World's Best Backpack Survey

Andy the Hobo Traveler, probably one of the more intentionally traveled people on the planet, has been in the process of designing the perfect travel bag for some time, and is now seeking input in a backpack design survey for the "long-term travel" bag he's calling the "Windmill" (because he says he's chasing windmills). I've filled it out and listed my dream backpack's characteristics -- chief among them are being maximum carry-on sized, "upward" zipping zippers (so stuff doesn't fall out), zipper pulls that don't break, and some ingenious way to fold wheels (for, among other things, the tedious schlep through US airport security and those long urban hauls on sidewalks between the train and the hostel anywhere) into a backpack's body when not rolling.

I've come to know and love a few smaller travel bags over the last couple of years, but none is the perfect "main" big bag... and every time I do find a small laptop backpack I heart, the company stops making it -- witness the defunct Timbuk2 Detour and the Aussie-made STM Small Loop, which was perfect for my 12" iBook (though they're still making a great backpack for larger laptops). Montana makers of monster bags, Red Oxx, does, and probably always will, make an awesome shoulder bag I've come to love above all others... but yeah, I've yet to find a main, big backpack I want to carry forever. So, fill out Andy's survey and help him finish up the perfect backpack so I can marry it.

• Andy the HoboTraveler's Windmill Backpack Design Survey

Related reading: Red Oxx Shoulder Bag | Flashpacker's Laptop Backpack | What can you carry on a plane?

Photo © Getty Images / Allan Danahar

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