Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The Backlight 18L From Mindshift Gear

If you have followed my stories since this blog’s inception in 2007, then you will probably have seen my varying array of backpacks. I can’t even remember half of the brands I used, from Hello Lulu to a £6 ASDA job to Adidas to the ones that got slashed on a night bus in Colombia, ironically in CuCUTa! Have a look at some of these photos and you’ll see how many different backpacks I really used down the years of that insanic journeython.

Łazienki Park Warszawa, 2007

Łazienki Park Warszawa, 2007 with my blue Northern Ireland backpack

Jonny Blair of Don't Stop Living lives a lifestyle of travel

Taiwan in 2009 – blue backpack

Hiking from Ta Van to Giangtiang in Vietnam in 2012 – navy blue

Hiking Guatemala in 2014 – back in black

backpacking masada

An even different blue one for backpacking Masada in Israel in 2013

My 2015 Backpack: The Mindshift Rotation180° Travel Away

So having first used a MindShift backpack in 2015, the Rotation180° Travel Away, I wanted a new backpack as my day pack from 2018 onwards. I still have the Rotation180° Travel Away and I still use it, it’s lasted 3 years and is great but I wanted a change and so I stuck to my loyalty to MindShift.

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

I opted for the 18 litre Backlight 18L from Mindshift Gear. Already, a few months in and I love it! This is my new beautiful daypack rather than my overland long-term backpacking rucksack (since I have basically not done any backpacking since depression began in 2016). Here are some of my latest backpack’s features and parts of it that I love!

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Colour: Forest Green
I love the colour of my new backpack. I chose forest green. Green is my favourite colour and believe it or not this is the first backpack I have had that is green! Can you believe it? It is two shades of green and is also grey and black (in straps and interior). There’s a warmth and happiness in wearing a backpack of your favourite colour. The Backlight 18L is available in two colours, Charcoal and Woodland Green, and meets almost every international airline carry-on requirements. So you can also get it in black.

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Flexibility
This backpack has a lot of options and a lot of parts. In brief it has two main sections – the front which is compact, and tight. And then the back which is almost like a suitcase. The front acts as a place for laptop, books, files, keys, business cards, quick access clothes. Thanks to the frontal strap, you can turn the backpack round and open the rear without disconnecting it from your body, it rotates – another special feature of Mindshift products.

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

The side pockets are perfect to store fast access food and drinks. TWO 500ml bottles of soft drinks (or even a brace of beers) fit in each side pocket, so in theory easy to travel with 4 different 500ml drinks, or a large flask and 2 x 500 ml drinks. So do oranges, peaches etc. – many of them fit in the side pockets. You can also put the rain cover here and easy access important documents (unless of course it’s raining).

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

The main compartment at the back offers great flexibility. There are separable compartments within it using Velcro straps and dividers. You can use as many or as few of these as you want. This part of the backpack is also well protected and durable. This is perfect for professional photographers.

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

You can change lenses or just snap a quick photo simply by rotating the bag to the front of your body while the waist belt is still secured. Rear-panel access also adds security when traveling since camera gear is protected from behind.

Back-panel Access
There are lots of cool quirks with my new backpack. The back-panel access allows you to work out of the bag without getting the harness dirty, wet, muddy, or icy. Dedicated compartments fit both a 13” laptop and a full-size tablet, places for keys and pens are also included. As a daypack, the pack’s front pockets can carry up to 5 litres of personal gear space for a day’s outing, such as extra layers, a light jacket, food, and more.

Huge Space
Despite looking compact, this backpack has lots of space and when you open the back it even resembles a suitcase. Because of the flexible material and strong zip you can fit a lot in here, the velcro padded compartment can be moved around to suit your needs.

Tuesday's Travel Essentials: My New Backpack - The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

You can fit a lot into it

Durability: Strong Zips and Padding
Down the years of backpacker I have had so many backpacks that have broken, got ripped or simply the zip breaks. These zips are the strongest yet, especially the back ones and each zip has two zippers, meaning that even if one does break, you can pull it to the bottom and the other one will still work. Protection and padding is also excellent.

On my first trip Frankfurt to Baku with My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Extra Pockets
I love it when I get a backpack that I keep discovering. In other words there are hidden pockets, extra features and surprises all the time. At the start I didn’t even know about the lower pocket, which can hold the waterproof cover or the frontal pocket which is hidden under a flap.

Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

So far my backpack has been in United States (where I ordered it from), Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Poland! Not bad for someone who isn’t a hardcore backpacker any more.

Arrival in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan with New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Backpacking in Minsk, Belarus with New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

So I am enjoying using it and recommend it – it’s a superb item to have. Now you know it’s name, I’ll show you how to buy it. Here are the details for buying the Mindshift Gear BackLight® 18L, which is also available in 26 and 36 litres, but for me the 18 litre is perfect.

Order it here online – https://www.mindshiftgear.com/products/backlight-18l

Visit one of their stores by putting in your postcode/zipcode here – https://www.mindshiftgear.com/pages/store-locator

Arrival in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan with New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Arrival in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan with New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Camping at Darvaza, Turkmenistan with New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

Here is a video of me in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on the first ever trip using my new Mindshift Gear BackLight® 18L:

3 thoughts on “Tuesday’s Travel Essentials: My New Backpack – The BackLight®18L From Mindshift Gear

  • Hi Jonny, excellent review of your new backpack, in green, your favourite colour. Great also to read your backpack history including lots of good photos. I see a backpack as practically an extension of self, given how much time you’re wearing it. This one is well thought out and designed with many useful compartments and flexibility of organisation. I have many packs and bags but always lugged a suitcase around on trips as I usually travel for approx 2 months each year. I’m about to ‘trial’ carry-on only for a short 10 day trip to Singapore and Malacca in 2 weeks time. Previously my trips have involved group tours (in parts) so I’ve felt the need to have various changes and dress up a bit. This time, with no tour, I don’t need to impress, plus I’ve finally realised no one cares what you’re wearing anyway … a ‘lightbulb moment’ for me … which will make a big difference going forward. Thanks for the post. Enjoy your pack and keep on ‘travlin’!

  • Hi Christine, thanks fot following my blogs and for the comments. Yes I love this green backpack and in fact I still use it as my main one, it must have featured in a few more photos on the blog. It certainly is spacious and still counts as only hand luggage. Stay safe. Jonny

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