Yeti Makes Backpacks and This One Is the Best for Airlines and Adventure Travel

The YETI Rancher 27L Everyday Carry Backpack knocks it out of the park by creating a backpack that makes gear access easier, boasts a smart design, and is durable.

My Search For a Quality Backpack for Travel and Adventure

I’ve been looking for a backpack for traveling — something I can carry onto a plane, stuff full, and still get to my gear easily and quickly. It also has to be well constructed to take the abuse of adventure travel.

The YETI Ranchero backpack in a passenger's seat on a commercial airline. — The 27L YETI Ranchero Backpack fits in an overhead bin, and the 22L will fit under the forward seat. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Trying to Make Flying Smooth and Easy

Here’s the situation I usually face: I board a packed flight, find my seat, and before I stash my bag in the overhead bin, I need to grab what I’ll want during the flight — laptop, Kindle, headphones, maybe some snacks, and that pillow thing you put around your neck. What I don’t want to do is hold up the line of people behind me while digging through my backpack. I don’t want to be that guy.

Smart Design That Works

This is where YETI's smart design shines. The front panel of the backpack unzips wide, think of how butterfly wings open, so I can see everything inside all at once, grab what I need, and be out of the way in seconds. No digging, no dumping out the contents, and no dirty looks from the other flyers.

The Yeti Ranchero backpack with its front zipper open and the gear inside showing. — A zippered front that makes it easy to get to the gear at the bottom. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Both Are Roomy, One Is Just Extra Roomy

The YETI Ranchero comes in four sizes. My two favorites are the 22L and 27L. The 27L is a little too big to fit under the seat, but it slides perfectly into the overhead bin. The 22L fits under the seat just fine. Even when I'm crammed into an economy seat with zero elbow room, that front zipper lets me set the pack on my lap, open it butterfly-style, and grab what I need — without having to throw elbows.

Our transportation in Africa. The 27L YETI Ranchero Backpack in a classic safari Toyota Land Cruiser. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Making Long Trips Easier

My YETI Ranchero got a serious test recently when I took a 14-hour flight to South Africa to fish for tigerfish. I was excited for the trip, but I wasn’t looking forward to having to sit in a small space for such a long period of time. By the time I reached my final destination, the Nxamaseri Lodge in the Okavango Delta, more than twenty hours had passed. After all that travel, I had a new level of appreciation for this pack —it played a real part in making the trip go smoother.

Writer and fly angler Ken Baldwin is getting on a small helicopter in Africa, carrying his YETI Ranchero backpack. — My YETI backpack went with me everywhere. | Photo provided by Ken Baldwin

A Simple and Smart Design

Air travel has become increasingly more difficult, so I do what I can to make it easier. Something as simple as a well-placed zipper can be the difference between a quick grab-and-go and an embarrassing gear explosion at 30,000 feet. KB - Follow me on my Fly Fishing on SI's Facebook page.

"Slow down...listen to the hoppers...be patient with yer wife...eat sardines with hot sauce... catch “Gagger” trout!!!" –Flip Pallot

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The gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for the purpose of evaluation.The views and assessments presented are my own.