24L Adventure Pack

I took this adventure pack to Iceland for 17days. It served as my personal item and camera backpack. I was able to carry my F-stop shallow pro small cube with OM mark 1 camera body, 70-200 lens and 2 other lens and teleconvertors. Plenty of remaining room for rain jacket and pants, gloves, hat, snacks. Tripod fit easily on one side pockets and secured with compression strap. What I loved about this pack despite 15lbs or more of equipment on any given day and hours of hiking the pack was extremely comfortable. It held up in windy and light rain. I bought a rain cover but never needed it. This pack went everywhere in Iceland and survived dirt, lava rocks, wet waterfalls and daily heavy use. It fits under Delta airlines seats and after heavy use it looks new. I am 5’9 female and 138 lbs and pack fits great.

The 24L is a great bag and so very close to perfect. This bag hits all of the checkbox’s for anyone looking for a daypack/travelpack/workpack.

Matador made sure you had easy access to main compartment through a couple of routes…the front clamshell and through the back. The main storage is big and easy to get to thanks to the two access points. I’ll keep a tech bag, jacket, large portable battery, and other odds and ends I’ll just toss in there. There’s a great laptop sleeve (that doubles for a space for your water bladder) that keeps things in place thanks to a strong magnet.

Inside of the clamshell lid are a bunch of good pockets and this is great for those second priority quick access things. For me, it’s a small portable MagSafe battery, eyeglass cleaners, snacks, business cards, pens, notebook, etc.

The top storage pocket is deep and wide and where I keep my glasses and sunglasses or anything I need quick access to. What would make this space perfect is if they included a couple of small inside pockets here.

Outside of the bag are two deep water bottle sleeves on both sides. There’s also a great little smugglers pocket in the middle back of the bag. You can keep extra cash, credit cards, love notes, or your passport!

As for the rest of the pack, the shoulder straps are pretty comfortable and easy to adjust. Padding on the back is firm and allows for decent airflow on hot days while the cord system on the front is perfect for things like a jacket or anything lightweight.

By biggest gripe with the backpack is the strap used to slide your backpack over a luggage handle. I wish it was a half an inch longer to make sliding your backpack on and off the handle a tad easier.

Overall, this is a great backpack. Highly recommend it if you’re looking for one. Oh..and if you’re flying, it does fit underneath the seat!

The 24L has great functional design — not too large on a woman's frame, amazing organization pocket design, and a large quick-access pocket at the top. I am able to fit my sling into the quick access pocket, reduce my tech pouch from 2L down to 1L with the functional organization section.

Given how much the zipper is advertised in all the bag channels, though, it's a let-down for me. It often catches on the fabric when I try to unzip. I've used Nomatic, Evergoods, AER, Tom Bihn, Able Carry, and Bellroy bags and rarely have zipper issues, From my diagnosis, the uneven sewing is the root cause. The inconsistent tension makes the fabric wrinkle unevenly, leaving an uneven offset between the fabric and the zipper — and the zipper edge stays wavy even after it's opened. Not very visually pleasing vs other name branded bag.

Another issue is the shoulder strap. There's a 2" section at the top that isn't padded, so instead of a fully padded strap curving around the shoulder, the padding only covers it partially and the valley of my shoulder feels pinched. Still usable, but not as good as what Matador advertised.

One side note: the red colorway looks sick — too bad Matador reserves it for direct store purchases only, so I can only pre-ordered the green version from REI instead . Limiting customer's choice due of the marketing strategy isn't very cool.

Bottom line: Not all colorway are available for all channels, has some quality flaws that hurt the experience — but the pocket design is genuinely smart. It's nice that Matador aimed for the $200 market, but I'm not sure trading sewing quality for value was worth it for this new branding series.

Great Pack! Very durable and great storage!

It's been 3 weeks since I got this excellent backpack. It may finally be the perfect EDC - not too heavy, great look, super comfortable, great build quality, great organization and the 24L size is the perfect size for daily carry! I've been using it primarily for public commute to the office, short 2-3 hour hikes, and just casual commute around town. As some mentioned the backpack may be slightly over-engineered given there are so many options to access your gear. But I find all the access points useful for various scenarios. Not even sure what I would have changed. Multiple grab handles work well for me too although not quite necessary. Otherwise, perfect backpack. Recommend.

The Rolling luggage handle pass-through is not wide enough for many carry-on handles like may Travel Pro; like the pack but that is a deal breaker and will return

Was hesitant paying this much for a 24L bag but knowing the brand, bit the bullet. Have not been disappointed one bit and has easily turned into my new daily carry and weekend warrior. Every feature from the duel access main compartment to the removable straps have been well thought out. Trying to figure out which larger one is going to replace my week long travel bag now!

Went on a 7 mile hike up in Gray/Torrey with this excellent bag. Twas the best with the cushy shoulder straps and back panel, although I’d appreciate a beefier hip belt, it was easy to remove. That key leash -like tether on the hip was awesome, I will say. Thanks Matador for my new default!

A backpack that fits comfortably and does what I need. It can carry 2 laptops and my ipad + a couple days worth of clothes and a big electronics bag. I tested this one against the Aer Travel Pack 4 and the 24L Adventure Pack won all day. I'm 6'2" and 215 lbs. and work out a lot. Most bags do not fit me and the buckle ends up near my mid chest. Not this bag! It's awesome. Has all the organization and room I've been looking for. Thank you Matador for making the perfect bag.

I have been using it for work, taking all of my belongings that in other backpacks have been super heavy. This 24L backpack makes it feel like im barely holding anything! Its super comfortable, and I love the waist strap to keep it tight to my body. The storage organization is awesome, I feel like there is a pocket for everything I carry. And if there are items that I dont have a pocket for, the main compartment holds everything very well. I love the slim architecture of the bag, it makes it feel like im not carrying something super large. Its still very early on so I am trying not to get too excited, but so far it is exceeding my expectations. Normally I can tell when a bag has flaws but so far, I detect nothing. I really do believe this is going to be the bag that outlasts all the others in my collection.

I have mixed feelings on this bag. I almost returned it at first because it wasn’t going to work for what I wanted it for, but it’s a really good looking bag so I kept it.
Pros
- The colors are great. I have garnet with the white drip kit and it’s sharp!
- Water bottle holders are great! Deep enough for long bottles.
- Comfortable
- Love the dual top or clamshell access. Definitely the biggest selling point for me.

Cons
- Was hoping to use as personal item (it’s only 24l after all) but the rigid frame and fact that it’s 19” prevent that.
- This bag looks like a 28-30l bag but it’s definitely 24l when packed out.
- A bit overbuilt. There’s a lot going on here.
- Zippers aren’t as good as YKK and Aquaguard frequently catches.
- No strap holders. Lots of dangle here.
- Top quick access pocket is way too big and isn’t lined so it’s not great for protecting glasses/sunglasses and it eats into the inside storage.
- Too many handles. There are two handles on the top alone (why?) and two “side” handles which are mostly on the top.
- Doesn’t stand up.

I feel that with some improvements this could be a great EDC/personal item bag. I know there’s a new 18l pack for that, but 18l is a bit small for those of us who travel with kids.

What a perfect little weekend backpack. I love taking short 1-2-day trips, and I think this will be my new bag for them. Having built-in packing cubes for a smaller backpack is perfect. I love the way the top of this opens, and the fact that it still has a hip strap. It fits all my needs for a weekend without issue. The Juniper color is a bit darker in person, but lovely.

I’ve been using the Adventure Pack on several work and personal trips and absolutely love how versatile this backpack is. For a 24L pack, it offers an impressive number of features. The dual access to the main compartment is especially convenient, and the new-style zippers are smooth and easy to use.

There are also plenty of pockets to keep all my gear and gadgets organized, and the hidden pocket is a nice surprise. Overall, I’m really enjoying the Adventure Pack so far!

I love how versatile the 24L Adventure Pack is for all our travels and adventures! It's super high-quality and well-designed. Definitely recommend it for the adventurer who is looking for one travel bag that can do it all!

This is definitely my new favorite all-purpose backpack! I was so impressed by how many thoughtfully designed pockets and compartments it has both inside and out. It seriously makes packing a more organized and enjoyable experience now. And the suitcase-style opening is probably my favorite feature on a backpack. This will be my go-to bag from coffee shop work days to weekend trips out of town.

We used the 24L Adventure Pack every day during our month-long West Coast road trip, and it quickly became our favorite backpack! We loved the Juniper color, and the mix of top-loading and clamshell access made it really easy to grab whatever we needed without digging through everything. It was comfortable enough to wear all day and had plenty of room for everything we needed while exploring!