The Best Suitcases of 2024

While NEMO’s promises of sustainable, high-performance materials will attract some, the NEMO Vantage 30 Adventure Backpack’s ($130) real distinction comes from its cross-activity design. It’s a full-on digital nomad pack with multiple compartments, including the now-familiar work compartment — as well as one the company built for running or hiking shoes. 

Functionality revolves around a center-zip, duffel-style opening up front that holds clothes for a weekend trip. Two zippered pockets inside help keep small items put. Outside mesh pockets can hold (very) small water bottles or an umbrella. The compartment NEMO designed for shoes zips open behind the main pocket — from the bottom of the pack. 

Finally, the tech compartment includes mesh and segmented pockets for the usual array of cords, earbuds, notebooks, pens, etc. The laptop pocket is also mesh, which is an unusual choice. In practice, the storage compartments are an excellent blend. We were able to store electronics and delicate items in the tech compartment, as well as our clothes and other gear in the duffel-like area on the bag’s posterior. 

The only issue that we had during testing was that the mesh water bottle pockets were puzzlingly slim. They’ll fit disposable water bottles, but we ended up just throwing our Nalgene’s in the pack itself. It’s a small problem, but an irritating one. 

In all, the NEMO Vantage 30 Adventure Backpack seeks to bridge a gap many of us are already in: the one between the professional and outdoor worlds. And at $130, it offers more backpack per buck than any other suitcase on this list.

If 5.11 Tactical built a tank, this would be it. The 5.11 Tactical Mission Ready 3.0 90L ($285) is a beast in all regards. Some of our testers could easily climb into it and travel for free as checked baggage — we’ve lived in comparably-sized vehicles. 

The duffel can swallow over 5,500 cubic inches worth of gear, and its wheels support a robust 150 pounds. (Watch that weight at the ticketing counter.) The retracting handle, a potential weak point, was more than up to the task. We loaded up the Mission to the brim, and the handle didn’t even bend when fully extended. 

Skid rails add support on the base, and fiberglass rods help keep the sides stiff as the payload piles up. 5.11 specs 1680D ballistic nylon to weather the brunt of long-range missions.

But the Mission Ready 3.0 isn’t all bulk and burl. Multiple exterior pockets help users keep track of cords, handheld devices, and anything else you might need on hand. And a rollaway divider between the top loader pocket and main compartment can help you keep a clean outfit or suit separated. 

You can even customize the 5.11 Tactical Mission Ready 3.0 90L, with exterior Velcro attachment points for patches or nameplates. There’s a clear vinyl pocket for important documents up top, and even a clear business card holder in one corner. 

Peak Design looks to help travelers look suave and savvy from the airport to the gym and the glampsite with its Peak Design Travel Duffel 35 ($140). 600D nylon canvas creates a handsome shell, with a DWR treatment to keep sensitive gear safe inside. Leather accents set off the aesthetic, and reinforced stress points and Hypalon (UV-resistant poly rubber) zip pulls add durability. 

But as a talking point, Peak Design’s cultivated aesthetic is as well-known as it is tired out — actually, the Travel Duffel stands out in the details.

A padded shoulder strap and handles reconfigure on webbing loops for hand, shoulder/crossbody, or backpack carry. With C-shaped metal hooks, the straps don’t have moving parts as weak points, like buckles or carabiner gates. 

Overall, there’s plenty of attention paid to durability, with a 900D waterproof base and sewn webbing carry handles that inspired our tester’s confidence. Frame rails sewn into the sides keep the shape consistent. However, the stiffness didn’t allow the bag to stay open. This made it a bit of a pain to load.

Four exterior pockets with water-resistant zippers include several mesh pockets to keep the essentials in order. A charming “luggage tag holder” hides inside one pocket with a Velcro closure. Modest interior mesh pockets provide room for small devices, notebooks, or a few toiletries. The high-viz gray lining was exactly that: bright threads glinted even in low light.

Modularity is also a relatively strong trait of the Peak Design Travel Duffel 35 ($140). The hand straps work as a pass-through for a roller bag handle, and Peak Design makes a padded divider rig (sold separately) to turn it into a camera bag.  

Months of testing in contexts as disparate as international air travel, jungle hiking, and after-work crag sessions made the Jack Wolfskin Traveltopia 45 Liter Duffel Bag ($160) stand out in stark relief for our tester — in both its strong and weak points. 

The Traveltopia fulfilled every bit of the workhorse requirement of a duffel. Our tester found it very easy to pack, stuff, and generally cram with gear of any kind in any configuration. Unlike many duffels that aim for cross-category function, the Traveltopia’s panels have relatively classic shapes. With straight lines, no pleats or frame components, and recognizable backpack-style straps, it’s as straightforward as a duffel gets. 

For our tester, that was both a strength and a weakness. 

