Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack Review

When traveling the world, either as a digital nomad or on vacation, you might want to consider security when choosing a travel daypack. If you’re going to be in unfamiliar territory and you’re concerned about pickpockets or thieves, an anti-theft bag with some built-in locking mechanisms might give you peace of mind. Even if a dedicated thief has studied our reviews and the brand’s product pages diligently, those features will still make entering your backpack slower for them than just yanking on a zipper. Of course, they will also slow your access to your gear, so that’s something you want to consider before investing in something designed to keep you out.

We’ve reviewed tons of Pacsafe backpacks, slings, and gear, though, and we find that the brand usually has locks that are either easy enough to enter regularly or can be skipped when you feel more secure. We’ve been using the Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack daily for a few weeks now and find it easy to use every day while offering additional gear protection when the situation warrants. So, if you’re ready to see if it’s for you, let’s dive in.

External Components

In true Pacsafe fashion, the 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack is made with recycled materials for sustainability. The post-consumer recycled polyester fabric is the equivalent of 28 plastic bottles, and it’s treated with a PFC-free DWR for water resistance without forever chemicals. More importantly, we can attest to the fact that it keeps your gear dry in a downpour, as we had the good (or bad, depending on your perspective) fortune to test it in rainy spring weather. It’s also beefed up with eXomesh slashguard to prevent someone from slicing into your bag. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s cut-resistant thanks to built-in steel mesh between two layers of material.

Pacsafe uses YKK zippers throughout the bag, which come into play with most of its locking features. We’ll start at the top, where you’ll find zipper pulls for the main and front compartments that fit together to lock and that you can also feed into a Roobar Sport locking system at the top of the bag for additional security. We don’t tend to do that daily because it impedes accessibility, but that’s the point; you want to slow thieves’ access to your gear, and it does a good job of that. You can fit all four zipper pulls into the lock between the two tracks at once. Unfortunately, whether locked or not, the metal zippers are quite jangly as you walk.

There are also two attachment loops on either side of the bag between these zippers if you want to hang something off the bag, like a travel hat or a Bluetooth speaker. They’re slim and small, so they don’t get in the way if you have no use for them.

The top pocket secures with a dock lock, which means you can push the zipper head into a plastic dock to make it harder to quickly yank open. You just squeeze the sides of the dock to release it when you want to get inside. Again, you don’t have to engage this if you don’t want to, but it will leave a little open hole in the zipper track if you don’t. However, we didn’t notice rain getting inside this pocket when we zipped the pocket just to the front of the dock lock and ran out in the rain; your mileage will vary depending on how much water is falling on you and for how long.

The Pacsafe brand name is pretty minimalist on the front of the bag and blends quite well with the deep blue Ocean colorway we’re testing. A few other Pacsafe logos are scattered throughout the bag, but they’re also pretty low-key, as they’re black printing on a dark blue or black bag.

Aside from carrying it as a backpack, there’s also a lightly padded carry handle at the top, which is comfortable to hold and easy to hang on a hook. Plus, there’s a luggage pass-through on the back panel. The wide webbing strap lays quite flat, which is great when wearing it, but you’ll need two hands to slide it over the handle of rolling carry on luggage. It sits nicely there once you do, though.

The back panel is padded and covered in breathable mesh for comfortable carrying in warmer weather. The same mesh-covered padding lines the undersides of the shoulder straps, which attach with a yoke at the top of the bag. Duraflex makes the strap adjusters, and the straps include more anti-theft features that come in handy when you’re out at a bar or restaurant. They are reinforced with Dyneema wire to prevent someone from cutting them, and the right-hand strap can also be disconnected from the bag with a PopNLock security clip so that you can wind it around a fixed object like a chair or table leg. That allows you to keep the bag behind you at the pub without worrying about someone snatching it without your knowledge.

The Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack also boasts a sternum strap and hip belt if you need more support. The sternum strap slides on a strip of webbing covered by a large fabric welt on each shoulder strap. One side of the sternum has elastic with its webbing, and the other has a strap keeper to help you find the right fit and reduce dangling straps. The hip belt is made with simple webbing straps with built-in keepers, and both it and the sternum strap fasten with Duraflex buckles.

However, we don’t really feel the need for extra support most of the time, so we appreciate that you can remove both sets of straps if you wish. Just be aware that doing so and replacing them is not an easy task, so it’s not something that you’ll want to do regularly. We’ll likely just remove them when using the bag long-term because we’re not the type to like the extra straps. However, if you go back and forth depending on what’s in your bag, we recommend leaving them attached and dangling instead of dealing with the hassle of detaching them.

