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 Differences

Both of these packs are fantastic minimalist travel backpacks. They are made with awesome hardware, and both have super comfortable backpack straps. The Tortuga Outbreaker is ideal for the ultra-organized, with a ton of internal pockets and compartment. The Setout however is more minimalist, with less internal organization, but stowable backpack straps.

Materials, Colors, and Size

The fabric and zippers used in these bags is quite a bit different, which makes the Outbreaker almost completely waterproof, and the Setout only water resistant.

The Outbreaker is made from a stiff 100% water-proof X-Pac sailcloth material. It’s slightly shiny, and feels a little like a nylon rain coat. The Setout on the other hand, uses a 900 denier polyester fabric. That’s quite a bit softer than the X-Pac, a DWR coating makes it water-resistant, but it’s definitely not water proof.

Hardware and Zippers

Both bags use large #8 YKK zippers on all the exterior compartments. But to fit with the waterproof theme on the Outbreaker, the exterior zippers are all YKK Aquaguard, which makes them waterproof.

The extra waterproofing material makes them a little stiffer than the regular #8 nylon coil zips on the Setout. Which have a very smooth travel, but don’t do as good of job with keeping out water.

External Components

The exterior components on these backpacks are similar. They both have side compression straps, carry handles, water bottle and front slash pockets. But I like the features on the Setout are much better.

Side Compression Straps

The Setout has two side compression straps on each side, that do a much better job of compressing the backpack then the single strap on the Outbreaker, which only compresses the top section of the bag,

Water Bottle Pockets

The side water bottle pocket on the Setout is slightly larger. And while it still only holds a thin 27oz water bottle, it is a few inches taller, which makes me feel better about things not falling out.

The Setout also traded one of the water bottle pockets for a side carry handle. This is a useful to carry the bag when you have the backpack straps stowed away, which you can’t do on the Outbreaker.

External Organization

I think they did a better job on the Outbreaker’s front organizational pockets. The dividers and pockets inside the front organizational compartment are basically the same, except they are much easier to access in the Outbreaker.

The pocket only goes down half the length of the bag, and you can easily see everything when you fold down the flap. Whereas on the Setout, the compartment goes all the way to the bottom, with the pockets located in the middle, where it’s hard to see what you have in them.

This large compartment on the Setout has one advantage. It comes out a few inches from the front of the backpack, and is a good place to store something large like a jacket. However, because the zipper doesn’t open the entire length, it is difficult to see small items that fall to the bottom.

I like how instead the front compartment is broken up into two smaller pockets on the Outbreaker. The top pocket only goes down half-way, which makes it really easy to access the small organizers. The rest of the compartment has a separate zippered compartment, giving you access to this front pocket which is easily large enough for a light jacket.

Carry Options

Backpack straps

The design on the backpack straps are virtually identical, but there are a few major differences. The padding is quite a bit thicker in the Outbreaker, almost to the point of being overkill. Especially on the back padding. It’s really comfortable, but it probably doesn’t need to be so thick.

The shoulder strap on the Men’s version of Setout is a firm injection molded foam punched full of holes, and covered with a breathable mesh fabric. However, the Women’s version is going to look a lot more like the straps on the Outbreaker.

The biggest difference between the backpack straps on these two bags is the ability to stow them away. The hip belts are basically the same, and removable on both bags.

You can’t remove the backpack straps on the Outbreaker, but on the Setout you can unclip the bottom of the shoulder straps, and hide them away in this top access flap, so you can get them out of the way when you go through airport security.

Interior Components and Design

The interior design and organization on these bags is also nearly identical. They both open from the side, giving you access to one large compartment on one side, with two mesh pockets for smaller items on the other side.

Being the more organized of the two, the Outbreaker has two additional small interior zippered pockets on either side of the main compartment to store smaller items. This is great if you like extra organization, but does add extra weight to the bag.

The Outbreaker is a bulkier backpack, with more padding and pockets than the Setout, and you do lose some capacity in the main compartment. The depth on this side is about 5.5 inches on the Setout, but its about an inch less, a little over 4.5” in the Outbreaker, one inch doesn’t seem like much, but over the length of the entire backpack it could add up to the equivalent to several pairs of pants.

Packing Demo, T-Shirt Test

If you want to see a quick capacity demo, check out my YouTube review. The video does a much better job showing you the difference in capacity between these two 35 liter backpacks.

They should have roughly the same capacity, but the Outbreaker has a lot more internal pockets and dividers, and much thicker backpack padding, causing you lose some capacity in the large main compartment.

In the video I fill the Setout with a pile of loose clothes, then transfer them to the Outbreaker. The capacity is surprisingly similar, but I wasn’t able to transfer about 4 t-shirts into the Outbreaker.

Laptop Compartment

They both have a large padded laptop sleeve that fits up to a 17” Macbook, and a 10” tablet. The difference is the Compartment on the Outbreaker, opens completely to lie flat, and has several extra mesh pockets for smaller items.

Where the Setout only opens from the top, and just has one large pocket, which isn’t the best location for storing small items, as they tend to just sink to the bottom.

Summary

In summary, I like both of these Travel backpacks, but if I had to choose, I like the features better on the Setout.

I like the minimalist exterior, and the ability to stow away the backpack straps. I also like how the bag holds more, and makes good use of internal capacity.

However, the front organizational compartment is too big, the zipper doen’t open very far, and you don’t have good access to the small divider pockets.

The Outbreaker does a much better job here, giving you great external organization with 2 large front facing pockets and a front slash pocket.

I also like the fabric on the Outbreaker better. The X-Pac fabric is stiffer and feels like a rain coat, and it only comes in black, and doesn’t have the color options of the Setout. But it’s 100% waterproof, meaning you don’t need to worry about bringing a rain cover.

Check Outbreaker Price @ Tortuga       Check Setout Price @ Tortuga

---

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!