Air Cushion 39L to 60L Expandable Laptop Backpack

Pack for a weekend without owning a second bag.

Most people end up with two packs. A small one for the day, a big one for the trip away, and the one you actually want is always the one sitting in the shed at home. So you either wear a half-empty expedition pack around all week, or you grab the little one and end up with the overflow loose on the back seat.

This is one pack with an expansion gusset zipped down each side. Zipped in, the main compartment is 39 litres and it carries like a day pack at 200 mm deep. Unzip the gusset and it opens out to 330 mm deep — the supplier calls that about 60 litres. The height and the width do not change, only the depth, so it grows out behind you rather than up over your head.

Inside the main compartment there is a padded sleeve for a laptop, sitting against an air-cushioned back panel so the machine is not pressed flat against your spine over corrugations. The supplier does not publish the sleeve's internal size. What we can tell you is that the whole pack measures 380 mm across the outside, and the sleeve is narrower again — so measure the width of your laptop with the lid shut before you decide.

What It Does

• Grows on the spot: two side zips take the main compartment from 200 mm deep to 330 mm without unpacking a thing.
• Carries the laptop off your back: a padded internal sleeve sits behind the air-cushion back panel instead of a bare machine against your spine.
• Keeps a drink outside: a side mesh pocket with a drawcord and a retaining strap holds a bottle without opening the pack up.
• Hangs gear on the outside: MOLLE webbing on the front and both sides, elastic paracord across the front pocket, and a D-ring at the base.
• Handles like a piece of luggage: a reinforced top grab handle, so you can swing it into a ute tray without grabbing it by a shoulder strap.

Key Features

• Expansion gusset: 130 mm of extra depth, zipped open or shut from the outside of the pack.
• Two stated capacities: 39 litres zipped in, about 60 litres opened out, both figures from the supplier's own size panel.
• Air-cushion back panel: padded channels hold the load off your spine and leave a gap for air to move.
• Padded laptop sleeve: a dedicated internal compartment in the main section, sitting hard against the back panel.
• Padded shoulder straps: air-cushion shoulder harness with a sternum strap and load adjusters.
• MOLLE on three faces: webbing rows across the front pocket and both side panels for pouches and clip-on gear.
• Two hook-and-loop panels: one on the top lid and one on the front pocket, for patches or ID.
• Side compression straps: two per side with side-release buckles, to pull the load in when the gusset is zipped shut.
• Oversized zips: twin-slider zips with paracord pulls you can work with gloves on.
• Eight colourways: black, brown, grey, army green, black camo, multicam, green camo and ACU.

Limits

What this pack will not do, stated plainly.

• It is not waterproof: the Oxford fabric sheds a shower and road spray, but it is a zipped pack with an open mesh side pocket. Sustained rain will get in through the zips. If the contents must stay dry, they go in a dry bag inside the pack.
• No rain cover is supplied: none is pictured and none is listed. Do not expect one in the box.
• We are not publishing a denier: the old listing said 800D. No supplier panel or photo states a denier anywhere, so we are not going to print a number we cannot stand behind.
• The laptop sleeve size is unpublished: the supplier gives no internal measurement for it. The pack is 380 mm wide externally, which is the hard ceiling; the sleeve is smaller than that.
• The gear in the photos is not the product: the drink bottle, the first aid kit, the tool roll and the lantern are there to show the pockets in use. None of them is listed as included.
• No hip belt or frame is specified: the supplier lists neither, so assume the load rides on your shoulders. Pack the heavy items high and hard against the back panel.
• Expanded, it is a big unit: at 380 x 530 x 330 mm opened out it is past the cabin baggage limit on most airlines. Check your carrier rather than assuming it goes in the overhead.
• Camo is a colour, not a credential: the multicam, ACU and camo patterns are fabric prints. This is a civilian pack and it carries no military or protective rating of any kind.

Q & A

So is it 39 litres or 60 litres?

Both, depending on whether the side gusset is zipped in or out. 39 litres is the day-pack setting; opened out the supplier calls it about 60 litres. Worth knowing: the supplier's own artwork is not consistent with itself — the headline text says 64 litres, the big graphic says 60, and the badge on it says plus 20 litres, which would make 59. We have gone with the smallest of the three. Measured as a bounding box the pack works out at 66 litres opened out, so 60 is a believable soft-pack number rather than a fantasy one.

Will my laptop fit in it?

We cannot promise, because the supplier does not publish the sleeve's internal dimensions and we will not invent them. The external pack is 380 mm across, so anything wider than that is out on geometry alone, and the sleeve is narrower again. Measure your machine across the closed lid and compare.

Can I leave it expanded all the time?

Yes. The gusset zips are on the outside and there is nothing stopping you running it at full depth permanently. The two side compression straps are there to pull the load back in when you are carrying less than a full pack.

Does the drink bottle come with it?

No. It appears in nearly every photo because it shows the side pocket doing its job, but it is not listed as part of the product. The same goes for the first aid kit, the tools and the lantern in the interior shots.

Is it any good on a corrugated road?

That is what the air-cushion back panel and the padded sleeve are for — keeping a laptop off a hard surface while the vehicle shakes. It is padding, not a hard case. If you are carrying something that genuinely cannot take a knock, put it in a proper case and put the case in the pack.

How long will it take to get here?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to 3 weeks to be safe. Regional and remote addresses run longer again. Shipping is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs