Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L backpack review: travel made brilliantly simple
One of the most comfortable and capable travel packs we’ve ever used. The Aero Jet 35L handles busy cities, long walks and airport dashes without breaking a sweat — and punches well above its size.
Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L review
Ideal for: Travel, family trips, cross-over travel
Not suitable for: Wild camping, fastpacking
The Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L is a travel backpack done properly. It’s light (1.1kg), roomy (more than the 35L tag suggests), and comfortable enough to wear all day — even when fully loaded. With its clamshell opening, padded laptop sleeve and quick-stash pockets, it works just as well in city centres as it does on packed trains and long travel days. There are a couple of niggles — the shoulder strap stash pockets aren’t secure, and there’s no tidy-away system for the shoulder straps when carrying suitcase-style — but this is still one of the best travel bags we’ve tested.
The Good
Superb all-day comfort
Clamshell packing access
Sleek urban design
Excellent weight balance
Versatile storage layout
The Bad
Flappy shoulder straps
Unsecured stash pockets
Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L review
Gossamer Gear is a Texas-based brand best known for its ultralight hiking gear — think frameless packs, clever accessories and minimalist shelters for long-distance hikers. They’ve built a strong following among the thru-hiking crowd, but with the Aero Jet 35L, they’ve brought that lightweight philosophy into the travel space. We’ve already tested their Vanish Duffel here at GBAC — and it impressed us with the same smart, low-fuss design approach.
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The Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L is designed for one-bag travel. It’s aimed at people who want to move quickly, pack light and avoid the headache of wheels, lockers or waiting at the baggage carousel. At 1.1kg and 35L, it’s sized for carry-on use with BA, EasyJet, Swiss and KLM — and it’s structured enough to feel like a proper backpack, not a glorified stuff sack. The clamshell design makes packing painless, the internal laptop sleeve keeps your tech secure, and the silhouette is sleek enough to blend in whether you’re riding the U-Bahn or checking into a café in Kraków.
At £229, the Aero Jet sits at the premium end of the one-bag travel market — but undercuts competitors like the Aer Travel Pack 3 and the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L, both of which weigh more and feel bulkier in real-world use. Compared to the Osprey Farpoint 40, which is cheaper and larger, the Aero Jet wins on comfort and carryability — especially for people who’ll be on their feet for long periods.
And that’s the real pitch here: this is the most comfortable travel backpack we’ve tested. It carries like a hiking pack, organises like a suitcase, and works harder than any 35L bag has any right to. It even handled a 3-week family trip across Europe — not something we say lightly.
How we tested the Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L
We used the Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L as our primary daypack during a three-week trip through Amsterdam, Berlin and Italy, with the Vanish Duffel as our only other bag. It came with us on six-hour city walks, airport sprints, long train journeys and toddler-fuelled excursions. Back in the UK, we’ve since used it for regular train and bus travel — and not once have we had to rethink what it can handle. From daily use to long-haul travel, this bag’s proven its worth.
The GG Aero Jet 35L’s features
The standout feature is comfort — and not just in a vague, well-padded kind of way. The wide, sculpted shoulder straps wouldn’t feel out of place on a proper hiking rucksack. They’re padded, breathable and carry weight evenly across the shoulders, making long days surprisingly breezy. We wore this on a six-hour walking tour of Amsterdam and genuinely forgot we had it on.
That comfort is helped by the sternum strap, which keeps things stable when you’re walking at pace or loaded up for a full travel day. It’s a simple detail, but it works.
Packing is just as straightforward. The clamshell design opens wide like a suitcase — meaning you can pack and unpack without faff or digging. The laptop sleeve fits a 16” MacBook and sits at just the right spot to keep it safe and balanced. The zippered top pocket is a clever touch, perfect for passports, keys and headphones — all the stuff you need to grab without digging through your main compartment.
One of our favourite features is the oversized front mesh dump pocket. It’s stretchy, durable and swallows everything from rain jackets to baguettes. The side water bottle pockets are another win — deep enough to hold 1L bottles, and positioned high enough that they don’t bounce around while walking.
The reinforced grab handles (top and side) are solid, structured and easy to grip. That’s especially handy when stowing in overhead lockers or carrying duffel-style through a station. But here comes our only real gripe: when you do carry the bag sideways, the shoulder straps flap about. There’s no way to tuck or clip them away — which feels like a missed opportunity.
The running vest-style stash pockets on the shoulder straps look great, and they’re useful for sunglasses or snacks — but the lack of zip closure means we wouldn’t use them for anything important. Add a zip, and they’d be brilliant.
Still, there’s a sense throughout this pack that everything’s been thought through. There’s no unnecessary clutter, no gimmicky toggles. Just smart, usable features in the right places.
How it performs in the real world
From the very first trip, the Aero Jet 35L proved itself to be far more than a simple travel backpack, carrying with the balance and stability of a well-fitted hiking daypack. Even when fully loaded, it hugged close to the body without digging in or shifting, and the weight felt perfectly distributed so it never became a burden. The wide, breathable shoulder straps kept us comfortable through long days and warm city streets, while its tough yet premium-feeling materials shrugged off the inevitable scuffs of train racks, overhead lockers and station platforms, emerging from a three-week trip looking as fresh as the day it left. Organisation felt second nature — the clamshell design and smartly placed pockets meant we could pack in minutes and retrieve whatever we needed without rummaging, whether it was a laptop at airport security or a phone charger mid-journey — making it a pack that works with you every step of the way.
Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35l travel backpack FAQs
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Extremely. The straps are wide, padded and shaped like something you’d expect from a proper hiking pack — not a travel rucksack. Even on long walking days, it stays comfortable and stable. We’ve tested heavier packs that hurt after two hours. This one went six and left us with no complaints. Add in the sternum strap for balance and it’s one of the most comfortable travel packs we’ve worn.
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Surprisingly durable for a pack that prioritises light weight. The stitching is solid, the fabric feels premium but tough, and the grab handles are more reinforced than most. After multiple international flights, train journeys, and countless wears in the UK, ours still looks sharp. It’s not built for off-trail abuse, but for travel? Spot on.
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Very. The clamshell zip makes packing simple, the top pocket gives quick access to essentials, and the laptop sleeve works well without messing up the weight balance. Nothing’s fiddly or over-engineered — and that’s what makes it such a pleasure to use. The only area for improvement is the shoulder strap flapping when carried sideways.
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While not ventilated like a technical hiking pack, we found the Aero Jet stayed comfortable in warm weather. The shoulder straps don’t trap heat, and the back panel sits well without causing sweat build-up. It handled summer city temps in Europe without making us feel sticky or overheated.
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Yes. At £229, it’s not a budget option — but it earns its keep with comfort, carry-on convenience and clever design. It works better than any rolling suitcase for the sort of trips we take across Europe and the UK. If you want one travel bag to rule them all, this should be very high on your shortlist.
The Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35 L travel pack: Our verdict
If you’re after a travel backpack that combines the comfort and stability of a hiking pack with the practicality of a well-organised suitcase, the Gossamer Gear Aero Jet 35L makes a strong case for itself. It’s light, exceptionally comfortable to carry all day, and cleverly laid out so that packing, unpacking and grabbing essentials on the move is as simple as it should be. Over three weeks of European travel it proved versatile enough for long walking days, reliable enough for busy airport dashes, and durable enough to emerge looking fresh despite constant use. It’s not the cheapest option, but it earns its keep through thoughtful design and a genuinely enjoyable carry. With a few small tweaks — zipped shoulder pockets and a strap-tidying system — it could be flawless. As it stands, it’s one of the best cabin-friendly travel bags we’ve tested, and a solid investment for digital nomads, frequent flyers and city-hopping adventurers alike.
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