Pelican Backpacks: Cutting Edge Luggage

By Matt Domino Published March 4, 2013

pelican backpacks u100 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Spring is rapidly approaching, which means that the weather will be warmer and there will be plenty of opportunities to travel; whether its back-packing through Europe, hiking and camping in the Rockies, or taking a scenic day trip through the Shenandoah Valley. No matter the excursion, the common and most essential element is a solid backpack. Luckily, Pelican, makers of high-performance casings of all varieties, has an array of backpacks that fit any traveler’s needs.

Pelican was founded in Torrance, California by Dave Parker in 1976. Since that time, Parker and his company have been constantly looking to improve cases and backpacks for those looking to do a more rugged variety of travel; all while bringing some of their more essential electronics and other belongs along for the ride.

Recommended Videos

While Pelican offers a fine selection of laptop and tablet cases, their backpacks are a true must have. Pelican’s Sport Elite backpack line is perfect for anyone who loves to hike or camp. The S100 and S140 models are a bit more heavy duty with each featuring a built-in watertight, crushproof case that is perfect for carrying a tablet or e-reader while setting up camp in the great outdoors. They also feature a padded lumbar storage cavity that can house any standard SLR camera, as well as a lumbar pad with an ergonomic ventilated back to ensure maximum comfort.

For those looking to embark on an extended trip—say a tour across Spain, France and Italy—the U100 Urban Elite Laptop Backpack is exactly what you want. Each U100 is fitted with a waterproof and crushproof case that easily fits 17” Apple laptops. Hopping on planes and trains is easy with this model because the interior case has “TSA fast- top-loader access.” With its bottom expanding sling storage, you can easily fit changes of clothes, and the concealed water bottle pocket is an ideal place to keep all your toiletries safe and sanitary. If this sounds like holding a suitcase on your back, don’t be afraid—the U100 features an ergonomic S-curve comfort back, so walking through Marseilles, Madrid or Venice will as enjoyable as it should be.

For your next trip, make traveling a whole lot easier and put a Pelican on your back.

Image courtesy of Pelican.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Matt Domino is a writer living in Brooklyn. His fiction has appeared in Slice and The Montreal Review, while his non-fiction…

Culture

Snag Yourself One of These Four Must-Have Cigar Sampler Packs for Just $20

Travel cigar ashtray and holder

If you've always wanted to start trying cigars, or even just expanding your horizons, then you may want to check out this special deal that we have going with Cigar Page. You can pick from four different samples from some of the best cigar brands on the market, many of them our top overall picks. That includes picks from Oliva, La Aurora, and Rocky Patel. With cigars rated up to 95, you're getting a lot of excellent quality here, although there is a limit of one sampler per customer. Even so, with discounts from as high as $112 down to just $20, it's well worth grabbing if you can.
SHOP NOW

The Manual's Must-Haves Cigars
The first sampler you can pick up is the Olivia. These folks are a pretty big staple of the cigar world and have been making cigars since the 1800s. The 10-cigar sampler usually goes for $97 and includes a nice selection from Connecticut Reserve Toro to Serie O Maduro Robusto. Another bundle from an old-school Cigar maker is the La Aurora pack, which comes with a lot of classic flavors like La Aurora Preferidos 1903 and La Aurora 115 Anniversario. The 10-pack usually goes for $105, so it's pretty high-end, but this deal knocks it down to $20, so it's perfect if you've been wanting to try it out.

Culture

Netflix is planning to continue investing in gaming, including new co-op games

The company has had games on its service since 2023.

Even as Netflix is raising prices on consumers, the company has also announced that it will be introducing couch co-op and party games for subscribers. The company has offered cloud gaming as a "beta" to a subset of its subscribers since 2023, and the move into co-op games suggests that the streamer will continue to invest in this area.

Co-CEO Greg Peters made the announcement as part of the company's Q4 earnings report, but he didn't detail what games might be available through this new platform. “We think of this as a successor to family board game night or an evolution of what the game show on TV used to be," he explained.

Culture

The best adventure movies: The films that keep you on the edge of your seat

These adventure movies will take you to new parts of the world

Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark

The idea of an adventure movie is pretty specialized. These are movies that exist broadly within the world of action cinema, but they are just one small corner of that world. These movies typically involve exotic locations, traps, and tunnels. Sometimes, they're set in the jungle or the desert, and sometimes they're set on the high seas.

Personally, I'm partial to sea-faring movies, maybe in part because I have no desire to live my life on the water. In my own life, these movies have often represented a chance to understand the world, and to appreciate its vastness, splendor, and danger.