Matador 24L Adventure Pack Review

When a brand like Matador redesigns its entire line, from travel packs to slings, packable bags, and accessories, we take notice. In this case, we like what we see, especially on one of the newer daypacks in the lineup, the 24L Adventure Pack. With the bones of a hiking pack and the accessibility and organization of a travel backpack, it seems like a traveler’s dream come true. But is it? We’ve been testing it on our daily commute, long walks, and around town in an effort to find out. So, let’s get to it.

External Components

The Matador 24L Adventure Pack is made with weather-resistant materials, including 420D bluesign®-approved recycled nylon that’s free of PFAS chemicals. We’ve got it in the Juniper (green) colorway, and you can also get it in Garnet (dark red) and Black at the time of this review.

The front of the pack pays homage to hiking packs, with a bungee crisscrossing it to hold extra gear or items you don’t want to stow inside, like a wet rain jacket. There are two more bungee loops tucked into pockets on the side of the bungee straps. They line up with loops at the bottom of the bag to hold hiking poles, should you decide to take the Adventure Pack somewhere more, well, adventurous.

There are also compression straps that connect with buckles on the side of the bag, cinching it closer to you. Woojin makes the hardware, and it all works well.

Matador worked with Zoom to create DuraGlide zippers for the exterior fasteners on its new line of bags. They’re weather-resistant and work smoothly. However, on the Adventure Pack, we find they sometimes grab onto neighboring material, especially on the front pocket, but sometimes on the main compartment as well. We’re hoping this is just an issue with a pre-production sample, but it’s something worth pointing out. The interior zippers are made by YKK and work nicely, as well.

There are four carry handles around the top of the bag. They’re nicely padded and comfortable to hold, though we couldn’t quite find a reason to have four all at the top of the bag. The two in the center can make it a little easier to open the main compartment, but we never found a good use for the others closer to the side.

The bag also has a pass-through that allows it to sit sideways on a suitcase if you were to pair it with rolling luggage through the airport. The handles aren’t down the sides far enough to help with pulling it off, but they’re also not that obtrusive. We’re more just curious rather than bothered by the fact that they’re there.

Matador didn’t pull any punches with the harness system; it’s quite beefy for a 24L bag. The brand says that it built the bags more like trail packs, even though they’re designed for travel, and it shows. The Adventure Pack doesn’t feel like it’s only for the trail, but that you could take it there if you wanted to.

That’s thanks to the large frame, which feels like it belongs on a bigger bag, and the nicely padded yet breathable back panel. There are sections of mesh-lined padding on the back with a vertical air channel. We actually felt a breeze run through it as we carried the bag on a 2-mile walk, and it was appreciated since we were strolling in 87°F (30°C) weather in July.

The straps are equally padded and breathable, and there is also a sternum strap and hip belt to help support the weight. It all works well together, once you get it properly adjusted. The sternum strap clips onto the strap in one of three spots, but the clip is very tight, so moving it takes a lot of effort. You should only have to do it once, but it takes muscle when you need to. The hip belt is also removable if you want; it attaches to each side with just a slip knot, so it’s easy to take off.

Fit Notes

While the Matador 24L Adventure Pack feels large on our primary tester’s 17-inch torso, it is not uncomfortable. The harness system is beefy, but it works well together to lighten the load of a weighted bag. The shoulder straps and back panel padding are cushy yet firm, so the straps don’t dig into your shoulders or pull at your traps. The sternum strap and hip belt are helpful if you’re carrying a fully-packed bag, though they’re not as necessary when you have less inside.

The bag does have hiking elements, but we don’t think it looks out of place in the city. If you’re planning a trip that involves a variety of activities, it’s nice to have one bag that works well for all of them, from taking in local trails to exploring city streets. It’s fine for the office, too, though it doesn’t stand upright on its own, so you’ll want to find a hook to hang it up until it’s time to go home or hit the gym.

Inside The Pack

Whether you want to take the Adventure Pack on vacation or just to work, there are plenty of places to stow your gear.

The front pocket has decent admin-style organization. There’s a padded pocket for an e-reader or small tablet, with a zippered pocket on the front. Inside the zippered pocket is a key leash and a labeled spot for a smart tracker. The pocket is pretty spacious, though we mainly used it just for keys and a wallet since there are other spots for additional accessories.

On the face of the zipper pocket are four stretchy mesh pockets. They’re on a bit of an angle, and they’re all different sizes: the largest one is at the left and can accommodate a phone, the second one is a bit smaller and works well for a battery bank, the third one is a pen slot, and the smallest one on the right is good for earbuds. Since all of this organization is layered on top of one another, you can start to lose capacity in some pockets when you fill others underneath it or stuff the main compartment, so you’ll have to play around to find the best setup.

There’s extra space below all the pockets, too, for a tech pouch or other accessory, like gloves. It doesn’t fight with the pockets for space, so it might be more convenient to use than fighting with the layered organization.

At the top of the bag is a very large pocket that also opens to the main compartment. It’s large enough to hold a toiletry bag, tech pouch, or sling, and we find the dual-access great for travel. If you’re using this as your carry-on (or personal item on a more permissive airline), you can pack your toiletry bag here to have ready to pull out at security while still being easy to unpack at your destination.

The back panel is hiding a third exterior pocket: the “Smuggler’s Pocket.” It’s just barely big enough for your passport and extra cash, and it’s hidden beneath the luggage pass-through so that, hopefully, no one else notices it. Matador labeled it with a tag when we got the bag; otherwise, we might have missed it! Anything even slightly larger than a passport won’t fit, but we like the idea of using it for our extra cash or even a smart tracker if yours is too big for the pocket or you don’t like putting it in a labeled area.

There are two large stretchy mesh pockets on the sides of the bag for water bottles. They line up nicely with the compression straps, so you can loop those through the handle of your favorite bottle if you’re concerned about security. The pockets hold quite nicely to standard-size bottles and can even accommodate slightly wider ones; we never had a bottle slip out of place, even without slipping a strap through the handle.

There are two ways to get into the main compartment. A horseshoe-style zipper running along the back panel is the first way. It gives you top-loading access to the compartment, with a good view of the well-padded, elevated 16-inch laptop sleeve. It has a magnet topper to hold your device in place, which is especially useful for smaller computers. If you’re planning to take a hike, you can use this spot for a hydration pack instead. There’s a buckle loop at the top to hold it in place in the sleeve, along with a labeled pass-through for the hose.

However, it is tighter to pack the bag this way, especially if you’re trying to fit larger gear on the bottom. That’s why it’s great that you can also get into the main compartment through a sideways clamshell opening. When you unzip it, you’ll find the lid has two large zippered mesh pockets for small articles of clothing or accessories. On the other side is a nicely-structured main compartment for clothing or packing cubes.

You can see the zipper to access the top pocket from here, and the section has structured sides for easy packing. There aren’t any compression or holddown straps, so we recommend using packing cubes and pouches here. You can fit a lot inside if you do. We fit a large packing cube, a small packing cube, and a packable bag in the main compartment, along with a bottle in one side pocket and a large sling in the top pocket. Those portions of the bag press into the main compartment, which is why we wanted to mention it. Even so, you have a lot of space to fill here, whether you’re using it for a small cooler full of lunch and gym clothing, a few outfits and toiletries for a short trip, or rain jackets and snacks for a hike.

Overall, it’s a good bag for daily use, outdoor activities, and light travel, with a comfortable carry. It just feels larger than its 24L capacity on your back.