Hello everyone! I'm looking for advice/recommendations.
I travel one week per month for my job. I use a 45L travel backpack (Tortuga Setout) on these business trips, but use my Synapse 25 for shorter trips. The Setout is great, but after I've arrived at my destination, it's way too large for an EDC bag during the week. What I would like is a backpack or messenger that is slim and packable so that I can carry it inside my 45L backpack.
I'm a big guy (6'1", 350 lbs) so I want something slim and packable, but yet doesn't make me look like Dora the Explorer with a tiny backpack. I also have a decent amount of tech gear that I need a packable EDC bag to carry:
* 13" MacBook Pro
* 12.9" iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard
* Roost laptop stand
* Magic Keyboard/Mouse
* Dongles (right now I have these in a Peak Design Tech Pouch, but it's way too big for this purpose)
* Noise-cancelling headphones
* A5 traveler's notebook
* fountain pens
* packable rain jacket
While I like backpacks, I think a messenger may fit my contradictory "slim/packable, but big" criteria a little better. I'm also concerned about the lack of padding on the Daylight. I really like the aesthetic of the new Luminary 15, but I don't think it would hold all of that stuff, and I'm not sure how packable it is. Right now, I'm thinking the Pilot might be a good option if it can hold my above gear and if it's packable. I kind of like the idea that if I use it as a personal item, it can fit vertically under the airplane seat so I can still extend my legs, and if I'm two-bagging it on the trips, backpack + messenger seems way easier to carry than backpack + backpack, like my last trip when I carried my Synapse 25 as my personal item/EDC bag.
Maybe there's something else I'm not considering? In any event, I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Thank you!