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Last week I took a long overdue, much needed and altogether wonderful spontaneous little trip to the beautiful and blissful little Greek island of Corfu (and AlbaniaâŠtold you this was spontaneous). While the primary purpose of the trip was R & R, I decided to use the opportunity to take and test the brand new Tolaccea Ulife 05 Travel Garment Bag.
Even though I only got home at 1am this morning (to find a very excited little cat waiting for me) I am now sitting in my kitchen rearing to tell you all about how this bargain, budget travel pack fared.
Note that this is not a standard, typical backpack review like we have elsewhere on the site â rather this is all about what it is like to travel with this day by day.
Finally, I already own a Tortuga Lite 40L Travel Pack which I would normally use for a trip like this. In order to really put this pack through its paces my girlfriend brought the Tortuga and then we swapped halfway to compare notes.
The Broke Backpacker is supported by you. Clicking through our links may earn us a small affiliate commission, and that's what allows us to keep producing free content đ Learn more.
The Tolaccea Ulife 05 Travel Garment Bag Overview
The Tolaccea Ulife Travel Garment Bag has just launched, and comes from the China-based brand Tolaccea. Itâs an all-in-one, carry-on-ready travel pack designed with a few unique twists.
Key and Unique Features:
- Expandable Capacity: From 45L up to 55L, offering flexible and abundant packing space
- Suit/Garment Compartment: Keeps your formalwear flat and wrinkle-free
- Front 10L Waterproof Pocket: Ideal for separating wet/dry items like towels or gym gear
- Padded Laptop Compartment: Fits laptops up to 17.3â, great for work on the go
- 3-Way Carrying Options: Hand-carry, crossbody, or backpack mode
- Bonus 10L Packing Cube: Included for extra organization
It looks like it’s about to go on sale for well under $119.99 making it an absolute budget banger!!
First Impressions and Packing
When I first got this pack I was kind of confused by it! There are a lot of different sections and compartments including one that I initially thought was a cooler/fridge compartment but it’s actually for putting wet stuff like used swimming shorts. This is quite unique and I have never come across this before.
Then the middle âgarment sectionâ folds right out into 3 – this is one of the unique and special standout features of the pack and it means you can basically pack a suit and keep it nice and neat. However for this trip I actually zipped this straight out as I did not need it.
Anyway, having got my head around it, I found that packing was a joy. The sides of the main section are nice and deep, and my packing cubes slotted in easily. In its basic form, the pack holds 45L of gear (which is amazing for a carry-on as most are limited to 40L) and I did not need to extend it to 55L.
I used packing cubes (the one included and a few I own myself) and slotted these into the main section. I then used the inside pocket for my beach shoes, the top lip pocket for my wires and chucked a book into the back, 15â laptop sleeve.
Everything had its place, and the whole process felt very organised and efficient.
On The Road
The first part of my journey was a walk from my front door to the train station. While it’s only a 10 minute walk, on a hot English summer day I did feel the weight of the pack and was ready to sit down!
When the train arrived, the pack fitted nice and easily into the overhead baggage compartment (although some of the excess straps did dangle down). British train overheads are not known for their generous roominess so this was a win.
Upon reaching the airport at Leeds, the pack fit perfectly into the security tray and, thanks to innovations in technology, I did not need to unpack it at all (seriously, the new scanners are a Godsend and have made getting through the airport so much faster and nicer!). It went straight through the security scanner.
Then the time came to board the plane, it fitted perfectly into the overhead compartment (although I had to rearrange some other selfish twats bags first – he had put his duty free in there taking half the space. Who does that?) and even when fully packed, I had no trouble lifting it over my head.
Upon arriving in Corfu, our arrival was not pleasant. Basically we had quite an ugly and unfortunate scene at the car rental (Gold Car Corfu to name and shame them) which resulted in us having to leave the airport at night without the car we had paid for. We had to walk quite a distance to get to the bus to town so I really gotta feel the Tolaccea Ulife 05 Travel Garment Bag Overview on my back!
Upon finally getting to our hotel (around 11pm) I opened up the pack, grabbed my toiletry bag, had a long shower and then we hit the hay!
Corfu To Albania
The incident with the crooked, scandalous, terrible people at Gold Car rental in Corfu had left a bitter taste in our mouth. Not only that, but as we did not have a car, our plans for Corfu could not be realised. Therefore, over a breakfast of coffee followed by more coffee, we hastily revised our schedule and booked ourselves on the afternoon ferry from Corfu to Saranda in Albania!!
