If you travel frequently or just like to store items in a convenient location, using a travel vest is ideal. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of reviews for the best travel vests in the market, so we are here to change that for you.
The Best Travel Vests: Quick Look
The best travel vest to suit your needs may vary from your neighbor’s needs or uses during their trips. Thankfully, there’re many options to choose from when selecting the perfect product.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what makes a travel vest ideal, we have narrowed down some of the best options in the market today. This way, you can quickly determine which features will work for you to choose a style.
Our Top 7 Picks for the Best Travel Vests:
- Best Overall: Columbia Silver Ridge Vest
- Best for Different Pocket Sizes: SCOTTeVest Featherweight Travel Utility Vest
- Most Versatile: TUMI Tumipax Men’s Recycled Packable Travel Puffer Vest
- Most Pockets: SCOTTeVest RFID Blocking Vest with 26 Concealed Pockets
- Best for Women in the Cold: 33,000ft Women’s Lightweight Waterproof, Windproof Vest with Pockets
- Best for Hiding Personal Items: Rothco Undercover Travel Vest
- Best for Women: SCOTTeVest Women’s RFID Travel Vest with 18 Pockets
Although these picks highlight the best choices in travel vests, you may still wonder if you need one for your trip. If you haven’t used one yet, you’re missing out on some terrific benefits, which we will dive right into next.
Why You Need a Travel Vest
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Travel vests aren’t just for people going fishing or hunting anymore. These unique products provide a whole host of benefits, including:
- Airline travel friendly
- Prevent pickpocketing
- Many utilize RFID protection to prevent criminal scanning of cards and identification
- Keeps valuables secure
- Enables additional carry-on items without paying for them
- Allows easy access to all your essentials
Airline Travel Friendly
For anyone spending time in the airport security, removing all of your personal items from your pockets can be cumbersome. When you use a travel vest, you can quickly remove the vest to go through the scanner, and you then move easily through the security checkpoints.
Prevent Pickpocketing
Many travel vests include inside and outside zippered pockets. These interior pockets help prevent someone from stealing your wallet, passport, or other critical identification or valuables.
Additionally, travel vests also help conceal items, so criminals aren’t aware of what you’re carrying, including a digital phone or tablet, expensive earbuds, or your identification.
Many Use RFID Protection
In many instances, criminals can use a high-frequency scanner to penetrate pockets or other garments to receive digital information from your passport or ID.
Because of these situations, many travel vests include RFID protection to prevent these radio-frequency identification methods and keep your identity safe.
Keeps Valuables Secure
Often, items in pockets can get lost when going through a day’s activities. For example, reaching for your wallet can make your hotel keycard fall out, putting you at a disadvantage.
Travel vests include multiple pockets, so you don’t have to store several items together, minimizing the chances of losing something during the day.
Allows Additional Carry-On Items
If you travel frequently and need several things with you, a travel vest can make it more cost-effective.
This way, you can use the pockets it includes to carry your cell phone, digital tablet, earphones, snacks, book, and any other vital items without having to pay additional carry-on fees for another bag.
Provides Easy Access to Essential Items
Don’t you hate having to get up and bother other passengers on a flight to reach your carry-on bag in the upper storage compartment?
Thankfully, you won’t have to get up for items anymore when you have a travel vest. Instead, you can tuck all of these critical things you’ll need during the flight into the vest pockets for easy access.
Our Picks for the 7 Best Travel Vests
Now that you know why travel vests are so popular and valuable, we can jump right into our top seven picks that will suit various situations for travelers.
We make it easy for you to explore each one by listing its pros and cons for anyone who doesn’t have time to read through the entire review.
1. Best Overall: Columbia Silver Ridge Vest
- Affordable
- Moisture-wicking fabric
- 7 outer and two interior pockets
- Doesn’t use RFID protection technology
Columbia provides various products for active individuals worldwide. This Silver Ridge Vest is a terrific travel vest product that combines functionality with affordability. The pockets don’t bulge out when you fill them with items, making it maintain its slimming look.
So there isn’t a need to worry about being bogged down when you load up this vest, either. This Columbia Silver Ridge Vest is the perfect combination of a lightweight vest that is versatile and affordable.
2. Best for Multiple Pockets of Varying Sizes: SCOTTeVest Featherweight Travel Utility Vest
- 16 pockets of various sizes
- RFID protection technology
- Weight-management system to avoid unbalanced pockets
- Some pockets are too small to fit a full-sized iPad
Travelers looking for a vest to suit over a dozen personal items will enjoy the SCOTTeVest Featherweight Travel Utility Vest. This product can carry many things, including cell phones, earphones, tablets, wallets or passports, identification, and travel documents.
