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Tortuga Setout Backpack
Cost: $179 (35L) or $199 (45L)
Capacity: 35 or 45 Liters
Dimensions 35: 21.5”x 13.5”x 7.5” (55 x 34 x 19 cm)
Dimensions 45: 22”x 14”x 9” (56 x 36 x 23 cm)
Style: Clamshell Opening Travel Backpack
Weight: 3.4 lbs (1.6 kg) or 3.9 lbs (1.8 kg)
Laptop: 17” Macbook and 9.7” Tablet
Materials: 900D polyester (recycled), DWR coating, YKK zippers, Duraflex buckles
Origin: Manufactured in China
I’ve been a fan of Tortuga since traveling to Europe with the Tortuga Air 5 years ago. And while the Setout is a completely different product, it still meets the basic things of what I like in their products.
I love Tortuga for their adherence to a simple design on all their bags. They are side opening, clamshell style backpacks, with separated compartments, comfortable carry system, and bombproof hardware.
So far (there will be more…) this is the third backpack I’ve owned by Tortuga. I have the Air 27, the Outbreaker 35, and now let’s have a look at the 35 liter Setout.
Materials, Colors, and Size
The outer fabric is a 900 denier polyester fabric, made from recycled plastic bottles. It’s much softer than the Sailcloth material used in other bags by Tortuga, like the Outbreaker, which is made with X-Pac fabric. However it’s not waterproof, so you will have to buy the additional rain cover if you plan on being out in a downpour.
The Setout comes in 3 colors, black, navy, and heather gray which I have here. It’s a really pretty fabric that’s hard to nail down the exact color. From far away it looks greyish, but if you zoom in, up close you can see there’s a lot of blue.
Zippers and Hardware
As usual, Tortuga uses the highest quality hardware in their backpacks. The zippers are all large #8 YKK with custom pull-tabs with a cute little turtle shell. Zips on the main exterior compartment are all lockable, and you can lock the front 2 together at the same time with just one TSA lock.
The buckles and adjustors are all beefy plastic Duraflex, that give a satisfying click when you connect the large belt buckle.
Size, Dimensions
I have the 35 liter version here. For my packing style, I find that 35 liters is a good size. It forces me to pack lighter, and it’s not nearly as heavy or bulky as a 45 liter backpack.
But if you tend to pack a lot of gear, the Setout also comes in a larger 45 liter version, which has slightly larger dimensions. As well as a Women’s version, which has the same capacity, and dimensions, but with different shoulder straps to fit shorter torso lengths and slimmer shoulders.
External Components
Compression Straps / Buckles
I really appreciate the placement on these side compression straps. They start below the zipper on the main compartment, so they don’t get in the way when you open bag.
The top part of the bag is where you have your small item organization, so there isn’t as much need for compression here. You do have slightly less compression than a bag with full side buckles, but it’s worth it not to have to unclip them every time you open the backpack.
Water Bottle Pocket
Similar to what I said about the Outbreaker, the side water bottle pocket on the Setout is a bit skimpy. It’s made from a slightly stretchy fabric, that doesn’t expand very much. It’s big enough to fit my 27oz water bottle just fine, but it’s way too small for a larger 1L bottle.
Carry Options
Backpack straps
One of things I like best about Tortuga backpacks is the carry systems. If you’re looking for a comfortable travel backpack, they make some of the best I’ve ever tested.
The Setout has large thick shoulder straps, with thick foam padding, covered in breathable mesh. The foam tapers as it goes down the strap to save weight. The top part, where it’s on your shoulder is really thick, then it transitions down to a thinner padding lower down the strap, where the bags weight isn’t putting pressure on your shoulders. They’re also fully adjustable, with top load lifters, and an adjustable sternum strap.
The hip straps are a comfortable, thick padded foam, which connect with a large plastic buckle. They each have a large storage pocket and are removable if you don’t want to use them.
Back padding
The back padding is a thick breathable foam, that’s much softer than the injection molded shoulder straps. It’s set in a couple of strips, instead of covering the entire back that leaves lots of room for air ventilation.
Comfort
The Setout is one of the most comfortable travel backpacks I’ve tested. The previous version of the bag didn’t have load lifters. They fixed this flaw and now the latest version is fully adjustable.
One interesting thing about the Setout is the load adjusters. Instead of attaching at the top like a lot of bags, the strap runs down the entire length of the shoulder straps. This means you’ll have to loosen them when you stow them away.
Stowable
I love stowable backpacks. One of my biggest gripes about the Outbreaker is you can’t hide the backpack straps away. Not so with the Setout. You can unclip the shoulder straps, and store them away in a top compartment. The hip belts are also completely removable with Velcro straps. There’s no place to store them, but usually you would either take them, or leave them at home.
Interior Components and Design
Packing Style
Like all great travel backpacks, the Setout opens from the side, completely lying flat like a suitcase. This gives you access to one large main compartment on one side, and a lid with two mesh pockets for smaller items, or dirty laundry on the other. There are no internal compression straps, so you will want to use packing cubes (2 Medium Eagle Creek Cubes work perfect) with this bag.
Front Panel Organization
The front panel is a school backpack style compartment, used for storing your small items and electronics. It opens from the top, but only goes down about 1/3 of the length of the bag. There are a ton of internal pockets and dividers in here, a few larger pockets, and a keyring.
However, most of these pockets are way down in the middle of the bag. I found, especially when the bag is fully packed, it’s hard to see down into these small pockets. And the zipper doesn’t open far enough to let you get things in here very easily you tend to lose small items in here.
Laptop Compartment
The Setout has a separate laptop compartment behind the backpack straps, with a top opening lockable zipper. The padded laptop sleeve is large enough for a 17” Macbook, and my 15” Dell fits in here perfectly. A second smaller sleeve will also fit a 10” tablet.
Behind the laptop sleeve, there’s just kind of this big void pocket, which I’m not sure what you’d put in here. Bulky electronics like the laptop cord are going to sink to the bottom, and are just going to make a lump on the back of the bag. If you want to see a travel backpack nail the laptop compartment, check out the Peak Design Travel Backpack. Other companies should be envious.
Packing the Bag and Accessories
I got a set of the Tortuga Medium Packing Cubes to see how well they work for packing the Setout. And I gotta tell you, I’m not very impressed. They are very thin, and you can barely fit anything in them.
The larger one, compared to my Eagle Creek Cube is about half the thickness. Just for reference, I put one pair of jeans, two long sleeve shirts in the Setout Cube, and it’s completely full. When I can fit more than double that in my Eagle Creek Cube.
The Main compartment is much deeper than the Setout Cubes. You can almost fit two of these on top of each other. The backpack is actually quite deep, and even when I put my fully packed Eagle Creek cube in here, I still have a little extra room on top to fit my jacket.
Summary
In summary, this is an awesome travel backpack, at a decent price for the quality. The Setout has all the features I love about the Outbreaker, but it solves some of the issues with weight and capacity. The minimalist design cuts down on pockets, while keeping the awesome backpack straps.
Pros
- The simple minimalist design, clean exterior, that’s not flashy like a lot of travel backpacks.
- Like the large main compartment, that opens to the side, with smaller mesh pockets for storing smaller items or dirty laundry.
- And then of course, the backpack straps, it’s comfortable and you can carry this bag around all day without hurting your shoulders.
Cons
- Water bottle pocket too small, an expandable zipper pocket like the Aer Travel Pack 2 would be better here.
- The front pocket is kind of a void, you can’t see the organizational pockets way down in the middle of the bag, and you tend to lose small items in here.
- Packing cubes are too small for this bag, save yourself the trouble and just get yourself two medium Eagle Creek cubes.
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