Can you take a 40L backpack as a carry-on?

A 40L backpack fits Qantas's domestic carry-on limit only if it measures 56 x 36 x 23 cm or less and weighs 10kg or less. Smaller charter planes allow less: Alliance's Fokkers take one cabin bag of 48 x 34 x 23 cm, at 5kg to 7kg. Qantas's Dash 8s take the same size at 7kg.

What is the best backpack for FIFO workers?

The best backpack for FIFO workers holds about 30 litres: small enough for the cabin on a charter, and big enough for a shift's water, gloves and glasses. A plain laptop backpack of the same size does the job for less than a FIFO-branded one.

What is the best mining tool bag?

The best mining tool bag zips shut, keeps out red dust and fits inside your checked bag. Open-top tool totes spill in a charter hold, and loose tools can damage the rest of your gear.

FIFO Bags

Workers in hi-vis queue at a charter check-in before dawn while a woman lifts a soft wheeled duffle onto the baggage scale, crib bag in her other hand, a turboprop waiting outside

Your first FIFO swing can go wrong before you reach site, at the check-in scale. A charter flight often takes less luggage than a holiday flight, and your employer sets the limit. The right bags fix most of that, and none of them has to cost much. Get them right and you'll walk past the scale without a second look.

What bags FIFO workers use

A FIFO swing needs three bags: a soft travel bag for the hold, a small backpack for the cabin, and an insulated crib bag for food on shift. A tool bag only comes along when the employer wants you to bring your own. The backpack usually goes to work with you each shift too.

FIFO bags: Where to start

First swing coming upStart here
Not sure of the weight limitStart here
Choosing a backpackStart here

Packing power banks or a vapeStart here
Need a crib bagStart here
Tradie with your own toolsStart here

Where to get FIFO bags

Workwear stores sell FIFO-branded bags, many of them made by Rugged Xtremes, for about $110 to $320 in October 2026. Camping stores and Amazon Australia sell the same soft duffles, backpacks and cooler bags without the label.

FIFO bags at a glance

Travel bag	A soft duffle on wheels or a big backpack, not a hard suitcase
Weight limit	Set by each employer's charter deal, so it varies
Backpack	Around 30 litres, sized for a small plane's cabin
Crib bag	Insulated and leakproof, sized for a full shift
Tool bag	Only for tradies who supply their own, and never in the cabin

Checked October 2026.

What is the best travel bag for FIFO workers?

Short answer

The right travel bag for FIFO workers is a soft duffle with sturdy wheels, or a large backpack. Hard suitcases die on camp gravel and won't squash into the wardrobe in a donga, the small room you sleep in on camp. A soft bag also fits a small charter hold better.

The travel bag stays in your room for the swing, so it only has to hold what you wear off shift and what you can't get on site. Camps have laundries, so four or five days of work clothes covers most swings. The rest is civvies, toiletries and gym gear.

Wheels are worth the weight, because the walk from the bus to your room is often gravel. The High Sierra Composite V4 (opens in a new tab) is a 76 cm wheeled duffle that also carries as a backpack.

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When you change rooms every swing

Some camps give you a different room each swing, which workers call motelling, so nothing stays behind when you fly out. Packing cubes make it quick: unpack into the drawers on the first day, and pack down in minutes on the last morning. The BAGAIL packing cube set (opens in a new tab) comes with a shoe bag for your boots and a laundry bag for the dirty gear.

How heavy can your FIFO bags be on a charter?

Short answer

FIFO charter allowances are set by your employer's contract with the airline, so ask the travel coordinator before you pack. Skippers listed 15kg, including your cabin bag, on its Northern Goldfields flights in October 2026.

Charter planes are small, and every load is worked out against what the aircraft can lift, so the limits get enforced. Alliance Airlines says the checked allowance on its FIFO flights is agreed with each client, and tells passengers to ask their travel administrator, supervisor or manager. Qantas's FIFO charters from Network Aviation's terminal at Perth Airport put the allowance in your booking.

Weigh your bag at home: stand on the bathroom scale holding it, then without it. If you're over, ask whether you can pay for extra before the day. In October 2026, Alliance charged $35 for each extra piece, up to 20kg, when the plane had room.

Which backpack works on a FIFO swing?

Short answer

A FIFO backpack travels in the cabin and then becomes your shift bag, so it has to fit a charter's cabin limit and survive the dust. Look for two bottle pockets that take a 2L bottle, separate pockets for glasses and gloves, and padded straps.

Red Pilbara dust gets through cheap zips, and wet-season mud does the rest. Keep your phone, charger and clean clothes for the flight home in a dry bag inside the pack, and you'll get off site with them clean.

The MATEIN laptop backpack (opens in a new tab) measures 45 x 30 x 19 cm, small enough for a Fokker or Dash 8 cabin.

What has to go in your FIFO carry-on?

Short answer

Power banks, spare lithium batteries and vapes have to go in your carry-on, because CASA, the air safety regulator, bans them from checked bags. Your medication, phone charger and anything you can't afford to lose belong there too. Knives, box cutters and hand tools like screwdrivers, pliers and wrenches can't go in the cabin.

CASA's rule is about fire. A battery that overheats in the cabin can be dealt with by the crew, and one in the hold can't. Tape over the ends of spare batteries or keep them in their packets, and don't charge a vape or a power bank on the plane. A power bank between 100Wh and 160Wh needs the airline's approval, and you can take two of those at most.

On site, bags can be searched at the gate, and drug testing is zero tolerance, so pack nothing you wouldn't want found.

What makes a good FIFO crib bag?

Short answer

A good FIFO crib bag is insulated, seals properly and holds a 12-hour shift's food and drink. On site, crib means the meal break and the food you eat at it, and the crib bag carries that food from camp to the work area. Look for room for ice bricks and a lid that won't leak in a hot ute.

The FIFO-branded crib bags in workwear stores cost more, and the 12-litre leakproof lunch bag (opens in a new tab) on Amazon does the same job. In summer, put two ice bricks in it, because food that sits in the heat all shift is how people end up at the medic.

Do you need a tool bag for FIFO?

Short answer

A FIFO tool bag is for tradies whose employer wants them to bring their own hand tools, so check the ad or ask before you buy. A full tool bag is heavy, and its weight counts against your charter allowance.

The Klein Tools zipper tool bags (opens in a new tab) come as a set of four that pack flat inside a duffle.

Which FIFO bags are right for you?

Three honest questions

Do you know your charter's weight limit? If not, find out before you shop for a bag, not at the check-in desk.
Does your room stay yours between swings? If the camp moves you every swing, everything you own travels both ways, so pack lighter.
Will you bring your own tools? Check with the employer first, or a new tool bag might stay in the cupboard at home.

Ready to pack?

With the bags sorted, the full list of what goes in them is next.

The FIFO packing list

The bags are the easy part. Whether the life suits you is six questions. Three minutes. Free.

Is FIFO right for me?