usable for packing. Combined, these features mean you can pack quite a lot in here even without packing cubes, which is good.
That said, though, I still recommend using packing cubes for their flexibility and their compression capabilities. This is especially the case if you use Knack’s available packing cubes or Knack’s Packing Insert, which is perfectly sized to fill this compartment (and is what I’m using). I’ve tested all these and they’re great quality. More than that, they all incorporate the same zippered expansion/contraction feature that hides away this luggage compartment. Open the cubes up all the way while you back, then zip them down to compress your clothes to fit more in the bag. Choosing the packing insert or cubes is just a question of whether you want your clothes in one bundle or a few.
CONCLUSIONS
If you can’t tell, I really love this bag. It’s just fantastic.
I truly hope Knack produces a Series 2 Large version of this bag — one that hopefully can tweak away my handful of minor complaints above (especially that hanging loop!). I’m managing to make the Series 2 Medium work for my One Bag packing, but it’s tight even with my carefully refined kit (again, I’ll go into this more in a post about my Travel Kit). Most folks, I think, would need the extra space of the larger size. As of this writing, Knack says they’re considering this.
I also hope they’ll produce a full-leather version of this excellent Series 2 bag. They have a black leather version of the Series 1, which would surely be great in the new design, but far better, I think, would be something like the Brandy full-grain leather in my trusty Thursday boots. If it sounds like I’m advising an heirloom quality travel pack, it’s because I am: the Series 2 bag is so damn good I’ll want to hand one down to the next generation of travelers, and nothing fits that concept better than rich and durable full-grain leather.
Keep up the great work, Knack!