Brief Aeronaut 30 review

[adampaul]

My steel/wasabi A30 arrived last night, and I did a little test packing of it to see what it can hold. In short - everything I could conceivably want for carry-on-only or one-bag travel, and then some!



I first loaded it with the most I would ever travel with for a business trip (electronics and other misc go in the S19 in this configuration):


Main compartment:
- B&R toiletry kit
- large A30 packing cube with 2x trousers, 4x shirts, 1x sweater
- small A30 packing cube with 4x underwear, 5x merino socks
- empty stuff sack for laundry
- Travel Tray
Side compartment:
- Windproof fleece jacket
- 3DCOC for 3-1-1 liquids
Other side compartment:
- Men's size 13 shoes (which fit, but barely)

Then I wanted to see if I could pack truly 1-bag in it:


Main compartment:
- Travel Tray
- B&R toiletry kit
- small A30 packing cube with sweater, 1x trousers, 2x shirts, 2x underwear, 3x merino socks
- daypack stuffed into its own pocket
- Sony RX100 camera
- mini COP w/camera battery & SD cards
- empty stuff sack
Side compartment:
- iPad in case
- 3DCOC for 3-1-1
- 3DCOC for chargers/adapters/cables
- mini COP with headphones & adapters
- mini COP with gum/mints/cough drops
- Kindle paperwhite
Other side:
- Ecco Easy shoes
- tiny tote bag
- S'Well 17oz water bottle
- kleenex
- Travel pointing card
(not shown: emergency kit, but it's small and would fit anywhere)

Easy - room to spare, actually!

Lastly, for comparison, the A30 and S19:


My actual packing will likely wind up somewhere in between these two extremes, and I'm amazed at how much it, and the S19 hold - I'll report back on how it work in-use as I have a business trip to the UK next week.

[itsablur]

Can we fight to the death over your luchador luggage tag? That's AWESOME. I want one. :(

[moriond]

My steel/wasabi A30 arrived last night, and I did a little test packing of it to see what it can hold. In short - everything I could conceivably want for carry-on-only or one-bag travel, and then some!


Other side compartment:
- Men's size 13 shoes (which fit, but barely)

Then I wanted to see if I could pack truly 1-bag in it:

Thanks for this detailed review with packing list and pictures, @adampaul. I'd been particularly curious about the maximum size of shoe that could be fit into the A30 (comment about Men's size 13 shoes fitting, if barely, left in quote), since this is one of the distinguishing features of Aeronaut vs Tri-Star (in the A45, you can fit larger shoes).

Look forward to reading your review after your travels.

moriond

[adampaul]

Can we fight to the death over your luchador luggage tag? That's AWESOME. I want one. :(

Well it looks like flight001 has them at their e-store so a deathmatch *might* not be required. It's probably their brick & mortar store in SF where I got mine originally. A quick search turns up some on cafepress too, but they're not as nice as this one.

[adampaul]

Thanks for this detailed review with packing list and pictures, @adampaul. I'd been particularly curious about the maximum size of shoe that could be fit into the A30 (comment about Men's size 13 shoes fitting, if barely, left in quote), since this is one of the distinguishing features of Aeronaut vs Tri-Star (in the A45, you can fit larger shoes).

The product page says a men's 12 will fit, but I think any reasonable size 13 men's shoe ought to, provided it doesn't have extra-long pointy toes or anything. The ones in my photo are "average" length chisel-toe wingtips, neither particularly short nor long. I doubt that size 14 would fit.

[itsablur]

Well it looks like flight001 has them at their e-store so a deathmatch *might* not be required. It's probably their brick & mortar store in SF where I got mine originally. A quick search turns up some on cafepress too, but they're not as nice as this one.

You win this round @adampaul... You win this round... ;)

How do you like the S'Well bottle? I've been looking at those and the Hydroflask for a little while. Wife loves her water COLD, which is always a problem when you are on vacation and in foreign cities all day unless you are buying bottled water than happens to be really cold (consider yourself lucky). Is it much larger than a typical 16 oz water bottle?

[bchaplin]

Thank you, adampaul! That's amazing. It gives me hope that I will be able to survive on my next trip with the A30, and either the Synapse or Pilot.

[adampaul]

You win this round @adampaul... You win this round... ;)

How do you like the S'Well bottle? I've been looking at those and the Hydroflask for a little while. Wife loves her water COLD, which is always a problem when you are on vacation and in foreign cities all day unless you are buying bottled water than happens to be really cold (consider yourself lucky). Is it much larger than a typical 16 oz water bottle?

I like it! Here's a photo of it with a bottle of wine, and a 12oz Coke Zero - hopefully that'll give a good idea of its size. It fits easily in the long middle pocket of my Synapse 19.

[jea]

Great post! How do you like the Ecco Easy's? Are they solid enough for extended walks? What kind of situations do you tend to wear them in? I noticed on Amazon that they are just 7 oz! Im always looking for good shoes that can pass for business casual, but are also lightweight.

[itsablur]

I like it! Here's a photo of it with a bottle of wine, and a 12oz Coke Zero - hopefully that'll give a good idea of its size. It fits easily in the long middle pocket of my Synapse 19.

Nice choice of wine. Valpolicelli Ripasso was my personal wine revelation of 2012. Damn good stuff.

The S'Well looks really nice (love the colours). Pretty tall looking. Can anyone compare the height of the S19 water bottle pocket to those of the Co-Pilot or Pilot?

[timothy]

Can you bring one of those S'well bottles onto a domestic (U.S. domestic) flight? Looks like a caveman club to me ...

[adampaul]

Great post! How do you like the Ecco Easy's? Are they solid enough for extended walks? What kind of situations do you tend to wear them in? I noticed on Amazon that they are just 7 oz! Im always looking for good shoes that can pass for business casual, but are also lightweight.

Thanks, jea! I like the Easy's, however I would not plan on extended walking in them unless you're really into the minimal shoe thing and are used to shoes with very little bounce or structure. I have them primarily for in-flight wear (I change into them after boarding since I normally wear aboard the heaviest/biggest shoes/boots I'm bringing), to change into after a long day's walking, lounging, or for short errands or the like. I'm not sure I'd say they're business-casual-appropriate, as IMO they're quite casual, but it depends on where on the business-casual spectrum one's company is. Ecco's Collin Boat Shoe is also very light (~9oz), and is definitely comfy enough (for me) for all-day walking (I've walked 13mi in one day in mine).

Can you bring one of those S'well bottles onto a domestic (U.S. domestic) flight? Looks like a caveman club to me ...

I haven't traveled domestically with it yet, but its been fine on international carry-on (packed empty, of course), so I don't see why there'd be any problem.