This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on a link, we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. Please read our full policy below, thank you for your support!
Overview of Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack
While searching for carry-on sized travel bags, you consistently run across a name, Hynes Eagle. They have a large range of travel bags, all under $100. The Amazon reviews are generally very good. The three top selling bags all have 4.5 stars with hundreds of reviews. So the question is, are these bags worth the price? We are going to look at the mid size bag in this series. The Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack. If you can get a quality one-bag for less than $100, then why would you pay more?
Cost: $65
Capacity: 40 liters
Dimensions: 21.1″ x 13.4″ x 9.8″
Style: Clamshell
Weight: 2.38 lbs.
Laptop: 15.6″
Technically carrying the cumbersome name “Hynes Eagle 40L flight approved carry on backpack.” We are going to shorten it to the Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack for this post. The Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack lists for about $65 on Amazon, with almost 400 reviews averaging 3.5 stars.
The bag has a good design with a clam-shell opening, laptop compartments, and backpack straps. It does have some issues with quality however, mostly hinging on the inexpensive material. This bag could be a good option for students on a budget, or folks thinking about traveling more, looking for low cost options before committing to the cost of expensive travel gear.
Materials, colors, and sizes
The material listed on the Hynes Eagle website is “water resistant polyester.” This is generally a fabric used by lower-cost and lower-quality bags. Most high-quality luggage uses some form of nylon. The most popular being ballistic, ripstop, and Cordura (a brand name). Nylon is strong and soft. Polyester tends to be a cheaper fabric than nylon, and it isn’t as strong or pliable.
Enter the Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack. The material is definitely not as nice as higher-cost travel bags. It is thin and feels slightly flimsy. In fact, the number one complaint of reviewers is the quality of the material. Polyester will tend to rip easier than nylon, and the stitching could come apart more easily.
That being said, this bag won’t necessarily rip or fall apart on you. If you are someone who isn’t rough on luggage, or use it infrequently, you probably won’t have a problem.
Colors and Size of Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack
One cool thing about this bag is the variety of colors. You can get this bag in colors ranging from black, to blue, orange, and red. It also comes in several funky camo patterns. This tends to make the bag more fun, and will appeal to and be a good option for a younger audience.
The Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack is 9.8” x 13.4” x 20.1”. This is under the size restrictions for most overhead bags in the width and height, but the depth is a little high. You shouldn’t run into any problems if the bag isn’t fully packed. But if you overstuff this thing (easy to do with soft-sided bags) you could run into problems fitting it in the overhead.
Exterior components of Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack
The exterior of the Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack comes equipped with 2 carry handles, and hide-away backpack straps. The sides of the pack have 2 compression straps with buckles. The zippers are standard plastic nylon coil with metal pulls, the buckles are all plastic, with a lobster claw clasp to secure the backpack straps.
The side handle is pretty small without much padding. The top handle is beefier, with foam padding inside, and a fuzzy material on the bottom. While the bag doesn’t come with an expandable zipper, the side compression straps work well to keep your gear contained.
The backpack straps are kept hidden inside a pocket on the rear of the pack. They are attached to the bottom of the bag with plastic lobster clasps. The straps are your standard school backpack straps, but a little thicker. They have a thin foam padding, with a mesh back. They can be adjusted using plastic sliders, and a movable sternum strap.
The side of the bag also contains a water bottle pocket. A zipper keeps the pocket concealed when not in use, which also allows the pocket to expand for different sized bottles. A nice little adjustable bungee strap holds your water bottle, and keeps it from slipping out.
Outside Organization Pocket
The Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack comes with one medium size organization pouch on the front. It is pretty standard, with no bells and whistles. No additional interior zippered pouches or mesh pockets to be found here. Just one large zippered pocket, with 3 small separator pockets inside.
For some reason the zipper placement has a large space above the interior pockets. I would say this was for a magazine, but the interior pockets are too small to fit one. The curved zipper placement looks nice on the outside, but the placement could put higher up to allow this pocket to be used better.
Interior components and design
The interior of the Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack consists of a spacious compartment, accessed by a large clam-shell style zipper. If you aren’t bringing a laptop, this compartment is about 2” wide, big enough to store plenty of other gear or clothes.
Clamshell opening
The main large compartment is used for storing about 7 days’ worth of clothes. The bottom has 2 cinch straps to secure your clothes. If you choose to use packing cubes, Hynes Eagle has a 3 pack that works quite well with this bag. One large 18.1 x 13 x 3.3 cube fits snugly in the entire bottom, while a medium 14.2 x 10.2 x 3.3 and a small 11.4 x 7.1 x 3.1 cube snuggle in on top.
The top flap has a smaller mesh zipper pouch for miscellaneous items. It is rather thin, but could be a good place to store your dirty laundry.
Laptop Compartment
A second large top-opening zipper on the front of the bag opens to a pouch that is large enough for a 15.4” laptop and a tablet. Two padded pockets secured with a Velcro strap will protect your electronics. If you don’t bring a laptop, the pocket is large enough to store all of your other miscellaneous items. Toiletries, electronics, daypack, towel etc. will all fit in here.
Fit, durability, and testing
The backpack straps on the Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack are a little flimsy. They are similar in size to something you would find on a school backpack. There is no waist strap, however it does have a sternum strap for added comfort. For general use the bag is pretty comfortable, however carrying this bag fully packed for longer durations will become harder with the thin straps.
This bag fits pretty well on a 5’10” male as well as a 5’4” female. The straps are adjustable but are a little small for larger men, it fit much better on our 5’4” female model.
Overall summary
The Hynes Eagle 40L travel backpack will work best for students or a traveler on a budget. The design of the bag is solid, with large compartments and good external storage and organization. The bag however saves you money by using cheaper materials in the fabric and buckles. While this isn’t a deal breaker, you could run into tears with heavy use.
The thinner polyester fabric isn’t as durable and soft as nylon. It is water resistant but is a little stiff, and won’t be as durable in the long-run. The buckles and straps are thinner plastic material. We didn’t have any problems with the buckles breaking, but if stressed or abused it isn’t out of the question.
Overall, this could be a good choice for a new traveler looking for an inexpensive starter bag. If you want to start traveling more, but don’t want to spend big bucks on an expensive bag, this could be a good option.
Affiliate Disclaimer
I run One Bag Travels as an independent website, I am not directly associated with, nor do I take payments from any of the companies featured on this site. My opinions are based on my personal experience with these products, as well as years of experience as an independent traveler.
Any revenue I receive from One Bag Travels is from affiliate marketing relationships, meaning if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I strive to review products that I like, or are popular in the one bag/minimalist travel community, not just brands that I receive a commission on. Sometimes a company will send me a free product to review, I am however under no incentive or obligation to give them a favorable review.
The continued existence and success of One Bag Travels relies on the support of my readers. I believe providing thorough, honest, unbiased information is the best way to grow this support. I put a lot of work into my reviews, if you find this information was helpful in your decision, we encourage you to purchase through one of our affiliate links, at zero extra cost to you. This support allows me to continue providing the best reviews and content for you. Thank you for your support!
