Exactly as I expected and even more comfortable than I anticipated

2025-07-21

1 week before a trip to Scotland, and I wasn't happy with my travel gear. With 6 days countryside on the West Highland Way and Outer Hebrides Isle of Lewis sandwiched between 6 urban exploration days in Glasgow and Edinburgh, my regular daypack wasn't checking all the boxes. I needed something for air travel organization, another for city exploration in and another for daytime trail hiking, all with unpredictable weather requiring layers coming off and on, and rain potential every day. While researching options, as soon as I found the Matador Freerain22 Waterproof Packable Backpack, I had to try it. I have a great travel bag for the airport, but everything else I was going to use the Freerain22. It packed away in my luggage bag (along with my Freerain Waterproof Packable Hip Pack I've been using and love) without having to sacrifice leaving anything behind. Once in Glasgow and my first impression was how weightless it was with just a couple of layers for myself and my wife, an umbrella and a water bottle for hitting museums, city walking and an unplanned subway ride. Lighter and more forgiving in a subway than my daypack would have been. Hitting the WHW, we were on trail less than an hour when it started to rain hard enough, I pulled out the raincoat and rain pants; this would be the big waterproof test. The rain was ending as we broke for lunch 4 hours later and my first chance to see if everything was dry. It passed. Day 3 on trail and it rained all day long, occasionally pretty heavy. I was very happy to find my wool hoody still dry at lunch. The rest of the day it kept coming down and after a 15-mile day of rock and root scrambling in muddy conditions I really was satisfied the pack held up well, My trusty raincoat even found its breaking point for the first time and I did find some moisture did dampen a couple of things, but considering some through hiker and wild campers were getting off trail that day I was very pleased to complete my WHW section hike unscathed. The rest of the trip did not a challenge this pack, at all. This bag was everything I was looking for in waterproof and hiking comfort; and the thing folded nicely and packed back into my return flight luggage. This is exactly what I was looking for, and even though I ordered very late, a couple of emails with customer service and they made sure it arrived in time. 100% Satisfied.

2025-06-21

I take this in my "Big backpack" when traveling , once I get to the hotel , I pull this out and use it for the entirety of the trip , has 2 big pockets , very comfortable overall and can expand pretty easily !

2025-05-25

Nice size to accommodate photo equipment and waterproof!

2025-04-16

Took this on a weeklong trip to Europe as my in-town backpack. It was easily packed in between locations and performed well in mixed weather. Carried a lot and was easy to access. I’d definitely recommend.

2025-03-31

The backpack may look small, but it has a large capacity, a solid build, and a stylish design.

2025-02-13

Packable and lots of pockets. Hopefully it's as durable as it seems over time.

2025-01-27

Beautiful bag. Very lightweight. Very comfortable.

2025-01-04

Great compact bag to take along on day trips when you need a pack to can protect your stuff from the elements without all the needed space of a typical back pack or bag.

2024-12-27

Took the bag on a kayaking trip and internal contents were soaked. Thought it might be user error so I ran a tested at home in the shower. Contents on bottom soaked through.

2024-12-26

Haven’t used it yet but the construction is great.

2024-12-25

Working well as my day pack and it's holding out the elements.

2024-12-02

Love this backpack. I keep it in my regular carry which is a Nike elite backpack that I bring on my bike commute. If I get stuck in a rainy day I use the matador to keep my stuff dry. I like the quick access pocket and the external sleeves for water bottles. It fits my yeti 40 oz tumblr nicely. Great product.

2024-10-28

The good - ultralight, waterproof, nice design, very comfortable. The bad - loses its waterproofness after some time, in my case after 2 years or so.

2024-10-18

Folds into a bag and throw in my suitcase. When ever I head out for walking tour or to carry junk my wife bought while sightseeing I could open this backpack and put all the stuff inside and where it instead of carrying bags around.

2024-10-02

Great bag. Super well constructed. If it is possible to still keep it packable, I'd like to see a bit more back structure/support as the bag tends to distort to the shape of the load.

2024-10-01

This is very well made and light weight. Two things that made it 4/5 are maybe not an issue for others. One the roll down top to make it water proof is a little funny as it takes time to get in and out of the bad for that extra water proofing plus the clips are down the side making it a little funny. 2nd minor issue is it has no pockets inside and is one big bag so no separation just a large sack. Would be nice to have a small inner zip pocket or something to separate contents. It's just a sack with straps. Glad to have the one external pocket though zipper runs lengthwise so better be ready for items to fall out when opening. Otherwise it's everything that you in a small lightweight backpack and we'll made.

2024-09-02

I've used the Freerain24 for the past 5 years and thought it was great for hiking and travel. The updated Freerain22 is definitely an improvement. The rolltop with zipper is better at keeping water out. I preferred the storage sack for the Freerain24 because it doubles as a dry sack for your phone, but the Freerain22 is too large to use a sack. The construction is much more durable and I appreciate that the hip belt is removable. The load lifters are a great addition and makes it much easier to get a good fit with the chest strap & shoulder straps compared to the Freerain24. I highly recommend the Freerain22.

2024-08-07

Great quality, design, very useful. Will recommend to others.

2024-08-07

The bag is exactly what it's advertised at. Very practical and thought through. 4 instead of 5 stars since I think the bag/ net the it fold in to should have a zipper to further compress the bag since it's too big folded. Also the bag should be either attached or part of the bag itself and not a lose net which can easily be lost.

2024-08-07