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How to Pack the Chrome Macheto 2.0
Cost: $200
Capacity: 41 – 52 liters (expandable)
Dimensions: 20.8” x 13.8” x 9.5” (53 x 35 x 24 cm)
Dimensions Expanded: 20.8” x 13.8” x 12” (53 x 35 x 30.5 cm)
Style: Clamshell
Weight: 3.81 lbs (1.73 kg)
Laptop: 15.6”
Materials: 1680D ballistic nylon, 450 TPE Tarp, Duraflex Buckles, YKK Zippers
Origin: Manufactured in Thailand
I’ll start with the Chrome Macheto 2.0 packed out in unexpanded mode. With what I would consider to be a reasonable amount of gear for this pack. After that I’ll demonstrate how much you can fit in the pack if you expand it out all the way into the 52-liter mode (it’s a lot!).
Packing List
Things are starting to warm up for summer, so I’m slimming my packing list down. Even though I don’t have any thermal underwear layers, I still have two pairs of long pants, two long-sleeve shirts, a midweight jacket, and a raincoat. This is a great packing list for spring or fall somewhere where you might expect warm days and cool nights. Here is the complete list of gear I’ll be packing the bag:
Clothes
Long-sleeve button-up shirts (2)
– Wool and Prince Button Up Oxford
– Hardvark Everyday Shirt
Pants (2)
– Synthetic Eddie Bauer Guide Pants (2)
Outlier New Ways Shorts (1)
T-Shirts (6)
– Patagonia Cool Trail (2)
– Generic poly-blend undershirts (4)
Underwear (6)
Socks (2)
– Darn Tough
– Smartwool
Puffy Jacket (1)
– Arc’teryx Atom LT
Rain Jacket (1)
– Outdoor Research Helium ii
Electronics
Small Tech Cube
CARD 4-Pro Travel Adapter
Dell Inspiron 15” Laptop
Google Pixel 2 Phone
Anker PowerCore 10000 PD Redux
USB-C Cable 6ft.
Nite-Ize Cord Tie
Samsung Ear Buds
Misc. Gear
Matador Freefly Packable Daypack
Leatherman Style PS
Vapur 1L Collapsible Water Bottle
Chums Surfshort Wallet
Flex Lock
Passport
Eagle Creek Hidden Pocket
Notebook
Pen and Pencil
Small binder clips (2)
Toiletries:
Sea To Summit Toiletry Kit Small
Humangear GoTubb 0.5 oz. (1)
Eagle Creek Silicone Liquid Tube (1)
Matador Flat Pak Soap Case
Hand Sanitizer
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Small Plastic Unbreakable Comb
Fingernail Clippers
Razor
Small First-Aid Kit
Packing The Chrome Macheto 2.0
I was able to fit all the clothes except the two jackets in these three packing cubes. You can really save a lot of space by rolling your clothes and using compression cubes. Here I used 2 medium Eagle Creek specter tech cubes which are about 14” x 10” x 3.5”. These things come in a set of one medium and one small. But you can also buy them separately as a non-compression medium, or small.
You have two almost equally-sized compartments in the Chrome Macheto 2.0. The left side here is a tiny bit larger, but not by much. And the front compartments displace any extra capacity in here anyway. These two (or any two) 14” x 10” cubes will fit almost perfectly in either side. I put them on the side with the mesh zipper because this is the side furthest away from the backpack straps. The clothes are my lightest gear, and this is better for weight distribution.
The Macheto doesn’t have a large front organizational compartment like some bags. So there isn’t a lot of room for small gear, documents etc. If you have a lot of electronics, this is a good time to use a tech pouch. I don’t have a whole lot, so I used an extra-small cube for my tech and electronics that I don’t need easy access to.
When you’re packing the other side of the bag, you want to pay attention to which way the backpack straps are facing. Pack your heaviest gear on the side that will be the bottom of the pack when you’re wearing it. Down here I’m going to pack my water bottle, toiletry kit, and electronics pouch.
And then in the top side of this compartment I’m going to put some of the lighter items. Like the cube with my socks and underwear, my puffy jacket, and my little 16L daypack. I could have just as easily put my electronics in the two pockets in this lid rather than a pouch. But I like having my gear together when possible so I don’t have to search around for it.
I reserved some of the smaller items and tech gear that I want easy access to. I tend to use my notebook a lot, so I want to get to that quickly. My phone and travel wallet will likely end up in my pockets, but this is a good place to store them for now so I know where they are.
One thing that’s probably worth bringing with the Macheto is a mini travel lock. This bag doesn’t have any locking zippers, so having something low-key that you can clip the zipper pulls together comes in real handy.
And then finally my Dell 15” Inspiron laptop. This thing fits snugly in the top access laptop compartment. The dimensions on this pocket opening are about 10.5”. My laptop fits fine, but this pocket isn’t big enough for anything much larger.
Carry Comfort Chrome Macheto 2.0
They don’t list the capacity of the unexpanded Macheto on the website, but I estimate it’s probably around a 40 liter pack. This is enough gear and clothes to travel the world pretty much indefinitely. And even though I have a full set of travel gear in here, I still have quite a bit of room left. I could have packed even more in here! And if you want, this pack has really good compression straps, allowing you cinch it down even more.
The Chrome Macheto 2.0 weights about 21.3 lbs (9.6 kg) in this mode. And remember I have that full 1L water bottle in here. So that adds about 2.4 lbs of weight to the pack. If I emptied the water, the pack would only weight about 19 lbs.
I find this pack to be comfortable with these shoulder straps if I can keep the bag packed small. It’s best in the unexpanded mode, and under about 20 lbs. More wight than that will make the bag too heavy and uncomfortable to carry for long distances.
Packing the Expanded Chrome Macheto 2.0
Now I’ll unzip the expansion zipper and add more gear. It’s now closer to the max of 52 liters and now weighs about 25.6 lbs. (11.6 kg).
The expansion zipper is on the outside section of the pack. It makes this compartment almost twice as large. Instead of switching my packing cubes, I just added more gear and expanded them out. You can fit a ton of clothes in these cubes when they’re not expanded. Here’s the clothes I added to this pack-out.
Gear Added to Pack
Jeans (1)
Shorts (1)
Swimsuit (1)
Long-sleeve shirt (1)
Short-sleeve shirt (2)
Merino wool sweater (1)
This compartment is now so big that I had to stuff the jacket on the top above the packing cubes. Honestly, I had to struggle to find enough clothes to fill this pack up. This isn’t really a realistic packing list for me with this much gear. I don’t really know where I would be going with a swimsuit, and jacket at the same time. My goal was to find enough clothes so you could see what this bag looks like fully packed.
You can see from the side profile that this bag is now pretty thick. It’s now way too wide to fit as a carry on. If you find yourself packing this bag out completely full in the 52 liter mode, then I would stop and reassess your packing list.
Carry Comfort on Expanded Chrome Macheto 2.0
This is the pack on me fully expanded with full gear. This bag is not 25.6 or almost 26 pounds in this configuration. For me, this amount of weight in here is way too heavy for the thickness of these backpack straps. Also, the weight distribution puts the weight further from your back now. It’s going to put a lot of strain on your back like this. It’s just really not very comfortable with this much weight.
Summary
I think the Chrome Macheto 2.0 is a great pack. It’s sturdy, robust, with great backpack straps. But only if you keep the pack small in the unexpanded mode, under about 20 lbs. Once you find yourself carrying around a gigantic expanded 52 liter pack, it’s not going to fit as a carry on. And it’s not going to be comfortable to carry.
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