Despite taking a backpack with me on every trip long and short for the past decade, I’ve never had a dedicated travel backpack. A light Osprey bag lasted for years and doubled as a commuter backpack when I worked in an office in New York City. That was eventually replaced by the sleeker Osprey Arcane 50th Anniversary pack. It does the job just as well, though is designed more for carrying essential work needs than everything needed for a weekend getaway.
Photo: Background, ItsGFX/Shutterstock; foreground, NEMO
Editor Tested: NEMO's New Vantage 30L Backpack Is the Ultimate All-in-One Weekender, Camping Bag, and Carry-On
That’s changed over the past few months of travel — from summer camping trips to a long weekend in Mexico City to an extended family trip to Türkiye — when I’ve repeatedly turned to the NEMO Vantage 30L day pack. It has convinced me I should have long ago sought out something purpose-built for travel rather than try to force everything into an outdoor pack or slim office backpack.
NEMO is best known for tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads. The company launched its first tents in 2004 and quickly gathered a collection of design and product awards. Backpacks and duffels didn’t come into the equation until 2024, though the company’s first backpack patents were filed in 2009, founder Cam Brensinger told Ultralight Outdoor Gear. The wait was worth it.
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Features on the NEMO Vantage 30L Endless Promise Everyday Adventure Pack
There’s no shortage of reliable packs from both stand-by brands and upstarts. One might even say there are too many travel backpacks. Many have the same standard features that people need: a roomy core compartment, internal dividers and pockets for organization, and padding for comfort in places that chafe most. The primary differentiators come down to design (the quantity of those internal pockets, plus how easy it is to access them) and materials (durability, but also sustainability).
The Vantage 30L excels in both. The roomy duffel-style top compartment has two side pockets and a separator along the back wall to stuff dirty clothes. The quick-grab middle top pocket is big enough to fit what I need to access on a long flight without having to pull the entire backpack from under the seat in front of me. In the bigger J-shape zippered compartment, there’s a laptop section that fits a 16-inch computer plus some smaller pockets for chargers, pens, notebooks, and everything else I need for work.
Outside those core sections, there’s a handy bottom pocket that opens up enough to keep a pair of shoes. A security pocket on the back is the perfect size for a passport and other travel documents.
Honestly, it’s harder to exercise restraint and not over pack than it is to find a way to fit everything.
The NEMO Vantage 30L sure fits a lot for its size. Photo: Nickolaus Hines
Then there’s the straps. The chest buckle easily comes off so it doesn’t hang and bounce on the sides when not in use. Wide shoulder straps keep wear comfortable even for extended periods. One of my favorite additions are two cinches, one on top and one on bottom, that can tighten to flatten the bag — perfect for reducing the size when it’s not completely full or squeezing everything tighter after stuffing a little too much inside the duffel compartment.
NEMO’s dedication to materials and sustainability is just as strong as its dedication to good design. The bag is part of the company’s Endless Promise collection of gear that has high durability standards for years of hard use, and then is fully recyclable when it’s time to move on. That’s led to materials you won’t see on other bags.
The first is NEMO’s proprietary CERO fabric made from recycled yarns. The company touts the material has a tear strength up to twice as high as the industry standard and is 1.5 times more water-resistant. Even the most sustainable brands tend to make exceptions for the foam padding on the shoulders and back. NEMO opts for CCubed, which is made with recycled and recyclable materials without losing the cooling space and cushioning that foam provides. The material is 97 percent air, and keeps things breezy even for someone like me who tends to quickly get a sweaty back.
NEMO Vantage 30L specs:
- Volume: 30 liters
- Length: 11”
- Width: 11”
- Height: 1’7”
- Empty weight: 3 pounds, 1 ounce
- Zippered compartments: 6
- Exterior pockets: 4
- Compression straps
- Carry-on size
The camping test
I took the bag on two weekend camping trips this summer. As to be expected in the Colorado mountains, the weather delivered it all. NEMO’s materials held up to their promises during flash rainstorms as the bag sat outside while I prioritized throwing everything not water resistant into the tent. Everything inside my bag stayed nice and dry. I was happy to see that the apparent scuffs from sliding down some rocky dirt on a hike brushed off with ease without a single catch in the material.
In terms of space, three days of layers fit in the duffel compartment for temperatures that ranged from 80 degrees Fahrenheit when the sun was shining down to 40 at night. The top zipper made it easy to access what I needed in the moment without pulling everything out of the bag. That’s a benefit for anyone in the outdoors in a tight tent, but as I’ve learned over the last year and a half, it’s an even bigger benefit for anyone who is packing for a toddler, too. Diapers, clothes, and the whole lot could stay in their place while I fished out a chore coat before starting the fire.
The weekend getaway test
A dedicated shoe compartment and large duffel-style top are game changers. Photo: Nickolaus Hines
Shortly after getting the NEMO Vantage 30L, I booked a budget flight to Mexico City for a four-day trip to see a friend living there at the time. I was allowed one carry-on, and needed something that could just as easily fit all of my clothes as it could pull double-duty as a day pack for long days out.
Both those boxes were checked, with plenty of room for my computer, chargers, notepads, and pens for work on the go. I even had space for a few extra outfits and a second pair of shoes — the latter something I rarely spend the space on even when bringing my bigger Away luggage. Added bonus: I didn’t enter every building with massive shoulder sweat marks on those days out, even in the summer heat, thanks to the CCubed padding.
The long vacation test
Space was highly limited on my nine-day trip to Türkiye in September. Our small rental car needed to fit four adults and a toddler in a car seat — plus all of our luggage — for a seven-hour drive from Istanbul to Güvercinlik, a small seaside town about 20 kilometers north of Bodrum. With half my suitcase reserved for diapers and baby gear, I took full advantage of the extra space the Vantage provides.
Just as important a consideration was the amount of space it takes up under the seat. Economy seats are always a battle for room, even for airlines with relatively larger leg room. Even more so with a lap infant. Our direct flight from Denver to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines ended up being about 13 hours. The Vantage fit nicely under the seat in front of me and even allowed for a touch of room to stretch my legs out on the side. The easy-to-access pocket on top meant I never had to fully take the bag out to reach what I needed.
As a personal item, NEMO’s Vantage has one other big advantage: the top handle is big enough to pass through a luggage handle, so the bag sits securely on top of my rollaboard (even on bumpy cobblestone streets and launching off of curbs and stairs).
Room for improvement
For all that I love about the NEMO Vantage 30L, there were a couple of downsides. The biggest for me is the side pockets for water bottles are on the small side. I prefer the full bottle length and a tight pull to keep things secure on the outside, but my Yeti water bottle doesn’t fit when the bag is packed, and neither would a Nalgene. I took a smaller water bottle with me when using the bag, though even that had trouble fitting when the duffel compartment was fully packed and the interior zipper pockets filled. The side pockets more often held magazines than water bottles on my trip to Türkiye for that reason.
The other issue is the price. At $229.95, the Vantage 30L is not cheap. That’s not much cheaper than my hardshell The Carry On from Away, and is higher than comparable bags from brands like Osprey and The North Face. That said, this is a bag designed to last and be repaired when needed. With high sustainability standards and full recyclability comes higher costs — something I’m typically willing to accept. The amount of use you’re looking to get out of the bag and your own commitment to any sustainability surcharges is something to consider. 