Trakke Arkaig Backpack Review

You know what to expect from certain brands. An Aer bag will likely be made with CORDURA® ballistic nylon, and ALPAKA gear will have modular features. If you’re checking out something from The North Face’s Borealis line, there will likely be bungee cords crisscrossing somewhere on the bag. And when you’re choosing something from Trakke, it’s going to be made with waxed canvas.

Maybe that’s because Trakke bags are made in rainy Scotland or because their designers just dig the heritage vibes; whatever the reason, we’re here for it and appreciate the durability and aesthetics we’ve come to expect from the brand over the years.

From the standpoint of pure looks, the Trakke Arkaig Backpack seems to fall in line with the Trakke Canna Backpack and the Trakke Bannoch Backpack. But will we love it as much as we do those bags? We’ve been putting it through its paces while commuting to and from work in Detroit, visiting various spots like the library and market along the way, so let’s find out.

External Components

So what makes a Trakke bag a Trakke bag? The waxed canvas exterior, for starters, which is weatherproof and can be beefed up with the brand’s Reproofing Spray for the ultimate weather protection. Trakke recommends reproofing about every 9-12 months, depending on use, to ensure the longevity of your backpack.

Both the exterior and the liner material are dry-finish waxed canvas, so you’re protected from spills both inside and out. You can get the bag in Black, Olive, Whisky, and Port, but the interior is Trakke Orange in all colorways to make it easier to spot the gear you have stored inside.

All colorways feature the Trakke | Scotland logo on the front flap, though it’s attached with hook-and-loop fastener so you can remove it and replace it with a patch of your own (like the one we send Pack Hacker Pro Members!) or customize it with a different Trakke patch to sport a slogan or design of your choice.

A polyester webbing carry handle at the top is useful for pulling the bag out of a vehicle or hanging it on a hook, which is what we typically use it for. The straps that hold the front flap in place are the same webbing. You can tighten or loosen them with chunky metal COBRA buckles, which are satisfying to use and work well. Occasionally, a buckle doesn’t come undone the instant you push the tabs to release it, but overall, we have no issues. The buckles slide along the webbing straps so you can tighten or loosen them, depending on how much you have inside the bag, but stay where you put them. The D-rings at the end of each strap make them easier to grab when you want to adjust them, or you can connect a fun keychain with a carabiner or hang a collapsible water bottle off one since (spoiler alert) there’s no water bottle pocket.

The other hardware on the bag is made by YKK. We’re talking about the zippers, of course. An AquaGuard model runs vertically behind a fabric welt on the right side of the bag’s front that opens the front pocket, and there’s an internal zipper pocket that’s water-resistant but lacks the extra AquaGuard coating. They each open with Trakke’s trademark metal ring zipper pulls, which are easy to grab, even if they sometimes dig into your fingers.

There isn’t much going on with the harness system, yet the bag is not uncomfortable. The straps are thin yet broad enough to support the bag’s weight and include a layer of breathable mesh underneath. There’s no mesh or padding on the back panel, so you’ll feel your laptop on your back, but a 13-inch device takes up most of the available space, so you don’t feel much of the outline.

There are stainless steel adjusters with integrated metal keepers on the straps. They also have D-rings at the end, but the polyester webbing is so stiff that the extra sticks out toward the front of the bag instead of dangling down. Your mileage will vary as to whether you prefer dangling or sticking out straps, but it is what it is.

Fit Notes

The Trakke Arkaig has a sturdy, heritage vibe we dig for travel and daily use. It has a rather boxy shape, which makes it easier to pack with packing cubes, small coolers, or whatever else we bring along on any given day. We’ve been testing the Port colorway, a brownish-red that’s as earthy as the other options, so it goes with just about everything. Well, except for formal wear, although, you probably don’t need to carry a backpack while wearing a tuxedo or an evening gown, so we don’t mind.

Despite its minimalist harness system, the Trakke Arkaig is quite comfortable. Sometimes, the simplest things work best, you know? This is also only a 12L bag, so you can stuff only so much gear inside.

Inside The Backpack

While Trakke does a good job of hiding it with a fabric welt on the right that matches a pleat on the left, there is a zippered pocket for small items on the front of the bag. It opens vertically and has enough space for your phone, wallet, and a small pouch or two.

There’s also a gatekeeper clip for your keys on a bright-orange leash. We recommend using pouches and other means of organization here because small items can fall out easily. However, it’s easy enough to access by swinging the bag around to your front when it’s hanging from your right shoulder.

You can access it without opening the top flap, but there’s also a large slip pocket above it. You’ll need to undo the straps to access this one, though. Both of these sections share space with the main compartment, so they have quite a bit of room to hold gear as long as you don’t have that area stuffed to the brim. This front compartment seems designed for flat gear like a travel journal or folder, yet we had no issue stashing an insulated Hydro Flask water bottle inside the few times we needed to be hands-free. A water bottle won’t stay upright if you lay the bag on its side since it’s not a narrow slot made for that purpose, but it gets the job done if needed. And we did; we miss side bottle pockets on the Arkaig, although their lack contributes to the sleek aesthetic of the bag, so we can see why Trakke opted to forgo them.

With the top flap open, you’ll see that the main compartment is also completely open. There’s no zipper or snap holding it shut, so while the flap does a good job of covering the opening, it’s something to remember before packing something that could get damaged by the water in a torrential downpour. Luckily, we only got caught in a little rain during our testing period, and the flap kept everything dry inside the bag. On the bright side, this gives you quick and easy access to daily gear; you win some, you lose some.

Against the front of the backpack, you’ll see the second zipper on the bag. It opens a large dump pocket where you can stash whatever small gear you didn’t put inside the front zipper pocket yet don’t want to rattle around the main compartment. Frankly, we didn’t use it much because there’s so much space inside the main compartment that our daily-driver tech pouch fits fine, but if this is your everyday bag—and you don’t swap between daypacks as often as we do here at Pack Hacker—this space is certainly enough for cords, chargers, battery banks, and any other gear you need throughout the day.

Then, against the back wall of the Arkaig, you’ll find a padded laptop sleeve that fits a 13- or 14-inch device. It’s raised a little more than an inch off the bottom of the backpack for protection in case you’re not as gentle setting it down as you should be, but there’s no topper or anything to keep it in place if it topples headlong off the table. We didn’t have that happen, so it wasn’t a problem, it’s just something to note—the Arkaig’s top flap will only secure your gear so much, so this is not the type of bag to toss across the room like a 10-year-old after school. Of course, it’s much more stylish than the SpongeBob bag you were toting at 10, too, so hopefully, you’ve matured along with your aesthetics.

Between the zipper pocket and the laptop sleeve is plenty of open space for storing other gear. It’s super easy to pack because of the bag’s structure, and we have no issue sliding an extra layer, a packable bag, or a small cooler with snacks and a lunch inside the open space. You could use it as a personal item bag for the plane as long as you don’t have tiny travel accessories bouncing around willy-nilly; they could fall out of the top when you lay the bag down under the seat in front of you.

However, if you use it for books or a Kindle, some snack bars, a laptop or tablet, and an extra layer or outfit for when you land, it may be a great option to take on board. The top opening makes it easy to see everything inside to grab what you need, and it compresses nicely thanks to the front straps if you don’t need to carry as much.