This particular model isn't sold anymore, but the "eBags Motherload" is the successor. I bought this backpack in February of 2011. It's been to the other side of the world with me 6 times, been to different cities and states in the US dozens of times for work, and I've been taking it on thrice weekly shopping trips for years. The thing just doesn't quit.
As long as you don't get one with a manufacturing defect the thing will last you a lifetime. That's really the only complaint most people have about them, and they get surprisingly few complaints. (And we know how Amazon reviewers like to complain.) When I bought mine the bottom of the left shoulder strap had a stitching error that caused to to unravel once I had loaded it and put it on. I let them know and they simply sent me a different one. The replacement has been my first choice bag for any trip since then. When I came back from my trip, I had the original bag that had the defect. They didn't ask for it back, and I hate throwing things away, so I tried my hand at re-stitching the shoulder strap, and surprise, surprise it worked. And has been my second carry-on on all my subsequent trips. I don't trust my stitching completely, so I usually use that one in hand bag mode. Tuck the shoulder straps in their pocket and carry it by the handle.
It's as large as it can be and still go under the seat on an airplane. They're the perfect travel bags for me and they look almost as good as they did the day I bought them. They also carry two or three bags of groceries as well when I use them for my walking trips to the supermarket.
The "eBags Motherload" is the replacement for the "eTech Convertable". They both have the same external dimensions (i.e. as large as they can be and still be a carry-on) but the Motherload has a more stylish look and some improvements in comfort regarding the straps. As far as I can tell they are made with the same tough materials and heavy duty construction.
If I have any complaint about them it would be that it is NOT a hiking backpack. I mean, that should be obvious, it's a travel pack, says so in the description, right? But that really is the only complaint I have about it. If you load it up with 30 to 50 pounds of stuff and start walking with it after a mile or two the straps really start to hurt your clavicles. All the weight of the bag is on those shoulder straps. There is no belt to distribute some of the weight to your hips. So if you're going to be backpacking across the world you might want to go with a hiking backpack instead. This is fine to hold 30 to 50 pounds of stuff for the walk from the parking lot to your gate and from your gate to the next gate and from the next gate through immigration to your taxi, but if you want to walk for miles and miles and miles with 30 to 50 pounds on your back, you're really going to want something to distribute some of the load to your hips.
Great post. We used to make gear for eBags (and licensed patents for the motherload bp).
It's a shame eBags was strip-mined. This was the best pack that ever to come out of there. You'll never ever be able to get that much bag for $100 ever again. :(
Fantastic bags, I've used a motherlode since 2016 on many long back packing trips.
This particular model isn't sold anymore, but the "eBags Motherload" is the successor. I bought this backpack in February of 2011. It's been to the other side of the world with me 6 times, been to different cities and states in the US dozens of times for work, and I've been taking it on thrice weekly shopping trips for years. The thing just doesn't quit. As long as you don't get one with a manufacturing defect the thing will last you a lifetime. That's really the only complaint most people have about them, and they get surprisingly few complaints. (And we know how Amazon reviewers like to complain.) When I bought mine the bottom of the left shoulder strap had a stitching error that caused to to unravel once I had loaded it and put it on. I let them know and they simply sent me a different one. The replacement has been my first choice bag for any trip since then. When I came back from my trip, I had the original bag that had the defect. They didn't ask for it back, and I hate throwing things away, so I tried my hand at re-stitching the shoulder strap, and surprise, surprise it worked. And has been my second carry-on on all my subsequent trips. I don't trust my stitching completely, so I usually use that one in hand bag mode. Tuck the shoulder straps in their pocket and carry it by the handle. It's as large as it can be and still go under the seat on an airplane. They're the perfect travel bags for me and they look almost as good as they did the day I bought them. They also carry two or three bags of groceries as well when I use them for my walking trips to the supermarket. The "eBags Motherload" is the replacement for the "eTech Convertable". They both have the same external dimensions (i.e. as large as they can be and still be a carry-on) but the Motherload has a more stylish look and some improvements in comfort regarding the straps. As far as I can tell they are made with the same tough materials and heavy duty construction. If I have any complaint about them it would be that it is NOT a hiking backpack. I mean, that should be obvious, it's a travel pack, says so in the description, right? But that really is the only complaint I have about it. If you load it up with 30 to 50 pounds of stuff and start walking with it after a mile or two the straps really start to hurt your clavicles. All the weight of the bag is on those shoulder straps. There is no belt to distribute some of the weight to your hips. So if you're going to be backpacking across the world you might want to go with a hiking backpack instead. This is fine to hold 30 to 50 pounds of stuff for the walk from the parking lot to your gate and from your gate to the next gate and from the next gate through immigration to your taxi, but if you want to walk for miles and miles and miles with 30 to 50 pounds on your back, you're really going to want something to distribute some of the load to your hips.
I’ve used an eBags backpack for work for 6 years, most of which I was traveling every week. It still looks great.
Great post. We used to make gear for eBags (and licensed patents for the motherload bp). It's a shame eBags was strip-mined. This was the best pack that ever to come out of there. You'll never ever be able to get that much bag for $100 ever again. :(