As I mentioned in my last piece on the 5.11 Packable Backpack, I’ve been traveling a lot more since I retired a few years ago. Much of that has been by plane, and it’s caused me to reevaluate my luggage and gear. I’ve had the same carry-on for years, probably decades, but on one recent trip, I had to check it because it was too big for the airline. I realized that at the time, airlines had different standards on carry-on size, and that I had just gotten lucky on previous trips with my old suitcase. When I started looking into it, I saw that all airlines were supposed to standardize on a 22 x 14 x 9-inch footprint as of the summer of 2025. This is the sweet spot for the 5.11 Tactical Load Up.
The 5.11 Tactical Load Up
I started looking for a new carry-on that would meet that standard and quickly found a lot of misinformation on the market. Many places that sold carry-ons claimed to be correctly sized. But when you actually looked at the dimensions, many of them were off. Some by a little, some by quite a bit. When you narrowed it down to carry-ons that actually truly did meet the new carry-on specs, the list decreased significantly.
Being that 5.11 isn’t primarily in the luggage business, unlike most of the other companies that I looked at, I was surprised that their Load Up carry-on actually did meet the correct spec. Being that I’d had good luck with their bags and packs over the years, and especially the RUSH 24 that I’d been using most recently, I decided to give their carry-on a shot too.
The Load Up
Bear with me while I regurgitate some specs. There are a lot of details to this carry-on, so I’m going to paraphrase 5.11’s specs and description before getting into my thoughts. 5.11 touts the Load Up as combining rugged construction with smart organization. I’ll give you a spoiler now and say that they did a good job of actually accomplishing that.
The Load Up’s main compartment is made from an impact-resistant polycarbonate hard shell bottom tray. It has an expandable zipper that increases the depth from 9 inches to 11 inches, boosting capacity from 45L to 55L. Although that 11 inches puts you over the strict carry-on size limits if your airline is checking.
The compression-molded lid is built with 1680D ballistic water-resistant polyester and reinforced with hypalon corners. Inside the lid compartment is a padded laptop sleeve with a hook and loop strap to securely hold your computer. There’s also an admin pocket and two-way access to the center mesh compartment helps keep essentials organized.
The center compartment also includes a removable divider for flexible storage and internal compression straps to stabilize contents. Additional features include a convenient top zippered pocket, lockable zippers with sliders, a business card/ID sleeve, and a name tape loop panel for quick identification.
The bag includes a retractable handle, multiple grab handles, and replaceable wheels for easy transport. Dimensions with wheels are 22 x 14 x 9 inches, and 21 inches high without wheels. The bag weighs 6.6 pounds and is imported. It’s available in Tungsten (Gray), Volcanic (another Gray), and Ranger Green and has an MSRP of $240.00.
Size Matters
That 22 x 14 x 9 dimension is key. That’s what the new airline standard is, supposedly across the board. I don’t buy luggage often and honestly balked a little at the $240 price tag. Mainly because I’m cheap. But when I looked at other bags that actually met the airline standard, I found that to be pretty competitive. Especially once I looked at the features and the build quality. I read a lot of reviews of other carry-ons and saw a lot of durability complaints on those. And many cost as much or more than the 5.11. I ended up deciding on the Load Up in Ranger Green.
First Hand Impressions
When I got my carry-on, I gave it a once-over and was actually really impressed. My wife and daughter had also gotten new carry-ons and went with typical luggage brands. In comparison, the 5.11 felt more solid and was definitely better thought out. It has a good-looking, clean design, and the available colors are subdued but don’t scream tactical. Unlike my Multicam backpack.
The handle opens and retracts easily, and the wheels work well and aren’t obtrusive. If you ended up needing to check your carry-on for some reason, there aren’t a lot of protrusions sticking out to catch on airport baggage systems.
Space-wise, it is what it is. It’s smaller than my old carry-on, but it meets the current required spec. With that said, I’ve used it for a few weekend trips now and was able to fit a spare pair of shoes, toiletries, and a couple changes of clothes without issue. This, coupled with my RUSH 24 37L pack, gives me plenty of space for a multi-day trip.
Heck, if you pack more frugally than I do, you could probably get away with a longer trip. My buddy and his wife did a whole 7-day cruise with just a carry-on and a personal bag. I always contingency pack. What if it rains? What if it’s going to be cold? Or worse, what if I poop myself? I always have backup clothes and layers.
Organization is Key
I love the organization of the Load Up. The mesh divider lets you separate clothes and other items so that you can easily access them without having to dig through your whole suitcase to get to them. My wife and daughter’s bags are pretty much just one big empty section. They work, but my wife was a little envious of the organization on the 5.11 carry-on.
The admin pocket is really handy too. I could stuff paperwork, and even my Kindle and an iPad in that section, so that I could access them without having to open up the whole bag. I like having my pack as well, but I could honestly probably get by just fine using the Load Up as my only carry-on item.
I’m very happy with the build quality too. The bag is fairly light at 6.6 pounds, but it’s solid. It got dragged across gravel lots, up over curbs, tossed in and out of vehicles, and manhandled by porters. It’s no worse for wear after multiple trips and months of use.
The Perfect Carry On?
I asked in my previous two pieces if they were the perfect packs for their intended purpose. The RUSH was darn close, and the Packable Backpack checked all of my boxes. The Load Up also checks all of my boxes for a carry-on. It meets the size requirements of the airlines, it’s ruggedly built, and the handle and wheels work well, dragging it through the airport and across parking lots. I love the organization of it as well.
Often, I’ll find gear that I like but think it would be even better with “X” additional feature. I really can’t think of anything I’d add, or anything I dislike on the 5.11 Load Up. They did a great job on the build quality, and have made a better carry-on than any of the actual luggage brand bags I looked at.
