When I saw the Faraday Defense booth at the 2022 SHOT Show, I was intrigued. As a police officer, I spent a bit of time in our county police’s Faraday cage (it houses all electronics seized during an arrest or after serving a search warrant), and I always found it intriguing. Since that time, I’ve actually looked for a quality Faraday bag to utilize while traveling. Until now, I hadn’t found a reputable one that I felt comfortable purchasing. Enter Faraday Defense.

For those who don’t know what a Faraday cage is, it is simply an enclosure of some sort that blocks electromagnetic fields. In the case of the police department, I visited on occasion, that “cage” is an entire room. In the Faraday Defense bags I tested, the “cage” is a sleeve inside a backpack. It may sound hard to believe that a “simple” sleeve inside a backpack can block signals from penetrating the material, but that “sleeve” is jam-packed with technology. One thing I can say with certainty after using Faraday Defense products for the last few weeks; THEY WORK.

Now, admittedly I’m not a tech genius. I’m not a tech savant. Heck, I’m barely a tech halfwit. But that said, I know when my devices have signal and when they don’t, and when I put my electronics in the Faraday Defense bags and sleeves, they were as good as invisible. They were not only physically invisible—which would be a relatively low bar for a review—they were also invisible to my cellular service provider and my Wi-Fi.

Faraday Defense Backpack. (Author photo)

Unpacking and First Reaction

For product testing for this article, I received the Faraday backpack, the Faraday Dry Bag with the NX3 kit, the Faraday Phone Jacket, and the Faraday Cordura Jacket. Upon arrival, the items were still neatly stacked inside the cardboard box, and each item was sealed inside plastic wrap… the items all arrived in one piece. That’s always a plus!

I removed the items and eagerly began to check and see how everything looked and felt up-close. The first impression I got was, “Man, this company likes black styling as much as I do!” Literally, I order everything in black. T-shirts, cars, trucks, shoes, computer cases, you name it… all black. In fact, my current vehicle wasn’t black enough, so I had a 3M matte black wrap put on the entire car! So, seeing a sea of black in the box was great for me. That said, if you’re partial to hot pink, you just may be out of luck.

The one thing I was really curious about, though, was whether the backpack was actually comfortable to wear. A backpack that looks clean and stylish is great and all, but no one will use a wearable product that isn’t comfortable. Designer shoes that are unwearable become paperweights, and backpacks that dig into your shoulders or don’t hold more than a laptop and a small folder aren’t worth the effort.

Faraday Defense Backpack. (Faraday Defense)

I am happy to report, though, that the Faraday Defense backpack is the most comfortable backpack I own. I own a great TUMI bag that has traveled to a dozen countries with me. I thought I liked the comfort and function of it. The Faraday Defense backpack is, without a doubt, more comfortable on my back than my TUMI. Couple that with the fact that it can protect my electronics and passport from prying digital eyes, and you start to have the makings of a truly great travel backpack.

If I had to give one suggestion on how to make the backpack the perfect travel backpack, then I’d tell the company to consider adding an option for soft armor inside a hidden panel within the wearable bags. As of now, I’ll probably bounce between my TUMI that has armor (I repurposed my old bulletproof vest) and the Faraday Defense backpack. If they add the option for armor (even through a 3rd-party partner, perhaps), then they’ll have made the PERFECT travel bag (it is true that I personally could repurpose my old body armor and put it in the Faraday Defense bag, but it would be cool for them to offer that option at purchase for the vast majority of people that don’t have an extra vest just laying around).