Super Expandable Travel Backpack 2026: BAGSMART BLAST Tested.

I took the BLAST Expandable Travel Backpack from BAGSMART out for its first proper test last week, on a gorgeous walk in picturesque Augusta, South West Australia, walking from the Hotel all the way down along the Blackwood River to Flinders Bay.

It was one of those clean, sunny winter mornings, and I was hoping for good sightings of Stingrays and Pelicans and kite surfers flying high over the surf where the river meets the sea. 

I’d loaded the Blast backpack up with a jacket, water bottle, camera, iPad, sunhat and a notebook, mostly to see how it would sit on my back over a couple of hours of walking. What struck me first was how little I noticed it was there. It’s genuinely lightweight, and the material has that slightly rubbery, weatherproof feel without being stiff or bulky, so it moved with me rather than against me.

That’s the thing about a backpack like this. You can test it on a riverside walk, but the real question is whether it holds up everywhere else too, because most of us aren’t just doing one kind of trip. The same bag that carried my gear along the Blackwood is one I’d happily take into the city for a day of sightseeing, sling into an overhead locker on a flight, or strap on for a few hours on a mountain trail. That’s really the point of the BLAST. It’s built for people who move between worlds regularly, not for one single use case.

Here’s why it works for me.

Why this Expandable Travel Backpack Design Works

The look is minimal and modern, which matters more than people give it credit for. If you’re a creator, a commuter, or someone who just doesn’t want to look like they’re hauling camping gear through an airport, this is a bag you can carry with a blazer as easily as with hiking boots. Nothing about it screams “outdoor gear,” and nothing about it looks like a school bag either. It sits somewhere in the middle, which is exactly where a lot of us live these days, splitting our time between work, travel and everything in between.

The Internal Organisation Is the Real Story

I’ll be honest, the organisation inside this bag is what won me over more than anything else. I’ve used backpacks before where everything ends up in one deep pit and you’re digging around for your charger cable at the bottom of a hole. This one is properly zoned. There’s a dedicated laptop compartment that fits a 15.6″ laptop and opens flat to 180 degrees, so you can lay the whole bag open on a security tray without taking the laptop out at all. Anyone who travels regularly knows how much time and fumbling that saves at an airport queue.

Then there’s a separate shoe compartment, which sounds like a small thing until you’ve actually used one. It means your trainers or hiking boots don’t end up pressed against a clean shirt, and it also works as a spot for anything genuinely dirty or damp, like wet swimwear or muddy boots after a walk. On top of that, there are six external pockets, each with a strap-pull cord, so you can grab your phone, passport or headphones without unzipping the whole bag and rifling through it. For daily carry or a fast-moving travel day, that kind of quick access actually changes how you use a bag.

Built to Flex With the Trip

The BLAST comes as a standard 28 litre bag that extends out to 38 litres, so it can shrink down for a weekend or expand for a longer trip without needing a second bag. There’s also a compression system, both inner straps and an outer strap, which lets you squeeze everything down once it’s packed, so the bag doesn’t balloon out or feel loose and floppy when it’s not full.

It carries four different ways: by the top handle, by the side handle, as a backpack over both shoulders, or slotted onto a rolling suitcase using the back luggage strap. That flexibility matters more than it sounds like on paper. Some days you want it on your back through a train station, other days you just want to grab it by the top handle to move it off a table, and having both options built in means you’re not stuck with just one way of carrying it.

The material is water-resistant and machine washable, which is a genuinely practical detail rather than a marketing line. Bags get grubby, especially if you’re using them for hiking, family days out, or regular commuting, and being able to actually wash it rather than just wipe it down is the kind of thing you appreciate a few months in, not on day one.

Who It’s Actually For

Thinking about how I’m going to be using it in the future; this is a bag that will suit a carry-on only city break just as easily as a longer haul with checked luggage. It would work for business travel where you also want to fit in some leisure time, for the daily grind of commuting into work if you still work, for a smart weekend getaway where you’re not overthinking what to pack, and for family outings where you need one bag that can hold snacks, a change of clothes and a spare pair of shoes without turning into chaos. 

It’s also a solid pick for anyone creating content on the move, since the laptop compartment and quick-access pockets mean you can get gear out fast without disrupting a shoot or a shot.

BAGSMART’s approach with the BLAST is about making travel smarter and easier rather than flashier, and for me that has come through in actual use, not just in the spec sheet. BAGSMART has this to say: From city scenes to desert dreams, this is a bag built for whenever you’re on the move – Here or There, Now or Never.

I tend to agree.

The backpack I was gifted is in black – it’s the Blast Travel Backpack (28L expandable to 38L). This backpack comes in various different colours – check them all out here at BAGSMART. 

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Disclaimer : This post, “Super Expandable Travel Backpack 2026: BAGSMART BLAST Tested” was created using my own knowledge and experience, but also incorporates research using AI tools. However, the post was put together with my own personal ideas and edits and styling. Photos are my own and as supplied or agreed by BAGSMART. Any gifted items are marked with an asterisk * or mentioned as gifted. However, this does not affect my editorial integrity.