This vest from SCOTTeVest keeps all of your essentials handy without looking too bulky or putting strain on your back, shoulders, or neck. In addition, it is chiropractor-approved using a specialized weight-management system, so you won’t feel any fatigue or muscle soreness after wearing this vest.
For additional protection, it includes built-in RFID protection to ensure electronic scanners don’t have access to your ID, passport, or credit cards in your pockets. This extra feature provides the most security for travelers, especially in congested areas, where theft is abundant.
3. Most Versatile: TUMI Tumipax Men’s Recycled Packable Travel Puffer Vest
- Includes a built-in travel pillow in the hem
- Lightweight and stylish
- Provides an exceptional fit
- Not as many pockets as others
If you’re looking for a versatile travel vest for traveling, the TUMI Tumipax Men’s Recycled Packable Travel Puffer Vest is a great choice. It includes a built-in travel pillow sewn into the hem, so you don’t have to carry a pillow along for your flight.
This puffer vest is extremely lightweight and stylish, and others won’t know how many valuables you carry inside your pockets.
TUMI boasts a true-to-fit size, making it easy to order one that will be perfect for you. In addition, this travel puffer vest doesn’t measure too long on the body like other vests do, making it ideal to suit a wide array of body types.
4. Most Pockets: SCOTTeVest RFID Blocking Vest with 26 Concealed Pockets
- 26 concealed pockets for valuable items
- Tall vest sizes available
- Oversized pockets for bulky items
- Mid-fit of the vest may be a bit loose
For anyone needing a travel vest that won’t look bulky or overloaded even when you fill it with items, the SCOTTeVest RFID Blocking Vest with 26 pockets is the best choice. This model provides an exceptional amount of room for all of your necessities, including large bulky items.
If you’re longer in the torso area or require an additional length, SCOTTeVest offers tall-sizing options. This way, you can add an extra two inches to the vest length, giving you a more comfortable product that will fit you perfectly.
The exceptional storage capacity of this travel vest helps keep all of your valuables safe and within arms reach. There isn’t a need for an additional carry-on bag when they all fit within this vest.
5. Best for Women in the Cold: 33,000ft Women’s Waterproof, Windproof Vest
- Waterproof and windproof
- Slim-fitting design
- Breathable and flexible fabric
- Sizing runs a little smaller
The travel vest from 33,000ft is a terrific option for women who also brave the elements outdoors. It consists of lightweight, breathable material that will keep you warm and dry while outside and ensure that all your valuables stay safe from the elements.
It offers four exterior and two interior pockets to keep all essentials while traveling, including your ID, mobile phone, or other electronics. The reflective strips are a nice touch for visibility if you’re out in the dawn or dusk hours when light is limited.
The sizing of this 33,000ft Women’s Lightweight Travel Vest can run a bit smaller than average. Therefore, the manufacturer recommends choosing a size higher to ensure a proper fit for your vest.
6. Best for Hiding Personal Items: Rothco Undercover Travel Vest
- Extremely discrete travel vest
- Pockets don’t bulge when loaded with items
- 12 utility pockets for personal items
- Isn’t weatherproof
If you don’t want anyone to know you’re carrying valuables on you, the Rothco Undercover Travel Vest is ideal. This product has a dozen pockets to hide your items, along with a wire pass-through port for headphone use.
Even though this travel vest is a low-profile style, you still have 12 pockets available to carry your items on you while traveling.
Unfortunately, this travel vest doesn’t carry any weather-proofing materials, making it not a great choice if you’ll be outdoors for long periods of inclement weather.
7. Best for Women: SCOTTeVest Women’s RFID Travel Vest With 18 Pockets
- Perfect sizing cut for women
- 18 utility pockets for essentials
- 8 sizes and four color options
- Doesn’t provide cold-weather protection
For women who travel frequently or just want a vest to keep multiple items secure, the SCOTTeVest RFID Travel Vest with 18 Pockets is a great choice.
So whether you need to store your cell phone, eyeglasses, tablet, or identification paperwork, it has a utility pocket to suit your requirements. You don’t have to worry about a bulky-looking travel vest with this model from SCOTTeVest.
Even with all your items packed away carefully, the vest is slimming and helps to hide your valuables discreetly. It consists of light, breathable material, perfect for traveling even in warm climates.
In addition, it is machine washable and stain-resistant. This SCOTTeVest also includes an exterior key holder and water bottle loop that many travel vests to no offer.
Our Overall Favorite Travel Vest
Ideally, the best travel vest will be a product that suits your needs and budget. Although we consider the Columbia Silver Ridge Vest best overall due to its affordability and versatility, you might be partial to one of the other seven options we’ve included in this review.
Once you determine what elements are crucial to your needs, choosing the best travel vest is simple by looking at this list.