Because the shaping is relaxed rather than aggressive, the opening stayed open easily while our guy simply chucked gear in. This was extremely useful during last-minute packing, races against check-out time, and other rushed packing tasks. The zippers held up to a few bulging loads, and the coarse-woven bottom panel never sustained a scuff.

Amid the chaos, pockets provided just enough order to make sense of it all. The narrow exterior pocket was exactly right for a passport or phone. Four equally-sized inner mesh pockets trimmed with elastic kept valuables separated, and the length-of-the-bag mesh pocket on the other side swallowed the rest. (Note: there is no laptop pocket or padded area.)

However, heavy loads tended to get awkward. Even though the compression straps (one top, one bottom) worked well to tighten down the contents, the Traveltopia could still feel like a pig to carry. A key shortfall was the carabiner-style strap clip in the backpack configuration. Each one landed right on the pointy part on top of our tester’s shoulders. Jack Wolfskin confirmed designers were aware of the problem, and that a later design of the Traveltopia would feature a solution.

Wolfskin could perhaps improve the carry even more with fancy design tricks — but that’s not what this bag is about, and it shouldn’t be. The Jack Wolfskin Traveltopia 45 Liter Duffel Bag’s main strength is its status as a standby duffel. Huck stuff in, zip, shoulder, and go.

Full disclosure: our tester made the Rab Depot 28L Daypack ($150) do a lot of things it’s not designed to do. Weeks of travel in sweltering southeast Asia tested the Depot 28’s ability to deny ingress from sand, its back panel’s sweat wicking qualities, and the limits of its versatility and capacity.

In every metric, it exceeded expectations. Only a couple of shortfalls keep the Depot 28 from being our tester’s all-time go-to in a travel backpack. 

The Depot 28 made strong impressions right away, with a boxy shape at the top of the front panel that made overloading seem unlikely. Four zippers surround the top carry handle, promising plenty of chances to keep key gear separated. The tech pocket unzips all the way to the pack base on one side — which our tester wished the main compartment did. However, the roomy interior largely offset the complaint. 

We found the high-visibility burnt orange (gold?) lining could be admittedly loud, but didn’t let anything hide in the pack’s depths. And with a spacious drop-in pocket at the top, we didn’t tend to get stuck rooting around for the essentials. The rolltop, “water resistant” laptop pocket seemed like overkill — but on the other hand, if you’re in a rainy environment, why not? Plenty of padding kept our tester’s computer safe. 

The multiple tested contexts highlighted the Depot 28’s unexpected strong points. Improbably, the back panel stayed comfortable and refused to saturate even on 90°F hikes that felt like walking underwater. The zippers denied sand and grit on beach hangs, keeping laptops and chargers functional for impromptu work sessions. The coarse front panel stood up to it all, and no loose stitches resulted. 

Shortfalls include the lack of a side carry or roller bag carry handle. While the Rab Depot 28L Daypack proved comfortable to wear under many conditions, our tester eventually yearned to unburden himself of it. Another unfortunate design quality was the pack’s tendency to slouch.

We tended to load it heavily at the top, thanks to the robust and easy-access storage there. Unless it was full, the pack then wanted to develop a dent in the middle. Compression straps helped, but didn’t fully resolve, the dysmorphology. 

But this was more of an aesthetic gripe than a functional issue. With the rest of the Depot 28’s merits, our tester found it easy to dismiss. 

It’s hard for us to deny an in-house design ingenuity award to the Thule Subterra 2 27L Backpack ($160). The pack is a Rubik’s cube of lids, clamshell and bucket openings, expandable and removable compartments, and carefully placed pockets. But it’s one you can solve. 

A rear clamshell zipper reveals the tech pocket and main compartment, which contains a packing cube. Many will find the tech panel, with its various pockets and sleeves, familiar. Remove the packing cube to expand it and pack its various mesh compartments with clothes, toiletries, small gear, etc. Either that or load the front compartment conventionally. 

That’s one way to load the Subterra 2. You can also top-load it with the flip-up lid. Notably, the packing cube also attaches to the pack lining with snaps, becoming another top-access compartment. 

Which is handy, because the interior storage compartment is cavernous. When we first opened the bag, it looked like a roller bag, albeit without wheels. While it’s spacious, we could easily see ourselves looking for smaller items in it. 

The cube and the pack both expand to add room. (According to Thule, the expansion adds 6 L of space for a total of 32.) Diagonally zippered side pockets follow the contained aesthetic. A small, discreet zippered sleeve behind the back panel fits a passport just right.

Our type-A tester loved this pack during multiple flights and cross-country road trips. The ability to separate items and keep everything organized was a huge plus. 

The Thule Subterra 2 27L Backpack’s streamlined nature was also a big plus. It never took up too much space in an overhead compartment or car trunk. Plus, its smooth exterior prevented it from getting snagged or caught on airplane seats, jostling crowds, or other bags.