Grant’s New Pack – Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW

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Last Updated on February 19, 2024 by Grant

We just got back from our first international trip with our new backpacks and I am excited to share my thoughts on the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW.

The Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW is outstanding! It easily handles the weight, has room for just about everything I could need and has extremely well thought out features.

Grant's new pack is the Lowepro HighLine BP 400 AW.
Grant’s new pack is the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW.

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In order to properly review the pack, I am going to go through each of the features. Let’s start at the front:

Front Compartment

The front compartment has ample room to store essentials for the flight. The JumpKit (one of my favorite innovations of the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW) is stored in this compartment, along with a mesh pouch perfectly sized to hold the toiletry kit. The toiletry kit is a heavy-duty, clear plastic resealable pouch which meets TSA standards for liquids.

The front compartment of the Highline 400 has room for the JumpKit, the Toiletry Kit and additional gear.
The front compartment of the Highline 400 has room for the JumpKit, the Toiletry Kit and additional gear.

Tucked in below the JumpKit is room for my daypack, and, on this trip, my fleece. This makes for very easy access to most of the things I would need while flying: electronics, a daypack for when I arrive, toiletries to freshen up after a long flight and a fleece for a cool Milan morning.

The Lowpro pack comes with some nice accessories: a packing cube, a TSA-style toiletry bag and the JumpKIt.
The Lowpro pack comes with some nice accessories: a packing cube, a TSA-style toiletry bag and the JumpKIt.

Main Compartment

Next, we move on to the main compartment, which is not quite a standard carry-on size but has some nice features, including two zippered mesh pocket.

The pack handled eight days worth of clothes and gear, but was stretched. Five to six days would be a more reasonable load.
The pack handled eight days worth of clothes and gear, but was stretched. Five to six days would be a more reasonable load.

The larger compartment is perfect for my packable raincoat. The second zippered pocket runs along the side and I use it to hold cables, plug adapters and the travel router and cable since I won’t need them while on the move.

The side mesh pocket is perfect for loose cables and adapters. The pack also has clothing straps if you need them.
The side mesh pocket is perfect for loose cables and adapters. The pack also has clothing straps if you need them.

It also has clothing straps, which I don’t use since I use packing cubes. I am able to fit four of the eBags Slim Ultralight Packing Cubes, but only just barely fit them. Do not overload the cubes as the pack will have a hard time closing if you do. I can also fit the camera bag along with a couple of other odds and ends at the top.

Extra Compartments

There is a small, zippered pocket on the front perfectly sized to hold keys and loose change.

The Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW has several well=placed pockets, including this one for keys and loose change.
The Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW has several well=placed pockets, including this one for keys and loose change.

There is another pocket on the very top which is perfectly sized for a glasses case. I use this to hold my glasses, sunglasses and other small items.

The Highline 400 has a really good handle and top pocket, which is great for glasses and sunglasses.
The Highline 400 has a really good handle and top pocket, which is great for glasses and sunglasses.

On the sides, there are two mesh pockets, which easily hold my Kleen Kanteen Water Bottle, mainly due to its slim shape. Underneath one of the pockets is is the pouch for the built-in rain cover, which puts the “All-Weather” in the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW.

The laptop sleeve easily handled our 13" MacBook Pro and the mesh pockets on the side are perfect for my Kleen Kanteen.
The laptop sleeve easily handled our 13″ MacBook Pro and the mesh pockets on the side are perfect for my Kleen Kanteen.

On one side, there is a laptop slot, which could have easily handled a larger laptop than our 13” MacBook Air. The laptop slot has a zipper lock.

Construction

It comes with a waist belt and sternum strap. The waist belt is easily tucked away. I cut the sternum strap off pretty quickly. I have never liked sternum straps on non-technical packs.

The straps are nice and wide and provide great padding. There is mesh padding on the back of the pack, which is very comfortable.

Grant wearing a fully-loarded Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW.
Grant wearing a fully-loaded Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW.

The pack is very tough, with Cordura Nylon on the bottom and an almost rubberized material everywhere else. There are two large and conveniently placed carry handles, one on the top one on the side with the laptop slot.

In all, the pack could have stood to be a tad bit bigger, but is so full of outstanding features, I am willing to pack a little less just to use the bag. I can’t find another bag with so many smart features in such a rugged, compact package. It is advertised as a pack for an adventurous weekend, but, with good packing, you can go much longer with this pack.

