Traveling is about experience as much as anything else, and the right luggage can genuinely enhance that experience. Not only will you be able to efficiently carry everything you need on a trip, but you’ll also have something comfortable that looks good. I’m assuming that’s what London-based Carl Friedrik aims to achieve with its new “Traverse Backpack.”
The nubuck variant comes in two colors: chocolate and charcoal. A nylon version is also available in black. The bag has some degree of water resistance, and is around $100 less expensive than the leather bag.
You get a good amount of capacity
While style and materials play into things a lot, backpacks are still practical items and the Traverse is pretty practical. I can comfortably fit enough clothing for a three to four day trip in one, along with essentials like toiletries, a laptop, and the various chargers I use.
Beyond the main compartment, you have 11 compartments in total. This includes a well padded 16” laptop compartment, another zipper for bottle storage, two small side pockets on the front, larger side pouches, and a number of compartments inside. There’s also an internal zipper portion perfect for storing documents.
This may be a point of personal preference, but it could have used a small pouch with slots for pens, notebooks, and other stationary items. Currently, there’s no little compartment where you can quickly pull something like a pen out. While check-in desks, restaurants, and airports will provide you with a pen, being able to quickly pull your own from your bag is very handy. The same goes for quickly grabbing a passport or ticket while traveling.
This isn’t a sticking point, it’s just one of the very few areas where I believe the Traverse could improve.
The leather quality is superb
If you opt for the leather version of the bag (an animal-free alternative is available for $100 less) then you aren’t going to be disappointed. From smell alone, you can tell you have a high-quality leather product on your hands.
It also has a strong leather smell, possibly the strongest I have encountered initially, so there’s no mistaking the fact it’s made from genuine cow. After a couple of weeks of use, that real leather smell is still there and noticeable from a distance.
While the exterior is definitely leather, the interior has a synthetic lining–presumably nylon. It’s comfy on the shoulder too, thanks to a generous amount of padding on the strap.
Storage may be an issue in some cases
While the pack will fit in many spaces, when fully loaded, it gets a bit wide. This basically means it may have to go up top in an aircraft every now and then. Some planes have narrow under-seat storage in certain cases. It may be the aisle, or it may be the middle, but if you have a bit of bad luck in terms of seating, then the backpack obviously isn’t going to fit.
This could be a problem if you’re boarding a plane late and all of the overhead space is taken. Though it’s also an issue that exists if you’re flying in a bulkhead seat. Again, it’s not a deal breaker but it’s something to be aware of if you’re using a traverse as your go-to travel bag.
It will eventually tell a story if you want it to
While the leather is thick and surprisingly durable, some scuffing and wear over time is pretty much inevitable. Despite the rough and tumble lifestyle, which included daily wear in a couple of cities and several stints in the overhead bin of an aircraft, the sample bag I received doesn’t really have a scuff or a scratch on it. I doubt this will always be the case. It’s eventually going to brush past a rough concrete wall or get too close to the violently crammed in bag of another passenger.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. While there are people who will use this kind of bag twice a year for something pretty formal and do their best to keep things pristine, there are others that will use it every day. The latter will have a continuously growing record of their travels. That scuff from a rush through the city, the evident wear on the one shoulder strap you always use, that near slice from that bike that clipped you. These are all memories. Don’t get me wrong, your heart will sink once the first bit of actual damage meets that pristine leather surface, but in the end, you’ll get as much joy from looking around it as you get from a photo album.
It comes with a lifetime warranty
While $750 isn’t an exuberant amount in the luxury world, especially when it comes to luggage, you should still expect something for it. Carl Friedrik seems to have delivered on the materials and the build quality. The leather is wonderful, the zippers are robust, and the stitching seems solid. Still, backpacks have a tough life, so it’s fair to worry how much use you’ll get out of your pricey pack.
Well, to be honest it may last you a lifetime. Carl Friedrik backs many of its products with a lifetime warranty. So if a stitch fails or a zipper splits ten years down the line, you can have it repaired or replaced free of charge. Obviously the warranty doesn’t include non-defect related damage. So if you catch it on a jagged spike of some kind and rip the side of the pack wide open, you’re on your own.
Interestingly, airline damage, which is always a concern with a travel pack, may be covered to some degree too. Carl Friedrik isn’t making any promises, and asks you contact the airline about any damage first. But the company is happy to chat and try to work out some kind of solution should chats with the airline fall through. More straightforward is the 100-day trial offered on all of the company’s products, so don’t just take my word for it. Go out and try this one yourself.
