I’ve been in the market for a new backpack for travel. When traveling, I prefer to keep my hands free for opening doors, wheeling my suitcase, or what have you. While I already own a backpack, it’s not big enough to schlep all the stuff I bring when I travel. As I mentioned in a prior post, I bought a lightweight backpack from Muji last year, but failed to test it before taking it on a trip. Turns out it didn’t fit me well and strained my back. So, in search of a replacement, I turned to Lo & Sons, an ethical company that specializes in travel bags.

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Lo & Sons has a cute brand origin story, which is that the founder, Helen Lo, was frustrated by not being able to find practical but stylish travel bags. I love this line from their website: “Unfortunately, the options were either too heavy, too frumpy, too tech-y, overpriced, overly designed, or pocketless black holes.” Same, girl, same!

Like Helen, I shopped around but found nothing right for me. When you google “travel backpacks,” what comes up are large backpacks that take the place of your carry-on suitcase. That’s not what I’m looking for. I’m talking about a backpack in place of my purse, the “smaller item to place under your seat” on the plane.

Looking at more regular-sized backpacks, what I found was that if they were lightweight, they tended to be ugly outdoorsy ones, like this. If they had a more minimalist aesthetic they didn’t always have good laptop protection, like this one from Everlane. And if they were built for laptops, they weren’t for travel and lacked a suitcase sleeve like this one from Incase or this from Timbuk2. Here’s my criteria for this backpack search:

• Reasonably lightweight, preferably under 2 pounds
• Sleeve that goes over the handles of a suitcase so that you can set the backpack on the suitcase
• Outside pockets that fit a water bottle
• Minimalist aesthetic

So, that’s how I ended up at Lo & Sons. (I’ve been eyeing their leather belt bag for a while now and noticed that they also made backpacks.) They design for travel, without any loud logos — which, as you may recall from my review of the Everlane Form Bag, I’m not fond of. They also care about sustainability.

Lo & Sons makes four backpacks: the Hanover, the Hanover Deluxe, the brand new Rowledge (released just this week), and the Edgemont, a convertible tote-backpack that I will review another day. I tested out bags by loading them up with all the stuff I’d usually carry on a trip:

The Hanover

This bag is the smaller of the two. It’s constructed out of 600D Recycled Poly, which is made from recycled water bottles. They also make it in a Ripstop Recycled Poly, which is lighter, thinner, and has a bit of a sheen to it.

The backpack has a main compartment, one flat exterior pocket, and a hidden pocket at the side with a key leash.

All Lo & Sons backpacks feature removable padded inserts, which are held in place by six snaps on the inside edge of the bag. If you want want to carry your laptop (up to 13″ in the Hanover), use the insert. But you can also remove the whole thing, which is handy if you want to transfer the contents to another bag quickly. The insert has organizational pockets. In addition to the slip pocket for the laptop, it has two other slip pockets, plus one elastic mesh pocket that can hold a water bottle or umbrella.

The Hanover is decently lightweight at 1.75 lbs for the 600D Recycled Poly. It weighs just 1.3 lbs in the Ripstop Recycled Poly. (Also, I just want to say that I so appreciate that Lo & Sons actually lists the weight of their bags. Many sites don’t tell you this crucial piece of information.) The insert by itself weighs 9 oz.

The Hanover Deluxe

This backpack, as you might guess from the name, is bigger than the Hanover. Also made out of 600D Recycled Poly, its additional features include side pockets and a 3D front pocket (with key leash, 1 zip pocket, and 2 mesh pockets). It doesn’t have the hidden side pocket, though. The padded insert is similar to the Hanover’s, but it has an additional mesh pocket and can accommodate a 15″ laptop. It weighs 2.2 pounds with the insert weighing in at 10 oz.

How the Hanover and Hanover Deluxe Compare

The Commonalities

• Same water-resistant material: 600D Recycled Poly (except for the 1 Hanover in black Ripstop Recycled Poly)
• Adjustable shoulder straps with memory foam padding and mesh on the underside to ensure that they stay in place
• Removable inserts
• Zipper pulls (plastic) with stretchy parts that allow you to thread one into the other (a small security measure to make to harder for someone to open your bag)
• Sleeve for suitcase handles (there are zippers at the top and bottom of the sleeve so you can keep the sleeve closed when you don’t need it, or even treat it like an extra pocket)