Packing for Eight Days in Italy with the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW

Packing for any international trip is a challenge, especially in the spring. The weather is just finicky. Sometimes cold, sometimes hot.

Our gear for the eight day trip to Italy. The gear on the left is Bonnie's and the right is Grant's.
Our gear for the eight-day trip to Italy. The gear on the left is Bonnie’s and the right is Grant’s.

We chaperoned an eight-day trip to Italy for our school, visiting Verona, Venice, Pisa, Florence and Rome. The temperatures for this trip ranged anywhere from the 50s to the upper 70s, presenting a real difficulty in packing and a departure from our normal methods.

Normally, when flying internationally, we only take four to five sets of spare clothes. By doing laundry on the trip and only packing enough to make it those five days, we are able to pack very lightly. Indeed, we typically only carry a carry-on backpack for the entire trip weighing around 20-25 pounds each. Hitting this weight is essential for travel on discount airlines which charge for heavier bags.

For this trip, we were with a tour group. We were unable to do laundry, other than the occasional wash in the sink, forcing us to carry a lot more than we normally do.

That said, the new pack was up to the test. While it was a bit stretched, it managed what I needed for this trip nicely.

Here’s What I Have in My Pack

Clothes

Once everything was placed in it's compartments, all I was left with was my clothes, camera, medicine, water bottle, travel pillow and small towel. the eBags packing cubes made quick work of packing my clothes.
Once everything was placed in its compartments, all I was left with was my clothes, camera, medicine, water bottle, travel pillow and a small towel. the eBags packing cubes made quick work of packing my clothes.

Gear

REI Flash 22 Daypack – I recently picked this up to replace my Flash 18. It is just slightly beefier than the Flash 18, but it has mesh pockets for water bottles and a water bladder sleeve, making it more versatile.

What I Wore on The Plane

In addition, I wore a Columbia Declination Shirt, Columbia Silver Ridge Pants, an Eagle Creek Money Belt, Under Armour Boxer Jocks, Smart Wool Socks and Merrell Moab leather low cut shoes on the plane.

In addition to all of those clothes, I also have a small Cocoon Inflatable Travel Pillow, an MSR Hand Towel, a 27-oz Kleen Kanteen, toiletries and medications. These are the basics I carry with me everywhere.

Since we are blogging on this trip, we are also carrying a hefty amount of electronics.

Inside the Main Compartment

Sale
Canon Powershot SX70 20.3MP Digital Camera 65x Optical Zoom Lens 4K Video 3-inch LCD Tilt Screen (Black)
  • Powerful 65x optical zoom
  • 203 Megapixel CMOS sensor and DIGIC 8 image processor
  • 4K video and 4K time-lapse movie
  • 039-Type Approx 236-million dot, OLED EVF
  • Use the EOS Utility Webcam Beta Software (Mac and Windows) to turn your compatible Canon camera into a high-quality webcam

In the JumpKit:

The JumpKit allowed me to store gear I would want on the flight in an easy to reach manner.
The JumpKit allowed me to store gear I would want on the flight in an easy to reach manner.
  • iPad Mini 2
  • Unlocked Portable Hot Spot
  • Two Lightning Cables
  • Two ear pods and a headphone splitter (in case we want to watch a movie together).

All told, my pack weighs in at about 25 lbs, which is a bit heavy. It was not as heavy as Bonnie’s, which tipped the scales at 30 lbs. I ended up taking the laptop on the flight back to take some of the weight off of her.

Final Thoughts on the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW

I was really impressed by the pack by the time I got back. The pack is easy to use, comfortable to carry, even when overpacked, and the features of the pack were incredibly well thought out.

I highly recommend this pack.

That said, Lowepro unfortunately discontinued this pack. While still like this pack a lot, it is a bit small if I can’t do laundry, like many of our school trips. So, I have replaced this pack with the Tortuga 40L Travel Backpack. It is a bit larger and heavier but still fits in an overhead bin.


Travel Resources
What do you use to find a flight?

We use Skyscanner to find deals on flights. Skyscanner has a great interface and compares tons of airlines for the best pricing and routing. That said, it does not always have every airline and some airlines will have better deals on their website. Still, Skyscanner is a great place to start.
Click here to search for a flight.

What do you use to find a hotel?

We typically stay at Hilton properties, so we use the Hilton website. You can find good Hilton Honors discounts or AAA discounts for a hotel there. We make great use of our free night certificates from our Hilton Honors American Express.
Click here to book a Hilton property.

