Comparison · Travel · 2 models
Backpack or holdall for a weekend away? Cabin Max Metz 30L against the Eastpak Reader S+
A 30-litre backpack cut to easyJet's free-bag size, or a 40-litre soft duffle at half a kilo with a 30-year warranty. On a train or in a car the holdall is the nicer bag. On a budget airline the backpack is the one that flies free — and the holdall, at 24 to 26 cm on its smallest side, is a sizer gamble even as a paid bag. How you travel decides it.
Quick answer
Side by side
| Model | Capacity | Weight | Height | Width | Depth | Warranty | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabin Max Metz 30Lthe backpack — easyJet's free box exactly | 30 L | 0.6 kg† | 45 cm | 36 cm | 20 cm | 3 years | View listing |
| Eastpak Reader S+ duffle, 40 Lthe holdall — 40 litres at 0.5 kg for trains and cars | 40 L | 0.5 kg | 24 cm | 53 cm | 26 cm | 30 years | View listing |
Scroll sideways to see every column
† Figure from a retailer listing or otherwise awaiting confirmation from the manufacturer; other figures come from manufacturer manuals and leaflets.
Dimensions and weights are the makers’. Cabin Max’s page gives the Metz 30L as 0.6 kg and its shop data as 0.8 kg; we show 0.6 and record the conflict. Eastpak’s “width” is the bag’s length.
The sizer arithmetic
the backpack — easyJet's free box exactly
Cabin Max Metz 30L
- Capacity
- 30 L
- Weight
- 0.6 kg†
- Height
- 45 cm
- Width
- 36 cm
- Depth
- 20 cm
- Warranty
- 3 years
Check price on Amazon.co.uk
The Metz 30L is 45 × 36 × 20 cm, which is easyJet’s free under-seat bag to the centimetre, with 30 litres inside. On Ryanair and Wizz Air, whose free bag is 40 × 30 × 20, it is a Priority bag (their paid limit is 55 × 40 × 20 or 23, which it clears easily); on Jet2 and TUI it is the main 10 kg cabin bag. Because it is a structured rectangle with compression straps, it goes into a sizer the same way every time.
Strengths
- 30 L in easyJet's free size — three or four nights without paying for a bag
- Suitcase-style opening and airmesh back padding
- Compression straps pull it down to a smaller sizer when half full
Limitations
- Over Ryanair's and Wizz Air's free 40 × 30 × 20 — Priority or a fee
- No laptop sleeve
- Cabin Max's own figures disagree on weight (0.6 or 0.8 kg) and material
Good for
- easyJet regulars
- three to four nights of clothes
- someone who wants one bag for the whole trip
Look elsewhere if
- Ryanair or Wizz Air flyers who never pay for Priority
- a laptop that needs its own padded sleeve
the holdall — 40 litres at 0.5 kg for trains and cars
Eastpak Reader S+ duffle, 40 L
- Capacity
- 40 L
- Weight
- 0.5 kg
- Height
- 24 cm
- Length
- 53 cm
- Depth
- 26 cm
- Guarantee
- 30 years
Check price on Amazon.co.uk
The Reader S+ is 24 cm high, 53 cm long and 26 cm deep, 40 litres, 0.5 kg. Against the paid cabin-bag limits — 55 × 40 × 20 on Ryanair and TUI, 55 × 40 × 23 on Wizz Air, 56 × 45 × 25 on easyJet and Jet2 — its length passes everywhere and its smallest side is over everywhere, by 1 cm on easyJet and Jet2 and 6 cm on Ryanair. A soft bag part-full squashes into a sizer; the same bag packed square does not, and a gate agent decides which yours is. It is never a free under-seat bag on any of them.
So: on a plane the Metz is a rule and the Reader is a gamble. Off a plane, none of this matters, and the comparison changes completely.
Strengths
- 40 litres for 0.5 kg — the lightest way to carry a weekend
- One big opening and two side compartments for shoes or wet things
- 30-year warranty
Limitations
- No structure: it is whatever shape you pack it
- 24–26 cm deep against 20–25 cm cabin limits — a sizer risk when full
- Handles and a strap, not a harness: a long walk is a shoulder ache
Good for
- train, coach and car weekends
- the gym-to-hotel bag
- someone who wants one soft bag that folds flat at home
Look elsewhere if
- a free under-seat bag on any airline
- a walk of more than twenty minutes with 8 kg in it
- anyone who packs by outfit and wants compartments
Carrying
The Metz is a backpack: two padded straps, an Airmesh back, a trolley strap for sliding over a case handle, and the weight on your shoulders and hips rather than in one hand. Cabin Max lists a bottle holder and compression straps. The Reader S+ is a duffle: two grab handles and, in the listing’s photos, a detachable shoulder strap that Eastpak’s own page does not list. From a station to a hotel it is a fine carry at 5 or 6 kg; across a city for a day it is a shoulder.
Packing
The Metz opens like a suitcase — the whole front panel unzips flat, so you pack in layers, see everything, and packing cubes fit. The Reader S+ opens through a U-shaped zip into one compartment: you fill it from the top like a sack and dig. It compensates with two zipped side compartments that Eastpak specifies for wet items — trainers, a wet swimsuit, a wash bag — which the Metz does not have. For a two-night trip the sack is fine; for four nights the clamshell is why purpose-made cabin bags exist.
