Cotopaxi Just Made My Favorite Carry-On Even Better

I bought my first Cotopaxi Allpa two years ago, and I wrote about how much I loved it for the Strategist. (It also happens to be this site’s pick for the best overall carry-on backpack.) Since then, I’ve used it on trips all over the world — to Italy, Thailand, Iceland, and Mexico. For all its many charms, however, I have found a few things about my first 35-liter Allpa that are frustrating. For one, the original design doesn’t have a water-bottle pocket. Second, though there’s a smaller pocket on the front of the backpack, it’s a little bit large for tucking in, say, your phone, your passport, and a pair of headphones. I usually solved that problem by having an additional little fanny pack that I wore while traveling, which worked well enough, but I still longed for just one extra smaller compartment. So I was thrilled when I learned that last month, Cotopaxi released a redesigned version of the Allpa that addressed many of the small annoyances I had with an otherwise perfect bag, and the brand sent me one to try out.

The new Allpa design includes a small pocket at the front of the bag, just the right size for a phone or a set of keys, and, blessedly, also has a stretchy water-bottle pocket that easily fits my go-to Owala bottle. Cotopaxi also added an unobtrusive pass-through strap on the back of the pack, which allows you to easily secure the backpack to the handle of a rolling bag, another useful feature when using it as part of your carry-on set. And, crucially, it redesigned the pack to improve the weight distribution, something I immediately noticed when I tested out the new design by lugging a bunch of books back to the library. The straps sat more comfortably against my shoulders and didn’t pull on my lower back, even when loaded down with a laptop, a toiletry bag, a spare pair of sneakers, and four days’ worth of outfits.

To make room for the redesign, Cotopaxi did eliminate one of my previous favorite features — a back zipper that allowed you to access the biggest interior compartment without opening up the entire clamshell. (It kept the padded back laptop pocket, so there’s still a compartment that’s close to your back, for better security.) But I found as I was wearing the new Allpa around I didn’t miss that back zipper that much. I had been mostly using it to access my water bottle, it turns out.

The new Allpa is, like the original, available in several sizes, including a very roomy 42L and a just-right-for-a-weekend-trip 28L. It’s available in a range of colors, like green, gray, and turquoise, though the bag is now made entirely out of recycled fabrics. It also comes in the “Del Día” option, an eye-catching mismatched-patchwork colorway made out of leftover dead-stock fabric. No two Del Días are alike, which makes it handy for immediately identifying your backpack in a sea of black and gray luggage in an overhead compartment, baggage claim, or luggage rack. If you prefer a dark backpack but you’d like a little bit of that patchwork, Cotopaxi recently released a series of “Del Día Dark” Allpas, using the same mix-and-match colors for the zippers and accents on the backpacks.

Like the first version, the new and improved Allpa’s tuckaway straps make it easy to fit it into the overhead cabin or under the seat in front of me, and I usually pair it with a roller bag for a carry-on-only trip. But I’ve found it just as useful for casual weekend trips, thanks to the zipped mesh compartments that function as built-in packing cubes and the roomy design. I’ve lugged it everywhere, and it remains my favorite go-to carry-on bag.

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