Skip to main content

Meet Your New Favorite Adventure Travel Pack: The Cotopaxi Allpa

We’re firm believers in having the right tool for the job. Just like we wouldn’t pack summer hiking boots for a winter trek, that rolling bag or weekender tote won’t pull their weight when your travels take you further afield and off the regular tourist paths. Enter Cotopaxi’s all new Allpa travel pack.

Allpa Interior
Image used with permission by copyright holder

We got our hands on the Allpa a few weeks ago and have logged a few thousand miles road tripping to Joshua Tree, California and making a few cross-country flights. Through all of our travels, the Allpa has hauled everything from spare river sandals to dress shirts and khakis. The modular packing system of the Allpa is perfect for trips where you’ll be splitting business and adventure. We were able to organize office clothes, off duty boots and hiking pants, and our camera gear separated and arranged for easy access. It opens like a clamshell, giving you access to everything at once. The back panel is one large compartment, perfect for getting your larger items like shirts and jackets folded in. A small pocket is zipped into the side, helping you stash your valuables without fear of discovery. On the opposite side, multiple smaller pouches help you keep smaller items from turning into a mess. We especially liked the two top smaller pouches, as they kept passport and electronics in easy reach.

Related: Cotopaxi Inti Shelter

Recommended Videos

On the outside, you get a bigger dump pocket on the top. It stows a rain cover for the Allpa, and we found ourselves most often throwing in a few essentials for the day – windshirt, sunscreen, and sunglasses. The pack body is a burly laminated TPU fabric. It stood up to both harsh days in the desert, and more than a few airport baggage handlers without a scratch. Our favorite feature is the stowable harness and hip belt. With a couple of buckles, you can hide the shoulder and waist straps in the pack body itself, making carry-on for your next flight a breeze.

Cotopaxi Batac
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Allpa will ship with a companion daypack, the Batac. At 16 liters, it will carry everything you need for a day of urban or trail adventures, so you don’t have to carry your Allpa everywhere once you drop basecamp (or grab your hotel room). If you’re looking for understated performance in any environment, you won’t find a better pack system whether you’re heading out for a month in South East Asia, or just a weekend getaway in Jackson Hole. Cotopaxi thought through every minute detail with the Allpa, and their love of adventure travel really shows with this pack.

Austin Parker
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Austin Parker is a former contributor at The Manual Parker is a powder skier and sport climber and is no stranger hauling…
Exploring South Dakota’s Black Hills in spring: Snowmobiling, scenic views, and more
South Dakota has some of the best snow sports around
Longhorn goats at Badlands National Park

Snowmobiling is one of the most popular activities in South Dakota in the winter and early spring, due to the long season and extensive trail systems that cover about 416 miles and 1.2 million acres of dense pine forests, open meadows, and rugged limestone terrain. The snowmobile season officially runs from mid-December to the end of March, though the trail conditions depend on the snowfall.
Originally, the South Dakota State Tourism Office flew us out in mid-March to experience the best that the state has to offer in early spring. Unfortunately, there was a huge warm spell just as we arrived, and the snowmobile trails melted out. While it did snow plenty during our stay, it wasn’t quite enough to get us out there. That said, I was still able to chat with a bunch of locals to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to make the most of snowmobiling in the Black Hills. I also compiled some suggestions about what to do if the weather doesn't turn out the way you planned. Here’s everything I learned.

Snowmobiling in the Black Hills

Read more
Yellowstone’s latest mystery: a new volcanic vent discovered
New plumes of steam visible at Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park volcanic vent over Nymph Lake

Our national parks are always changing, and Yellowstone National Park is an excellent example of that. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) just announced that scientists have discovered a brand-new volcanic vent that has opened up in the park. While it was originally discovered on August 5, 2024, when a park scientist driving south from Mammoth Hot Springs saw a plume of steam above the tree line, the USGS has finally confirmed that it is indeed a new volcanic vent.

This new hydrothermal feature sits at the base of a rhyolite lava flow and is surrounded by mineral-rich ground in the Roadside Springs thermal area. If you look south near a pullout along the Mammoth to Norris road just north of the Nymph Lake overlook, you should be able to see it over the other side of the marsh.

Read more
Isuzu Basecamp is an ultra-rugged truck camper that’s ready for anything
The already legendary Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 gets a serious upgrade for trail-hungry overlanders.
An Isuzu Arctic Trucks Basecamp truck camper parked in the woods with rooftop tent deployed.

Iceland's Arctic Trucks has partnered for years with Isuzu UK to trick out the brand's best and baddest off-road rigs.  But its latest work, codenamed Basecamp, takes the partnership to a whole new level.

Every Basecamp truck is born from the legendary Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35 — a rig that the brand describes as its "most capable pickup ever. 25 years in the making." It's an ultra-rugged, go-anywhere truck that's purpose-built for the world's toughest environments. But Arctic Trucks saw fit to do better.

Read more