After repacking, we checked out and walked all the way to the port in Corfu. Now, this meant carrying the pack for about an hour, and covering 2-3 km on a hot day. I would not have not wanted to do this as a 60L backpack but with the Tolaccea garment pack it was doable. However, by the time we got onto our ferry back it was wet with sweat and by the end I had become conscious of how heavy this actually is – especially compared to the Tortuga Lite which my girlfriend was carrying.
It was at this stage that I also really missed having a hip belt. The Tolaccea garment bag does not have one – lets see if the next generation version adds one.
Albania
We spent the next 4 nights in Albania using Saranda as our base but taking day trips along the coast and then up to the Ottoman city of Gjrokaster. Take it from me, Albania is close to a perfect holiday destination with lovely coastlines, endless sunsets, good food, cold beer and stunning nature. The people are also friendly and it’s seriously cheap compared to the rest of Europe.
Tolaccea spent this blissful 4 day period sitting on the floor of our hotel room having a nice rest. I used my Osprey Quasar for day trips/beach visits.
Heading Home and Swapping Packs
When the time came to repack and go home, me and my girlfriend swapped packs. That means I got the Tortuga Lite and she got the Tolaccea garment bag.
She had indicated to me that on the way here, the Tortuga had chaffed her shoulders quite a lot and did not feel good on her chest. Basically the Tortuga Lite seems to suit male bodies more than female bodies even though it’s sold as a gender-neutral unisex pack. With this is mind I was keen to see what she would think of the Tolaccea.
AnywayâŠwhen I packed the Tortuga Lite I felt like it was short on space compared to the Tolaccea. I managed to make everything fit but it took more effort than the Tolaccea.
When I lifted the Tortuga Lite onto my back and shoulders though, I was amazed by how much lighter it felt than the Tolaccea. Of course, this is because;
(1) The Tortuga lite is a light pack made from ultralight, but less durable fabric.
(2) It’s only 40L whereas the Tolaccea is 45L – 55L expandable.
Still, if I had to repeat that long hot walk through Corfu carrying either the Tortuga or the Tolaccea, I would choose the Tortuga LiteâŠ
My girlfriend had packed substantially more gear than me and had really pushed the limits of the Tortuga Lite. Happily she did find the Tolaccea much more roomy and accommodating and had no issues getting all of her gear in. I have said earlier that the pack extends from 45L – 55L and neither of us needed to use the 55L option. However had we engaged in some destination shopping and bought a load of souvenirs, it would have been great to have the extra 10L available.
After carrying it from Saranda to Corfu to the airport, she confirmed that it did fit her female frame much better than the Tortuga. However, the bigger size and volume of the pack does mean it’s heavier which she noted. She also commented on the lack of a hip belt….
Reflections on the Tolaccea Ulife Travel Garment Bag
OK so looking back at my time with the Tolaccea I have things to sayâŠ
The pack does âstick outâ quite a bit. See photo below. This can be awkward to manoeuvre with and also contributes to the pack feeling heavy as the centre of gravity is so far.
The pack does extend to 55L. This might be useful for taking longer trips, packing winter clothing but that will mean that the pack will not fit in the over head compartments of most airlines and you will need to check the bag in.
I will bring a full sized backpack (such as the Osprey Aether) or a suitcase. The whole point of a travel pack is that it’s for short trips and is carry-on ready – as such 40L is the sweet spot.
Some of the novel features in this pack are nice but also kinda superfluous. For example, the garment section which is designed for putting a suit in – it may be useful if you are travelling for a wedding or a business trip but thats it. Then there is the âwet sectionâ – a dry bag or laundry bag does the same trick.
On the positive side, it is really roomy and easy to pack. Just be careful not to âoverpackâ otherwise you won’t be able to bring it into the airplane cabin and may end up being charged to check the pack in.
It’s also really well priced. It goes on sale tomorrow priced at $119.99. The Tortuga Lite on the other hand is $250.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I think this is a decent product. It’s very well priced and if you take the extra sections out you have a ready to roll, cheap carry on travel pack. If you do need the extra, unique features (the suit compartment and the massive amount of space) then all the better.
However, I must say that it does feel heavy for a ‘carry-on travel’ sized pack but I will defintely keep the Tolaccea and it will form a part of my travel pack collection.
The last word on this is that it is definitely the best budget travel pack I have tried. If you are short on cash then this is $80 – $100 you will not regret spending.
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