I retired from full-time law enforcement a few years ago. I still work part-time, but I have a lot more free time now, which my wife has decided to fill up with travel. If we’re going by car, I can bring whatever I want. I have space. With air travel, though, I found it’s not always easy fitting everything I might need or want. One thing I struggled with was a good small day pack for vacation excursions, short day hikes, or other times where I just needed to be able to carry a bit of extra gear.
I tried a couple of sling packs and found that they didn’t quite carry what I needed. I also didn’t love the comfort factor of a sling pack compared to a conventional dual shoulder strap pack. After looking around a bit, I came across the 5.11 Tactical MOLLE Packable Backpack, and it looked like it might be just what I wanted.
Table of contents
5.11’s MOLLE Packable Backpack is made from lightweight 70D recycled ripstop nylon with a PU coating. It weighs just over 10 ounces and folds into its own integrated pocket for compact storage. Folded into the pocket, it’s a six-by-six-inch square. When opened, it offers a 12-liter (730 cubic inch) capacity with dimensions of 18 inches high by 9 inches wide by 5.75 inches deep.
The main compartment features a clamshell opening for quick access, while external stretch-woven side and front pockets provide additional storage when the pack is unpacked or stowed. Comfortable mesh shoulder straps include laser-cut MOLLE and are secured with a removable sternum strap.
The MINIMOLL™ MOLLE strap system allows for modular attachment of gear, and additional features include dual gear loops, a rear haul handle, and hydration compatibility. The Packable Backpack comes in Sage Green, Major Brown, and Volcanic colors.
The MSRP is $60.00, although as of this writing, it’s currently listed on sale for $44.49.
Montana or Bust
I picked up a Sage Green pack before I headed to Montana back in April. I especially liked how small the pack is when folded into its integral pocket, as well as the light weight. It makes packing for air travel easy, with a minimum amount of space used or weight added. Even my sling packs took up way more room when I added them to my suitcase or carry-on previously.
It’s small enough to be worth packing just in case you might want it. It’s there if you need it, but it doesn’t take up so much space that you’re going to regret having it even if you don’t use it.
But I did use mine. While in Montana, even though I had my 5.11 RUSH 24 pack, I still used the Packable Backpack around camp. It was handy for taking stuff back and forth to the shower house and cookhouse, or just from the tarp hooch to the communal fire pit area. I didn’t have to unpack my main pack just to use it for shorter treks around camp.
Alaskan EDC
The Packable Backpack really came into its own on the Alaska trip, though. This was a 9-day trip. 7 days on a cruise and a day on either end in Seattle. In early June, the weather was mixed. Cooler weather with most days in the 50s and rain is highly likely. My primary use for the pack was to carry rain gear or another layer of clothing. I also made good use of the water bottle pockets. That’s something that I missed not having on the bigger RUSH 24 pack.
The top zippered compartment by the grab handle was a good place for my sunglasses. We’d go between bright sun and rain off and on throughout many of the days. Having a convenient place to grab or stow my glasses as needed was welcome. A 12L pack isn’t huge, but it proved big enough and wasn’t cumbersome. I could stuff my Gore-Tex jacket in there, along with a flannel shirt, as well as miscellaneous gear. I generally had enough space to still be able to jam some souvenirs and snacks in as well.
While the mesh straps aren’t padded, they still proved to be comfortable. Keeping in mind that I couldn’t load this 12L pack up like I could the big RUSH 24. For the types of loads that the Packable Backpack is designed to carry, the straps work well. I found the traditional backpack much more comfortable than the sling packs that I’d previously tried on trips like this.
The pack isn’t waterproof, but it is water-resistant. We had rain for at least some portion of the day on most every day we were in Alaska. With that said, I never noticed my gear that was inside the pack being wet. One day in particular, while hiking to see Mendenhall Glacier, it was a steady, cold drizzle. The pack held up well and kept my gear dry and secure.
A Perfect Pack?
I asked the same perfect pack question of myself in the RUSH 24 write-up, and my answer on that one was nearly so. In the case of the MOLLE Packable Backpack, I’m going to say that it hit all of the marks for what I wanted. It’s light and stores compactly for travel. It’s small and light enough when expanded that I didn’t feel burdened like I might with a bigger pack when going about daily activities. For what it’s intended to carry, it was comfortable.
The Packable backpack had enough space to carry what I needed, plus a little extra. There also wasn’t too much space that added unnecessary bulk, or that tempted me to carry more than I needed to. I generally even had some room to carry some extra stuff that my wife foisted on me as well.
Especially at the sale price of $45, the pack is a great deal. Even at the original price of $60.00, I’d consider this well worth it. The MOLLE Packable Backpack has become a “must-have” piece of travel gear for me from here on out.