Structure, weather and years
The Metz is 600D polyester with a semi-rigid shape that holds its box; Cabin Max guarantees it for three years. The Reader S+ is 100% polyester that Eastpak calls water-resistant, with a reinforced base, and it folds flat when empty — a real advantage in a small flat where the bag lives on a wardrobe shelf. Eastpak covers it for 30 years. If the question is which bag you will still own in a decade, it is the Eastpak.
Weight
Half a kilo for 40 litres against 0.6 kg (or 0.8, by Cabin Max’s other figure) for 30 is a small difference that favours the holdall — until the 10 kg airline limits, where neither bag’s own weight matters much, and the carry, where the backpack’s harness matters more than 100 grams.
Which one, by how you travel
- Train, coach, car: Reader S+. Nicer bag, lighter, longer life, no sizer.
- easyJet flyer: Metz 30L — it is the free bag.
- Ryanair or Wizz Air flyer with Priority, or Jet2/TUI with a cabin bag: Metz 30L, for a bag that fits the same way every time.
- Occasional paid cabin bag, packed light: Reader S+ will usually squash in; do not fill it.
- One bag for everything: Metz 30L, and accept that it is a backpack in a hotel lobby.
Sources
Facts checked 24 September 2026
- Ryanair Help Centre — bag policy articles (search results, 2026-09-23) — Other source, checked 23 September 2026
- easyJet — Cabin bags help page — Other source, checked 23 September 2026
- Wizz Air — baggage help-centre page — Other source, checked 23 September 2026
- Jet2 — baggage FAQs — Other source, checked 23 September 2026
- TUI UK — luggage allowance page — Other source, checked 23 September 2026
- Cabin Max — Metz 30L Cabin Backpack product page — Manufacturer documentation, checked 23 September 2026
- Amazon.co.uk listing (Cabin Max) — Retailer listing, checked 23 September 2026
- Eastpak EU (UK store) — Reader S + Black EK00081D008 product page and Shopify product JSON — Manufacturer documentation, checked 24 September 2026
- Amazon.co.uk listing (EASTPAK) — Retailer listing, checked 24 September 2026
Will a soft holdall squash into an airline sizer?
Sometimes, and you should not plan on it. The Reader S+ is 24 × 53 × 26 cm by Eastpak's figures; the paid cabin-bag limits are 55 × 40 × 20 cm on Ryanair and TUI, 55 × 40 × 23 on Wizz Air and 56 × 45 × 25 on easyJet and Jet2. Its length fits all of them; its smallest side is 1 to 6 cm over. Part-full it squashes; packed square it does not. A structured backpack cut to the box removes the gamble.
Which is free on a budget airline?
Only the Metz 30L, and only on easyJet, whose free under-seat bag is 45 × 36 × 20 cm — the Metz's exact dimensions. On Ryanair and Wizz Air the Metz needs Priority (their free bag is 40 × 30 × 20); on Jet2 and TUI it travels as the main 10 kg cabin bag. The Reader S+ is never a free bag: it is bigger than every airline's under-seat allowance.
Is a backpack better for your back than a holdall?
For anything carried more than a few minutes, weight on two padded straps with a mesh back beats weight in one hand or on one shoulder, and the Metz has both. The Reader S+ is carried by its grab handles or the shoulder strap shown in its photos. For a station-to-hotel walk it is fine; for a day on your feet it is not the bag.
What is the quality weekend bag people keep recommending?
Usually a soft duffle like this one: Eastpak's Reader S+ is 100% polyester, water-resistant, 0.5 kg for 40 litres, and covered by Eastpak's 30-year warranty — three times the Metz's three years. It is a better-made bag for a longer life; it is simply the wrong shape for a sizer.
Related reading
Shortlist · Travel
Cabin backpacks for two to four nights: the sizes that fly free on Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and Wizz Air
A cabin backpack is bought by the centimetre, not the litre. Ryanair and Wizz Air give you 40 × 30 × 20 cm for nothing, easyJet 45 × 36 × 20, and anything bigger is a paid bag on all of them. Six backpacks that map onto those numbers — from a 0.38 kg rucksack to a 40-litre pack with a hip belt — and which trip length each one honestly covers.
Guide · Travel
How to choose a cabin backpack: airline dimensions, litres and layout explained
Cabin backpacks are bought by the centimetre. Ryanair and Wizz Air give you 40 × 30 × 20 cm for nothing, easyJet 45 × 36 × 20, and everything above that is a paid bag on all of them. This guide explains the rules, why the Ryanair bag changed shape, whether handles count, and how a clamshell opening differs from a top-loader — so the bag you buy is the one your airline lets on.
Shortlist · Travel
Packing cubes for a cabin bag or a medium suitcase: four sets, compression or not, sized to the bag you actually own
Packing cubes are mostly the same idea in different fabric: a zipped rectangle that turns a heap of clothes into a brick. The differences that matter are whether the cube has a second zip that compresses the brick, whether you can see into it, and whether its largest size fits flat in a 40 × 30 × 20 cabin bag. Four sets compared on exactly those things.