BAGSMART Blast Pro 40L Travel Backpack Review

The BAGSMART Blast Pro 40L Travel Backpack comes in at around $100, which is quite pricey relative to the brand’s other travel backpacks. For the price, you are getting many features we often only see on more well-known brands, such as a comprehensive harness system, a crazy amount of compartments, and just a ton of room for a week or two’s worth of gear. On paper, it’s an impressive amount of kit for those still in a relatively budget price range but who want a little bit of everything.

So, what’s the catch? As you might’ve guessed, quality and attention to detail are areas where the Blast Pro 40L suffers. The bag’s lightweight ripstop fabric and general unstructuredness mean you can overpack to the point of compromising carry on compliance. It’s not unheard of in the many travel backpacks we’ve tested over the years, but the Blast Pro 40L particularly stands out in that regard. There are also other cons to consider, but we’ll leave all that in the full review below.

External Components

The Blast Pro 40L has the same type of build as a lot of BAGSMART’s gear. On paper, their choice of ripstop nylon isn’t too confidence-inspiring since it’s a fabric designed for lightness, but it gets the job done if you’re mostly using the bag within city limits and not roughhousing with it on outdoor adventures. This pays dividends, as the lightweight fabric still feels quite durable while keeping the bag’s overall weight to a minimum. Remember, this is a 40-liter backpack, so there’s definitely a benefit to some weight reduction techniques; there are just some tradeoffs depending on the approach.

If we had to nitpick, it’s the fact that you can see some of the stitching. Mind you, we’re not talking about the visible stitching BAGSMART wants you to see that’s part of the bag’s aesthetic, such as the visible aqua blue stitching on the front mesh pocket’s lip. We mean how you can see the stitching between the various creases around the bag. Pull on them enough, and the threads begin to get pulled. To be fair, none of the threads are dangling off, nor have we managed to stress them enough to the point of breaking; we’re just not used to seeing them this easily.

Technically speaking, the Blast Pro 40L does live up to BAGSMART’s claim of carry on compliance. However, in our testing, that still depends on how much you actually pack. Since ripstop nylon is a relatively pliable fabric—and BAGSMART used a lot of it—there’s just a ton of room for the bag to bloat and exceed those limits. Most of that happens at the front, where there are no mitigating external features to speak of. In fairness, BAGSMART did include four compression straps to help keep the bloat down. However, they don’t contribute much because they’re at the sides and only go across a fraction of the bag’s width

You get three handles: one at the top, one at the bottom, and one on the right side of the bag. There’s nothing fancy about these handles; they’re simply stitched over for some semblance of thickness and reinforcement. We do like how BAGSMART made sure to color-match them to help accentuate the Blast Pro 40L’s overall colorful vibe. We can also appreciate the fact that there’s a bottom handle, as not all travel backpacks have these. A bottom handle is super helpful when you need to slide the bag around while packing or if it ends up tossed upside down in your car trunk.

The Blast Pro 40L checks a lot of the boxes of features we look for in a travel backpack’s harness system. Shoulder straps are a given for a backpack, but there’s also a sliding sternum strap, load lifters, and a beefy-looking hip belt for added support. The hip belt is non-removable, but you can tuck it away if you don’t need it. Overall, you have a lot of levers to pull in terms of adjustment, though it’s the padding where things start to get spotty.

The level of padding is hit or miss, depending on the area. The back panel has a decent amount to keep your back comfortable, but it’s still possible to feel oddly shaped gear inside if the bag’s bloated enough; the padding simply can’t blunt the feeling by itself. The shoulder straps, meanwhile, could use a bit more padding. To be clear, the padding itself is very soft, especially the mesh cover they’ve elected to use. However, we just wish there were more of it, especially since we’ve tested other gear from BAGSMART with more padding.

Lastly, the back panel also features a luggage pass-through that allows you to slot the Blast Pro 40L on your rolling luggage if you’re traveling with one. It’s a nice little inclusion we often find on travel backpacks. Yes, it is a bit overkill thinking about traveling with a 40-liter bag plus luggage, but not all travelers have the same needs, so this still gets a thumbs up from us.

Fit Notes

Pulling on all those metaphorical levers feels almost futile. Try as we might to tighten the shoulder straps, lift the load lifters, and adjust the sternum strap; there’s simply no getting rid of the cumbersome feeling. Mind you, it’s not the padding or the straps at fault here. We think the Blast Pro 40L is simply too big for the harness system. Yes, the argument can go both ways. But considering BAGSMART’s target of a carry on compliant travel backpack, we’d say they could’ve made the Blast Pro 40L a bit smaller, more structured, and easier to wield overall.

Inside The Backpack

The Blast Pro 40L’s back panel has a built-in pocket you can access from the side. It’s not big or very noticeable, and that’s the point. It’s a security pocket for a few of your most valuable items, such as a passport, return tickets, and embarrassing vacation photos—all that can fit inside this pocket. Mind you, since the pocket is situated adjacent to the back panel, you can feel if there’s anything too bulky inside. So, if you’re stashing a wad of cash in there, just be prepared for a noticeable bump, which might actually be reassuring since you’ll know it’s still there.

