Traveling Light With The Thrudark Phantom 40L Backpack

It has been a busy year with lots of traveling and nonstop projects. It left very little time to write, but now that the year is finishing, I finally have a breather.

As always, I like to pack light, and this year was no exception. Packing light lets you move efficiently, stay aware of your surroundings, and adapt when plans change or things go wrong, like when a flight gets canceled and you have to sprint across the airport to catch another one.

I usually rely on a GORUCK GR2 for this, but halfway through the year I picked up one of the new Thrudark Phantom 40L backpack, along with some of the other travel gear they offer. I already own several pieces of gear from Thrudark, and when they launched their packs, it immediately caught my attention. They are lightweight, and I wanted to try something lighter for my international travel.

So, for the past couple of months, I have used this pack to cary everything I needed. In this particular 8-day trip I carried:

  • Thrudark packing cube set for clothing
  • Thrudark Wash Bag for the toiletries
  • Magpul Daka Lite pouch for documents and the passport
  • A custom made dyneema pouch for misc. kit, like charging cables for the phone and iPad, small electronics devices, etc
  • Surefire EDCL1-T Flashlight
  • E&E kit
  • iPad since it was mostly an initial recon/review

It all fit neatly inside the pack.

The Phantom is made mostly from 840D ballistic nylon, with Cordura 1000D in high-wear areas. It feels lightweight but sturdy. With plenty of organization across two large compartments, there is a place for everything, including a dedicated laptop sleeve, an RFID-blocking pocket, and external sleeves for water bottles.

The only concern I have after three trips with the pack is the zippers. They are good, high-quality zippers, yet they somehow feel cheap. The pulls are there, but Thrudark added the same style of cords used on some Osprey backpacks, and they make noise when you walk and also feel inexpensive. Maybe it is because I am used to the larger, sturdier zippers on the GR2 and the paracord pulls that GORUCK uses, but it did slightly annoy me. We will see how well this holds up after more use. I know the team at Thrudark tests their gear thoroughly, so I may just be a bit paranoid.

The straps are very comfortable and well padded, with plenty of adjustment options. I would personally remove some of them, but "that's like my opinion man", since I prefer more minimalist packs. That said, the ability to adjust the straps was very useful on the first trip with this pack, when I carried more than would fit inside and had to secure items externally using the MOLLE system.

(Yes... on a crappy hotel... Sometimes it's best to stay out of the way.)

It is a bit early to say whether this will be the ultimate travel companion, but after three trips I am impressed. I will keep traveling with it, with several trips planned right after the new year to cities around the world, and see how the pack holds up.

Happy new year! Stay safe.