The Differences

• The Hanover Deluxe is larger (18″h x 12″w x 6″d) compared to the Hanover (16.25″h x 11.5″w x 7″d)
• Thus, the Hanover Deluxe can carry a 15″ laptop as opposed to a 13″ in the Hanover
• The Deluxe is also heavier by 7 oz (2.2 lbs vs. 1.7 lbs in the 600D Recycled Poly)
• 1 elastic mesh pocket in the insert of the Hanover, 2 in the Hanover Deluxe
• Flat front pocket on the Hanover vs. the 3D pocket on the Hanover Deluxe
• Hidden side pocket on the Hanover (not available on the Deluxe)
• 2 side pockets on the Hanover Deluxe (not available on the Hanover)

Lo & Sons actually has a pretty great comparison on their website, complete with charts and photos of how they look on people of different heights (on women and men). I took some photos anyway to show how they compare on, well, me. These photos were taken with all the items from the first photo stuffed in them.

I think the Hanover looks better on my petite frame. While the Hanover Deluxe measures just half an inch wider than the Hanover, with stuff in the side pockets, it looks much wider.

I loaded up each backpack several times to try them out, walking around my apartment. They both felt comfortable. While the Hanover Deluxe was a tad heavier, it didn’t feel that noticeably different from the Hanover.

In the end, I went with the Hanover Deluxe because of the side pockets. I always travel with a water bottle, and I like storing it in an outside pocket (not inside close to my laptop just in case of a spill, though this water bottle brand has never leaked on me.) I also like stashing my prescription sunglasses in the other side pocket for quick access.

How the Backpack Fared After a Day of Travel

I’ve taken the Hanover Deluxe on a few trips since I first got it in December. So far, it still looks new. Fitting it under an airplane seat is no problem. (However, you might need to take a water bottle out of the side pocket if you’re in the aisle seat as those spaces are narrower than the space under other seats.) I have no complaints about the organization of the bag. It has just the right number of pockets and compartments for me.

One minor quibble is that there’s not a way to adjust the side pockets or cinch them to secure them (though a cinch would also detract from the clean, minimalist look). They can accommodate a large water bottle, but that meant my skinny S’ip bottle had a lot of wiggle room. Inside, the only thing I’d add is a Velcro strap over the slip pocket for the laptop to keep it even more snugly in place.

Even with the amply padded shoulder straps, my shoulders hurt after a day of travel that involved public transit to the airport on one end. I wish the bag were a little lighter, but to be fair, most of the weight comes from my stuff. At 2.2 pounds, the Hanover Deluxe weighs in reasonably light compared to other backpacks. I’m a small person (and one who holds a lot of tension in my shoulders too). So perhaps there’s no backpack that wouldn’t feel tiring to me after a day of travel. I own a smaller backpack for commuting, one with a padded back, and when I carry a laptop and adapter in it and walk for half an hour, it also hurts my shoulders.

There is one more bag that I’m curious about and that I didn’t think to try initially: the Away backpack. It also has a minimalist aesthetic and good organization with three compartments. But it’s a little heavier at 2.8 pounds and also more pricey at $200. At $148, the Hanover Deluxe is a little cheaper, though not what I’d consider cheap. (The Hanover is $128.) Lo & Sons holds sales from time to time, though. I snagged mine during one, which brought the price down to fit in my $100 budget. If you can’t wait for a sale, sign up for their mailing list and you’ll get a 15% off coupon right away.

Overall, I like the Hanover Deluxe and think both backpacks are good options to consider. I really appreciate the simple design, thoughtful organization, and how minimal they look. They seem well made, too, like they would stand up to the rigors of travel or everyday use. I’ll probably update this post in a year or more to let you know how my backpack has held up.

UPDATE 11/13/19 – Lo & Sons has updated these backpacks! There’s now the Hanover 2 and Hanover Deluxe 2. Design improvements include adding a little zip pocket to both bags on the the top that fits a passport. The external side pockets on the Hanover Deluxe 2 now come with zippers so that you can expand them (or not). Adjustable pockets was one of the things I suggested above. Now I want the updated version! (But I will remind myself that I should just use the bag I already have.)

UPDATE 4/13/24 – It’s been more than five years since I bought my Hanover Deluxe and it’s still going strong. Obviously it didn’t see much travel for the first two years of the pandemic. But now that I live in NYC, I use this backpack not only for travel, but regularly for my Trader Joe’s runs too (sans insert). This bag still looks great and I continue to be impressed by the quality. Lo & Sons also introduced an even fancier version of this bag, the Hanover Supreme, in November 2023.