In general, a good camping backpack should be lightweight, rugged, and fit properly—while luggage should be spacious, easily portable, and able to withstand the rigors of baggage handlers. A new design from Atlas Sabbatical combines the two in the form of Atlas– a backpack that transforms for different phases of a trip.
Atlas Sabbatical designed their pack using a detachable trolley system that turns the platform from a wheeled suitcase to a lightweight pack with 70L worth of storage. On the backpack side, the system is ergonomically designed with adjustable shoulder and waist straps that allow you to maximize weight loads.
Instead of opening from the top, the pack is accessed from the front and features a large main compartment with internal mesh pockets for loose litter and a handy padded laptop sleeve. On the outside, the pack features several elastic Cordura pockets that can store small mobile devices, water bottles and tripods.
In luggage mode, the pack uses a lightweight (2.2lb) aluminum trolley system with foldaway durable inline wheels that are easy to pack away when not in use. They are also replaceable, so you can outfit the platform with what you prefer. The bottom of the pack is reinforced with 1000D Cordura, making it rugged, which helps to resist abrasions while on the go.
While the Atlas is a versatile pack, it does have its drawbacks- including no option for bladder systems, although you could probably rig the laptop sleeve if you need more hydration than what water bottles have to offer. It also doesn’t have any compression straps, although Atlas Sabbatical states they may include them at some point in the future.
Atlas Sabbatical is currently crowdfunding their pack on Kickstarter, and those interested can pledge around $191 or more, which gets you both the pack and detachable trolley.
