A big part of what enables me to get the most out of my travels is packing everything I need for my trip and having an efficient, effective way of storing, securing, and accessing anything and everything as easily as possible.
I have searched for a LONG time to find the “perfect bag” for travel but too many packs from places like REI seem to focus more on expedition gear with multiple variants of internal and eternal frames with all sorts of load-bearing harnesses, straps, and clasps that make the pack big, heavy, and likely to snag on any number of things.
When I finally came across The Cotopaxi Alpa, I think I may have discovered the ultimate travel pack that has all of the features I need and at the right price point. To make things even better, if I am strategic about it, I can get one of these bags to pay for itself (more on that below) with savings that it enables.
Key Features Of The Cotopaxi Alpa
As I typically do, I’ll start this travel gear review with all of the features that are most important to me and then highlight some of the more ordinary features that most travel packs have.
If you think I missed something or would like me to go into greater detail on something, let me know on Twitter or Instagram and I’ll take a closer look.
Zippered Clamshell Open
When I open my pack, I should have easy access to everything I need in a single view. I shouldn’t have too much stuff in all sorts of side pockets, compartments, and detachable sidekick packs. If I want that, I will just use packing cubes (which I often use) to further compartmentalize my things on the inside of my pack.
Too many packs have flaps, clasps, clips, ties, roll-ups, buckles, cinches, and probably some other features that I haven’t even seen before. I like a simple clamshell-style open (most packs and bags have this anyways) because it gives me access to pretty much everything from a main pouch.
Tube-style expedition packs only give you quick access to things at either end of your pack which may require you to unpack your entire bag just to get access to a single item in your pack.
A simple clamshell-style open is the best for easy access to the largest amount of your gear IMHO.
2 Main Compartments
I’m not sure how the percentage is divided between these 2 main compartments but on one side is the majority of the pack’s carrying capacity while the other side is equipped with a smaller zippered compartment with 1-2 smaller zippered compartments above that (1 on the Alpa 28 and 2 on the Alpa 35).
The largest of the main compartments should be enough to hold all of your most essential items while the other large compartment should be able to hold other essential items like shoes, swim suits, laundry bag, and more.
I personally use this second compartment to hold my swim trunks, pants, my laundry sack, and any footwear that might fit.
Zippered Pouches
All of the compartments on the Cotopaxi Alpa are zippered. Nothing is secured by a flap, cinch, buckle, clasp, etc.
Zippered pouches and pockets keep everything completely contained in its own section that not only helps you to stay organized, but also helps to prevent accidental loss from something fallout when you access a different part of your pack.
Laptop & Tablet Compartment
What pack would be complete without a specialized compartment to stow your laptop and/or tablet? In today’s world of digital nomadism and remote work, it seems like almost everyone is traveling with at least a tablet or laptop in addition to their smartphone.
Both the 35 and 28 liter packs come with a dedicated laptop compartment as well as a padded tablet pouch in the same zippered compartment.
This dedicated compartment is easily accessible from the outside of the pack so removing your electronic devices for airport security screenings is easy.
For some basic security, Cotopaxi has added small zipper stays that can make it more difficult to open all exterior pouches. You don’t need to use these if you don’t want to but it’s a nice feature if you’d like to secure your pack as best you can.
Weight Distribution Straps
Weight distribution is one of the most important features that I look for in a pack. The more evenly the weight of your pack is distributed, the longer you will be able to carry it before fatigue sets in.
Putting all of the weight of your pack on just your shoulders will cause muscle cramps and fatigue in much less time than if your distribute some of the load down onto your hips with waist straps and across your chest with sternum straps.
Tuck-In Straps
Since a backpacks have all sorts of straps, loops, toggles, and ties that easily snag on things, a lot of airlines have implemented backpack policies that may require you to secure your pack in a plastic bag unless you can secure the straps. What’s even worse is that you are often required to supply the plastic bag which not everybody may have at their immediate disposal. When the straps are tucked in, the bag looks a bit more like a duffel bag than a backpack but it helps to prevent any snags if you ever need or want to check your bag.
4 Carrying Handles
It wasn’t until I did a decent amount of traveling via multiple different methods of transit that I came to the conclusion that a bag should be easy to grab-and-go from all 4 sides. Obviously it should be easy to grab from the top (like most bags are) but what about when it gets stowed in the cargo hold of a bus or in the overhead bin in an airplane, under the seat in front of you, in the trunk of a car, and any other way that you can think to stow it for travel.
Not only does this make the bag easier to grab-and-go in just about every situation, it also makes it easy to attach things to like a carabiner-style clip or even a lock so you can secure your pack somewhere like a hostel dorm room, to a hand rail on a ferry boat, or somewhere public like a beach lounge chair.
A good travel pack that will last you a lifetime of travel should have carrying handles on all 4 sides of the pack.
Rain Cover
While it’s been a while since I got caught in a downpour waiting for a bus in Costa Rica during the rainy season, having a rain cover for your pack can prove to be invaluable.
