I have recently added a travel bag to my collection, this is the MEI Executive Overnighter.
I would like to contribute with a review because it is a bit of a niche product for which there only are limited information on both the company website and online in general.

A bit of history first… I have learned about MEI a few years back through Doug Dyment’s onebag.com

I am based in Italy and therefore it is more difficult to source products that are not distributed here due to more expensive shipping costs, as well as customs slowness and additional import fees.

Nevertheless, in summer of 2012 I pulled the trigger and bought a MEI Voyageur for my upcoming trip to South America. This bag was an upgrade to what I used previously, that was a Lowe Alpine Travel Trekker, 70 liters. Despite the rated volume, I never really liked it as it has a strange shape that does not allow to load it well, then it is relatively heavy and long, so when you carry it as a backpack it gets up to the head (I am 5’6”).
The Voyageur at 22x14x9”, aka 45 liters, swallows a huge amount of stuff, even more than the 70 liter Lowe Alpine. Even when it seem fully stuffed, you could move it a bit and suddenly make more room available. The rational rectangular shape really helps.

The backpack straps and hip belt are nothing short of amazing, they provide very good support and the bag is compact and comfortable to wear for extended periods of time.

Since then, I bought a second Voyageur for my wife, she is also very happy and we are always impressed at how much stuff you can fit in these bags, given their rational shape. I also recommended this bag to a friend and he also was extremely happy with this.
As I have now started to do more business trips, I wanted to keep using the same concept of the Voyageur, and again I browsed through the available options. One of them of course was the well known and recommended Red Oxx Air Boss. The one point that to me is a deal breaker is the absence of a backpack carry method. I then thought again about the Executive Overnighter and, sadly, I had a very hard time in finding comprehensive information on this bag.

I thought that the Executive Overnighter (EO) is conceptually similar to the Red Oxx Air Boss, but with the advantage of having a backpack carry solution for those long distances that sometimes would occur.
My bag is 22x14x9”: please note that the company may be able to accommodate slightly different dimensions in case you want to go for a smaller bag and play it on the safe side according to different airlines policies. I decided to go with these size, as I can always make it smaller by not completely filling it, in case I travel with a more limiting airline policy.

It is structured as follows: the innermost compartment is 4.5” wide, the second one is 3”, the third is 1.5” wide. They all open on three sides with double YKK lockable zippers. Other than these compartments, there are two slit pockets, one is full length and the other is smaller, per my request. Both are closed through two zippers. All the three main compartments have two internal compression straps.

There are two external compression straps that prove pretty effective in streamlining the bag if it is not full. All the compartments can still be accessed from the side even with closed compression straps, making it easy to take out a 3-1-1 bag or a laptop even if you compression straps are tightened.
The front small pocket also remains accessible, and can easily fit a kindle or ipad mini or any other thing that size.
To give you an idea of how I pack the bag, I have read multiple comments about the bundle technique, but haven’t tried that yet.
I use an Eagle Creek folder medium for shirts and pants. I usually fit in there five shirts and two pairs of dress pants, it could easily accept more but that’s what I need for a week. I then use a cube for underwear/ t-shirts/polos. Then I carry a pair of shoes, plus a 3-1-1.
In one of my recent trips, I also carried my full size pro tripod in there, no problem at all.
The EC folder easily fits in either the 4.5” or 3” compartment with room to spare.

On the last trip I had my tripod, cube and shoes in the 4.5” compartment, and the folder in the 3” compartment. Again, all with a lot of room to spare. The 1.5” compartment was used to store my day backpack which is a very minimal one. All these compartments still have plenty of room and could easily fit many more items. A computer fits in any of these pockets.
Handles. There are two handles, one is hard rubber while the other is nylon webbing.

What I would like to see:
-Only the biggest compartment zipper has rain protection, I would have it on all of them; Red Oxx does not even have that on their main compartment
-Compartment size. I think the Red Oxx has a bigger central compartment and two smaller ones. Probably, the idea of having an even larger one on the EO would be good if I were to pack some bulky items.
-External compression straps: they are not in a fixed position, so they tend to move around especially when they are open. They also tend to become loose sometimes
-the whole unwheeled-carry-on concept: these days airports are huge, and I sometimes envy those who use wheeled bags, it just seems much more comfortable to carry around. And airports are 99% wheel friendly. Sure there are advantages with unwheeled bags like less weight, more volume available, less risk of checkin in the bag… but still there is a big disadvantage that is carrying convenience. I never had problems in moving wheeled bags, while it sometimes is not easy to carry the bag for longer distances. I have retrofitted the bag with a Tom Bihn Absolute Strap. Works very fine, but still painful to carry around.
True, I haven’t used the backpack straps yet, I am only talking about the shoulder carry solution.

Update on shoulder straps: I have used them on a couple of trips now, they are super comfortable and carrying the bag this way makes even the longest walk a breeze. Backpack carrying is absolutely comfortable, probably even more than the Voyageur, not because of the straps, which are exactly the same, but my guess is that it depends on the fact that the EO has some more structure (the whole bag is divided in three compartments by soft panels that still make the the bag more structured than a simple space like the Voyageur). The feeling is awesome, highly recommended, and something you could not do with the Air Boss!

All in all, very happy with the purchase, the bag is well made and reminds me of the voyageur. Very comfortable to carry around in backpack mode, convenient separated compartments make it more business-suited, but this can also be a disadvantage in case you need to carry a bulky item that cannot fit in one of the compartments.

I will soon upload images.