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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
link