There’s also a pocket on the right side of the bag for accessories you need to access more quickly. Its opening is quite close to the security pocket, facing towards the bag’s rear. You can easily reach into it when you swing the bag over your shoulder, such as when you want to reach for your keys to unlock a door. That said, there’s no key leash here, but there are two card slots for you to use. We wouldn’t necessarily put credit cards and IDs in there instead of using a trusty wallet, but for single-use transit cards, you just need to put them away quickly; this may be a useful option.

At the front is a large zippered mesh pocket. We’re glad to see the zipper because it allows us to leave it open or make sure whatever’s inside won’t fall out. It’s also worth noting that this pocket’s zipper lacks the paracord pull of the bigger compartments, meaning it’ll be hard to mistake one for the other pockets. As for what you can store, we like putting sleep masks and packable hats in pockets like these, so they’re easily accessible while we’re on the move.

Next up is the water bottle on the left side. It stays flush thanks to its elasticated rim and gusseted sides. Everything seems fine design-wise, but we have trouble using this pocket in practice. If we try to fit slender insulated bottles around the 18 to 21-ounce range, the elastic isn’t really snug enough to grip them firmly. On the other hand, bigger bottles, around 30 ounces, don’t sink deep enough for them to fit securely. If there’s any consolation, you can use the compression strap directly above to tie down your bottle if your bottle has a handle that the strap can thread through.

At the top is a sort of shelf-like pocket. It opens in a half-moon shape, stopped short by gussets at the side so that it doesn’t flop over if you have the bag lying on its back. EVERGOODS would call this a yoke pocket, where you can quickly stow everything you have on you before you go through airport security. That said, this isn’t as deep as any of the yoke pockets we’ve seen on EVERGOODS bags, nor is it explicitly for that purpose. Instead, it’s a roomy pocket for more everyday carry accessories, and there are two mesh pockets to keep even smaller accessories organized. There’s only one zipper sealing both those inner pockets, though, so access is a bit iffy since you have to open it all the way to get to the second pocket.

Plenty of travel backpacks have a front compartment, and the Blast Pro 40L is no exception. Featuring a laid-out admin panel, it has a few pockets for organizing more accessories, just in case the plethora of earlier pockets weren’t enough. There’s a wide mesh pocket big enough for a Kindle, a pen slot, a passport-sized liner pocket, and a key leash. More to the point, this front compartment also has a ton of space to work with.

While we approve of just how much independent space this compartment has, this is also where the carry on compliance suffers since it’s at the forefront. Pack a laundry bag, an extra layer, and a sunglasses case in the open area, and you’ll quickly put the entire bag past a lot of carry on restriction sizes. Granted, you may be able to squeeze by depending on the airline staff since, in our experience, some of them are lax. However, there’s always a chance you’ll be gate-checked and pay additional fees.

At the back is a dedicated laptop compartment. Opening the compartment is easy, for the most part. However, we still wish BAGSMART included paracord zipper pulls here since the bare metal ones are hard to find on such a big bag. Inside the compartment is a padded sleeve big enough for a 16-inch MacBook Pro, with an adjacent tablet sleeve if you’re also traveling with one. The sleeve’s end is elevated by about an inch from the compartment’s edge, netting you a decently large false bottom to protect it from impacts.

Also in this compartment is a built-in pouch for your tech accessories. The pocket is right across the laptop sleeve, so putting anything too bulky or sharp will put some pressure on your device. The sleeve is padded, though, so we’re fairly confident in putting small GaN chargers and cables in the pocket—accessories that won’t jut out too badly.

Finally, we arrive at the main compartment. It is a bit trickier to get into. Its zippers are very close to the front compartment’s zippers, so close that it’s easy to mistake them for each other. But once you’re past that minor inconvenience, you are greeted with a clamshell-style main compartment that’s very spacious, befitting the bag’s 40-liter rating.

Not much of the volume is under the lid side, which is understandable given how much has already been allocated to the front compartment. That said, there are still two large pockets for you to use: a zippered mesh pocket and a pocket made with a semi-see-through slick material that’s pretty airtight. The former is handy for storing extra accessories you may want to wear on your trip, but the latter is a bit more interesting. Our first thought is to use it as a built-in toiletry pouch, but since TSA still requires you to put everything in a 3-1-1 bag, that seems redundant. Then, we realized you could use this to store dirty clothing. Not all of them, mind you, but maybe a damp swimsuit that hasn’t dried before your flight or maybe a few pairs of used socks.

This leaves most of the bag’s 40-liter rating allocated to the main bucket space. There’s just so much room that you could easily fit a week’s worth of gear without using any space-saving techniques. We fit six shirts, a long-sleeved layer, one hoodie, and four thick pants without packing cubes. Luckily, two built-in hold-down straps keep everything cinched down, even without packing cubes. If you want to stretch things out, you could utilize compression packing cubes and fit as much as two weeks’ worth of gear inside. That said, you may want to hold off on that if you’re also planning to bring an extra pair of shoes.

At the bottom of the main compartment is a zippered hatch that contains a lot of extra fabric. It’s the built-in shoe compartment, accessible via a hatch on the outside. Plenty of backpacks and duffles have a shoe compartment like this, but not all stow away. It’s a thoughtful design choice as not everyone wants to use the functionality, and having this much extra loose fabric can get annoying. If you elect to use it, the shoe compartment is big enough to put shoes straight in or horizontally. We recommend the latter, just to conserve as much space as possible.