Both the 28 and the 35 liter Alpa packs come equipped with a rain cover.
Instead of pass-through pouch that accesses the main compartment from the outside, the Alpa 28 has a small pocket-sized pouch that comes with the rain cover inside. I have never removed mine so if I ever get caught in the rain again, I’ll have the ability to quickly deploy some basic protection from the elements.
Since the Alpa 35 doesn’t have the dedicated little pouch to stow the rain cover like the Alpa 28 does, you need to put it wherever you see fit based on where you are traveling to.
I go into this in more detail below in the differences between the Alpa 28 and Alpa 35.
Keychain Clip
Both the Alpa 28 and 35 come equipped with a small but handy keychain clip in the exterior pouch.
This is nice to just clip your keys or any other important small items into your pack for the duration of your trip and know that they’re not going to fall out and hopefully less likely to get pickpocketed or something.
Vibrant Latin Colors
As far back as I can remember, I have always loved bold colors. If you look at some of my early social media posts, you can see me wearing my bright green sunglasses and maybe even a neon yellow trucker cap. There is just something about vibrant colors that I love and Latin American colors always seem to be incredibly bold. While I absolutely love the functionality of Cotopaxi products, I also love the vibrant colors that they use.
More specifically, their Del Dia product line is not only incredibly colorful but it helps to reduce waste by using smaller swatches of fabric (that might otherwise go to waste) to make one-of-a-kind packs for all sorts of different applications. Both my my Alpa packs are Del Dia and one of my cousins bought me a Cotopaxi toiletry bag as a Christmas gift a few years back and I have used it on every single one of my trips ever since.
Gear For Good
After watching a powerful documentary about fast fashion titled “The True Cost”, I have started paying much more attention to where products I buy are sourced and spend a lot more time learning about who makes the things that I consume, how are the people treated, and how can I do my part to help them to gain access to more opportunity.
Cotopaxi seems to be doing things right and playing an active part in helping their workers gain access to greater opportunities in life. Their company mantra is “Gear For Good.” And it seems that they are actually living that with their business. Each one of their packs even comes with a letter that is signed by hand by the person who made the pack. Cotopaxi has also published videos that show their team of workers in the Philippines making the packs and they appear to enjoy their work and Cotopaxi claims to pay their workers a living wage for the part of the world that they live in.
While claims made by Cotopaxi have to be trusted by me and others, they seem to be producing quality products, at reasonable prices, with ethically sourced labor, and doing their part to reduce waste via their Del Dia product line.
Differences between the 28L and 35L Alpa
The obvious difference between the 28 and 35 packs is that the 35 liter pack has 7 liters more carrying capacity than the 28 but there are a couple other important differences that are worth noting.
Different Internal Pouches
There are a couple if different internal pouches between the 2 packs. Inside of the main bag,
Zipper A chess directly to main we compartment on The 35L
Different Waist Straps
Another key difference between the Alpa 35 and the Alpa 28 is that the 35 has a removable padded waist straps that attach via Velcro under the back padding while the 28 has fixed non-padded waist straps.
Waist straps are one of the most important features that I need in a travel pack because weight distribution is an important part of reducing physical stress of carrying a pack and that can have a direct impact on how long it takes for me to fatigue while carrying a fully loaded pack.
Key Benefits Of Both Packs
While the obvious benefit of the Alpa 35 is that it has 7 more liters than the Alpa 28, it also has a slightly different internal pouch setup as well as an external zipper that accesses the main compartment directly from the outside of the pack.
How To Get A “Free” Cotopaxi Alpa 28L Pack
If you’re looking for a bit of a “travel hack” with the Alpa 28, there is a way that you can get the Alpa 28 to “pay for itself” with savings from carry-on bag fees with certain airlines. With many airlines (Ryan Air, EasyJet, Jet 2, and other budget airlines) charging for carry-on bags greater than a certain size, the Alpa 28 can save you an average of about €25 on a single one-way flight.
If you plan to travel ~7 times with that pack on any budget airline that charges fees for larger carry-on bags, the cost savings of €25 per flight is enough to pay for the pack after just 7 total flights. I’m not talking about 7 round-trip flights. I’m talking about 7 flights total.
If you couple this pack with some of my tips for packing your carry-on bag, you can travel quite comfortably with all of the essentials for a fun and meaningful trip.
Final Thoughts
The Cotopaxi Alpa is an incredibly well designed travel pack. It has all of the most essential features that anyone could need for a short weekend trip with friends or even for long-term travel to the other side of the world.
It’s a simple bag that comes in multiple sizes, 28, 35, and even a 42 (I will have to add that to this review if I ever decide to get one) that is small enough to carry-on while also being adaptable enough to easily check.
As long as the pack design never undergoes any substantial changes, The Cotopaxi Alpa will continue to be my go-to pack for my journey around the world in a lifetime.
If you are looking for an incredibly adaptable pack that can handle travel to anywhere in the world, I think you will find the Cotopaxi Alpa is one of the best that is available.
