Matador 18L Waterproof Packable Backpack Review

Packable backpacks are great for so many reasons. Are you using a travel backpack instead of luggage? You’ll want a packable bag for daily use on your trip. Do you like to hit the market on a bike? Packable backpack. Need a way to carry gear to the beach? If you’re not into beach totes, a packable backpack is a great alternative.

We’ve tested dozens of packable backpacks, and even made one with Matador, so we were excited to get our hands on the latest iteration of their packable backpacks: the 18L Waterproof Packable Backpack. Is it right for your next trip? We took it to the lake house and carried it back and forth to the library to find out.

External Components

When you’re carrying books, you want to be sure they’ll stay dry in any kind of weather. So when the clouds loomed, we were happy to have the Matador 18L Waterproof Packable Backpack to hold our hardcovers. It’s made with 420D bluesign®-approved recycled nylon, and we got it in the Garnet (dark red) colorway, but it also comes in Black and Juniper (forest green).

All three options look great, with a small Matador patch on the bottom, bartack stitching for style, and plenty of YKK buckles. There are compression straps with smaller buckles and straps with larger ones to hold the rolltop in place. They’re situated pretty close to one another, though, so it’s easy to mix up which one you’re supposed to disconnect to get into the bag. We’re not sure they really needed compression straps at all, since you can simply cinch the rolltop tighter when you’re carrying less, but their location atop the bottle pockets can hold your hydration in place, so we can see the draw there.

Matador worked with Zoom to develop the DuraGlide zippers on the backpack. They’re sealed for weather-resistance yet still open more smoothly than some other PU-coated models. We had no issue with them on this bag, except when it came to packing it away into its own pocket.

On our preproduction sample, at least, the pocket makes for a tight squeeze when trying to pack the backpack away. You can fit everything in there, as long as you take care to shove material into the bottom corners as you go, but zipping it up takes effort. Depending on how you packed it, the underside of the two-sided zipper pull can catch on straps as you try to pull it closed, and there’s a lot of bulk to hold together with the sides as you try to zip it. We’ve figured out that it takes a lot of hand strength, so keep that in mind if your fingers aren’t as strong as they used to be (or never were!).

Some of those straps are for the side compression, while others are for the harness system. It’s pretty simple: there are two lightly padded shoulder straps, a very thin sternum strap that clips onto a daisy chain, and that’s about it. There is a skinny carry handle, but no back panel padding or mesh for comfort and breathability.

Fit Notes

Packable gear calls for some sacrifices, and in the case of the Matador 18L Waterproof Packable Backpack, those come in carry comfort. The shoulder straps are pretty comfortable, and the sternum strap is there if you need it to hold them together, but, since it’s tiny and the bag isn’t very large, we really didn’t feel the need to use it. It didn’t seem to do anything to improve the carry comfort, but the bag wasn’t really that uncomfortable on your shoulders and neck. The broad shoulder straps distribute the weight of your gear well, and the light padding keeps them from digging in.

What we missed almost immediately was any sort of breathable mesh on the back panel. Perhaps because of its water-resistance, things got sweaty after only a few blocks of walking in Midwest July heat and humidity, and the bag feels like it just sticks to your back as you carry it. That won’t be as big an issue if you’re carrying it through rainy Seattle or heading to the beach where you can jump into the water to cool off, but it’s important to note if you’ll be using it in a warm city or a dusty trail.

Inside The Backpack

There isn’t much organization in this bag, but there is a little. To start, there’s a large front pocket with a second pocket inside. That inner pocket is the one with the dual-sided zipper that you use to pack away the backpack into a two-hand-sized pouch, but it’s also a good place to stow your wallet and passport to keep them from getting lost in the rest of the pack.

Then, the rest of the front pocket has space for items you don’t want next to other things in the main compartment or that you want quicker access to, whether that’s your phone, keys, cash, or—in our case, at the lake—sunscreen. If you’re traveling with any type of toiletries, you can pack them in here for a little extra security that they won’t leak onto your clothing or other gear in the main compartment.

Getting into the main compartment is a two-step process. First, you must unbuckle the straps on either side of the top of the bag and unroll it. Then, you have to unzip it. While this creates a more water-resistant seal for the gear in the main compartment, it’s an extra step to get used to if you’re accustomed to waterproof bags with simple rolltop closures. We can’t tell you how many times we unrolled it and tried to pull the two sides apart before remembering there was a zipper there, too. We got used to it over time, but it wasn’t instinctual.

Inside the main compartment, you’ll see that Matador has taped the seams for water resistance, which we appreciated for the safety of our library books, and also used a bright grayish white for the liner. That really comes in handy, since there is no extra organization in the main compartment; it’s just a large dump bucket. The bright liner made it easier to see what was on the bottom when peering down from the top, though we definitely recommend using pouches and kits to organize your items if they’re small.

There’s plenty of space inside. We had no issue packing a swimsuit, full-size towel, hat, and water bottle for an afternoon swim, and there was space to spare. It was really convenient just to swap our clothing for our swimsuit and stow it inside the bag along with our phone, wallet, and sunscreen as we took a dip, and there is enough space for a travel companion’s gear, as well, provided your towels aren’t extra large or thick. On another occasion, we carried two hardcover books along with our other daily gear with no issue (other than a sweaty back), and we also filled it with a small cooler and water bottle for lunch on the go. There’s no laptop sleeve, so you’ll need to use your own protective case and a tech kit if you want to take it to a coworking space. But you can rest assured it will be protected from rain if you do.

Our biggest issues with the Matador 18L Waterproof Packable Backpack are how hard it is for some users to stow it away and the lack of breathability when carrying it. However, if you find it too difficult to shove back into the pocket, it’s thin enough to lie nicely on the bottom of your luggage or travel backpack. It may even be easier to pack around that way, depending on the size and shape of the rest of your gear. It takes up about the same amount of space as a T-shirt. As for the lack of breathability, that’s something that sometimes just comes hand-in-hand with water resistance (if you’ve ever sweat so much inside a rain jacket that you might as well have just gotten wet from the rain, you’ll know what we mean), and if you don’t need that extra protection from the elements, you might want to consider the Matador 18L Packable Backpack instead.