Fit Notes

While we don’t necessarily feel the need for such a beefed-up harness system on a 26L bag, we certainly appreciate the comfort it brings, whether you use the extra support or not. We’ve encountered other bags with yoked shoulder straps and found they pinch the traps when wearing them, but that’s not the case for the Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack—at least for smaller users. While the straps attach in what looks like a rather narrow yoke at the top, the foam padding stops a short distance from where it connects, providing more flexibility for the straps to wrap around your neck. Users with broader backs may feel a little more constrained here, but it’s still not uncomfortable, just noticeable.

Aesthetically, this is a basic backpack shape, so it’s on the more casual end of the scale. However, its understated colors, branding, and rounded shape don’t look out of place in most situations, save the most formal affairs. We happily carry it to the office and around the city, but it works just as well to haul your hiking snacks or to put under the seat in front of you on the plane, so it’s adaptable to different situations and occasions.

Inside The Pack

Along with the plentiful locking features, the Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack has a plethora of pockets. There are, seriously, more than we ever used, which is nice for variety but may be a bit overkill; you’ll have to decide.

We’ll start on the back of the bag, where you’ll find two pockets you may not have on other daypacks. There’s a small one on the left-hand shoulder strap that’s the right size for a transit card, hotel room key, or hand sanitizer. You could stick cash here, too, as long as you remember to remove it before leaving the bag unattended; there’s no lock on this pocket.

The back panel has a larger, potentially more secure pocket right below the luggage pass-through. It opens with a horizontal zipper that runs across the bag and is a great space for flat gear that you don’t want someone to be able to grab while the bag is on your back, like your passport and, potentially, extra cash. Again—this pocket is secure while you’re wearing the backpack, as it’s up against your back, but it has no means of locking once you take it off, so be sure not to leave your valuables unattended in this section.

There are two side pockets for various-sized water bottles. You’ll need two hands to extend the elastic gusset for wide-mouth bottles, but they’ll fit as long as you don’t have a ton of gear pushing up against the side inside the bag. However, they hold tightly to slimmer bottles and travel umbrellas, too, so we think it’s worth the extra effort.

Flipping around to the front of the bag, you’ll find three zipper tracks. The front-most one opens to reveal a decently sized pocket for the gear you use the most. We’d say “quick access,” but it won’t be as quick if you use the dock lock. However, it’s still easier to access than in the other two areas.

The pocket extends halfway down the front of the bag and includes two large mesh slip pockets where we stashed AirPods and our phone, along with a key clip on a long leash. You could put your wallet here instead (or also), although there’s a more secure place for your cash and cards in the next section.

That’s what we call the front compartment, as it’s in front of the main compartment but larger than just a pocket. It locks with those triangular zipper pulls that fit into the Roobar Sport locking system we mentioned at the top of the review, which extend past the top of the bottle pockets on each side for wide access. Fabric gussets on each side keep the front from falling completely forward, but you can easily see into this space, which takes up about a third of the main packing area.

Against the front panel is a mesh zippered pocket that’s a mirror image of the quick(er) access pocket in front of it. It’s good for locking down small accessories or pouches containing tiny ones. On the opposite side, against the back panel of this section, are two large slip pockets. The one on the right is RFID-protected to save your credit cards or passport from digital theft and fastens at the top with a hook-and-loop closure. The one on the left is shorter and lacks RFID protection or a top fastener. Obviously, you should use the larger one for your wallet or passport and the other for anything else you want to slide inside. However, the size of the pockets usually had our tester doing the reverse as her minimalist wallet fit better in the smaller pocket, and her phone or glasses case fit better in the larger one. There’s a slot for a pen, pencil, or stylus between the two pockets and plenty of space not used by pockets in this section for a tech pouch, notebook, or anything else you want to put inside, as long as it’s not too bulky.

Heading into the main compartment, you’ll see it is the only zipper covered by a fabric welt. We know it’s to ensure no water gets on our laptop, but this was the only zipper that routinely gave us issues going around corners, and it’s due to the fabric welt. The zipper heads get stuck on the extra material—not always, but enough to be annoying. On the other hand, our laptop didn’t get wet in a downpour (not that anything in other compartments did either).

It’s pretty straightforward once you get inside though. There’s a padded sleeve lined with soft fleece for up to a 16-inch laptop against the back panel and a zipper mesh pocket identical to the one in the front compartment against the front. In between is open space for extra layers, lunch, or packing cubes containing an outfit or two if you’re packing this as a personal item for the plane. It’s a good amount of space, and we never found ourselves running out of room throughout the testing period, though we also never used all the pockets (the ones against the back panel and on the shoulder strap remain empty). However, the Pacsafe V 26L Anti-Theft Tour Backpack is a great option if you’re looking for an anti-theft backpack with a good amount of helpful organization to use daily and on a trip, as long as you know you won’t be able to sneak away without someone hearing your noisy zippers.