I recently bough the Tomtoc Navigator, sometimes referred to as the T-66 or travel backpack or travel laptop bag, or A82. Whatever it’s called where you live let me tell you why I bought it. The This 40L travel bag has all the features I wanted and as I already owned two other Tomtoc products, the Sling and the Tech bag, I figured the quality would be great and the price would be right too. I paid $80 plus shipping for my Tomtoc Navigator on Amazon.
I have also used a North Face Vault 28L as a carry-on which is a good quality backpack but for a recent trip I needed to carry more gear and I wanted a bigger bag that would max out my carry-on allowance and also have plenty of compartments to carry my tech gear safely.
Among the extra things I wanted to take were my larger camera bag, a 6L PGY Tech bag, 13 inch MacBook Pro, and my Tomtoc tech pouch full of wires and thumb drives. I wanted a carry-on that would comfortably hold these items and also hold more clothes for the longer trip.
The Tomtoc Navigator is a 40L bag with one main compartment, a laptop compartment, and smaller pockets to hold cords, loose things, and an easy access compartment on the top of the bag. The main compartment can easily hold my camera bag, tech bag, my sling when it’s not on my body, and enough extra clothes for a few days in an emergency. It can also be cinched down if the bag isn’t full.
The bag opens clamshell style which I found handy for taking out larger objects like my camera bag without messing up the other stuff I’ve packed in there. It also has a pocket on the outside to put loose things and a small pocket on the top which is probably mean’t for a passport and such but I didn’t use it – something you want quick access to would work in that space. These pockets are not huge but enough for access to documents you might want to access easily at the airport.
I found the Tomtoc travel bag comfortable enough whether it was on my back or front. I’m 6’1 and was able to adjust the straps to fit comfortably. I filled the main compartment with my PGY tech one go 6L camera bag, my tech pouch, clothes, and my sling when I wasn’t using it. In the laptop compartment I was able to put my 13inch MacBook Pro inside a neoprene sleeve – there is plenty of space for up to a 17inch laptop and the ability to open just the tech compartment made it easy to take my computer in and out when going through security.
I’ve only taken it on one trip so far so whether it will hold up as well on multiple trips as good as one of the more expensive brands only time will tell. This time, I went for the budget option, it seems good quality and was a very practical carry-on bag.
As I said I previously used the North face vault backpack as my carry-on, and still do for smaller trips. That is a great backpack and would still recommend it against other 28L backpacks but I wanted to replace it with something that would max out my carry-on allowance for longer haul trips. The Vault’s laptop sleeve can fit my 13inch MacBook Pro, but it is quite tight. I can’t put my laptop in the Vault’s sleeve with the neoprene case on it. In the Tomtoc T-66 laptop sleeve there is plenty of room for a 13inch laptop, with neoprene sleeve on, or a larger laptop if you have one. In addition to that there is the seperate tablet sleeve.
I didn’t really consider any other options when I was buying this bag as I’d been so happy with my previous Tomtoc purchases so I knew it would at least be a decent bag. There are other options like the AER and Peak design in this size range and design style. So of course there are fancier options available but some of those are $300 to $400 versus the $80 on the Tomtoc. As I was on a budget I went for the Tomtoc Navigator. If money is no object maybe you’d go with the AER as they make good gear… But I don’t know if I would. This bag does the job for me at a good price, why spend more than you need to.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cost $80 – some similar bags are much more expensive | Material not as fancy as more expensive products. |
| Large main compartment | |
| Clamshell opening | |
| Large laptop sleeve + additional full size Tablet sleeve | |
| YKK zippers | |
| Extra pockets on back and top |
The only potential downside is fully packed out it is near/slightly over the carry-on dimensions depending on the airline. That is if someone from the airline inspects closely, I don’t expect to have any issues in this regard. The dimesions can be cinched down if not full packed.
The material feels very similar to the material other Tomtoc products are made of such as the EDC Sling and tech bag. It’s like the AER material feels better than the Tomtoc sling but it’s also 3 or 4 times the price. I made my choice on that and chose the Tomtoc navigator T-66*.
*T-66 and A82 appear to be the same bag, designation is based on geographic market.
*As with all my reviews this is not sponsored in any way. I bought the Tomtoc Navigator 40L travel bag with my own money and tested it on my own travels.
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