If there are no Hilton properties available, we use TripAdvisor to read reviews and book the hotel. We find we can get the best price that way.
Click here to search for a hotel.

We recently partnered with Stay22 to add interactive maps to each of our destination posts. This will allow you to see a plethora of hotels and vacation rentals all in one responsive map of the area.

What if I need more space than I can get at a hotel?

We use Vrbo for the times when we have rented a cabin for a weekend getaway, like this cabin in Townsend, TN, or needed to rent a house for a large family vacation. We had a great experience with them in terms of refunding deposits when COVID hit and will continue to use them.
Click here to search for a vacation rental.

Who do you use for rental cars?

As a general rule, we book with Hertz for rental cars. We have had nothing but good experiences with them. Plus, we really like unlimited mileage and not worrying about crossing state lines. We have even rented from Hertz overseas in both Slovenia and Croatia.
Click here to book a rental car.

How about booking a cruise?

We have found some amazing prices for booking a cruise through Cruise Direct. We have saved a lot of money on our cruises compared to what we found elsewhere, making a last-minute Bahamas cruise even cheaper.
Click here to book a cruise.

What if I want to rent an RV?

We highly recommend Outdoorsy for RV rentals. We rented a camper van for a week to visit Rocky Mountain National Park for the elk rut and Custer State Park for the Buffalo Round-Up and had a blast. The program was easy to use and we really enjoyed the freedom of having a camper van for that trip.
Click here to rent an RV.

What do you use for booking tours?

We don’t often book tours. Typically, we like to do stuff on our own. That said, there are some experiences you can’t have any other way. So, when we do want to book a tour, we always check Viator first.
Click here to book a tour.

Do you use anything to get discounts on the road?

We make extensive use of both Good Sam and AAA on the road. Good Sam is normally regarded as a discount card for RVers at campgrounds and Camping World but anyone can use the 5 cents off a gallon at the pump at both Pilot and Flying J.
Click here to get a Good Sam membership.
We have had AAA as long as we have been married and it has more than paid for itself in discounts at hotels, aside from the peace of mind of having roadside assistance. Add in paper maps and the ability to get an international driver’s license and it is more than worth it for any traveler out there.
Click here to get a AAA membership.

Traveling overseas on a weeklong trip with the Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW: a rugged and thoughtful travel backpack for anyone with a lot of electronics.
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6 thoughts on “Grant’s New Pack – Lowepro Highline BP 400 AW”

  1. Dear Grant,
    Thanks for this review, it is very useful for me, I just found this model BP 400 AW from Lowepro. I usually travel a lot by plane for work and also for pleasure, that’s why I am an geek man for all travel stuff. Nowadays I use the Eagle Creek Universal Traveler RFID backpack, which is a good product but I am a little doubtful of its durability and its construction quality, in spite of its great features. If you know this Eagle Creek backpack I really appreciate your comments for comparison with the Lowepro BP400AW, because I am really impressed, and It could be a replacement option for my current backpack. Thanks a lot ! and Good trips! Mat!

    Reply
    • Mat,

      I have not used that particular pack but Eagle Creek makes a really good product. That said, the Eagle Creek pack seems to be more of a laptop bag with extra space rather than a backpack for at least a week. The Lowepro has so many smart features, like the JumpKit and rainfly, that it really exceeds what the Eagle Creek is capable of.

      Also, while protecting your gear against RFID interception is important, you can get a wallet that will do the same thing. Even so, most travel security folks will tell you its unnecessary.

      Reply
  2. Nice review!
    What about the notebook compartment? How big is it? My notebook is 14.5 inches long (it’s not the screen size). Do you think i can fit it in this backpack?

    Reply
    • Thanks Fabiano!

      I just pulled out my measuring tape and this bag can accommodate a 15-in wide laptop. You might have to angle it in a little but a 14.5-in wide laptop will slide right in.

      Reply
  3. Hi Grant
    Just read your review and I’m looking forward receiving this bag. The only still unanswered question I’m having, have you ever took som hiking ie trekking pools with you and did you fix them in the bag? Even if not, any idea how it could be done?
    Thanks and kind regards from oversea
    Beatrice

    Reply
    • Beatrice,

      We have not taken any trekking poles with us in the Highline. I would put them on either side inside the pack to add some structure to the pack. Alternately, you could use some velcro straps on the daisy chain on the front panel of the pack. I think three small velcro straps on each daisy chain should secure the poles nicely.

      Reply

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