Backpack Reviews

The Gregory Alpinisto 50 is an alpine style winter backpack best used for backcountry skiing and ice climbing. It has a number of optional components that can be removed to save gear weight depending on your needs and is one of the few winter sports backpacks to have an external …

No doubt many hikers and backpackers who take up backcountry skiing or snowboarding initially make do with packs already on hand. In my case, those were a 30-liter Gregory daypack and a 65-liter Osprey backpack. But size matters, and the Gregory was too small and the Osprey too big. Plus, …

The North Face Cobra 60 is a versatile winter backpack suitable for climbing, multi-day mountaineering-style winter trips, and backcountry skiing. Like many specialized winter packs, it can be configured in a number of different ways, depending on your trip needs, with optional components that can be removed if they’re not …

The KS Ultralight Alpisack is a 50L frameless backpack weighing 21 oz. While it can be used year-round, it has a few special features that also make it suitable for climbing, snowshoeing, skiing, and winter hiking. Being frameless, it can’t carry much more than 20-25 pounds of gear, water, food, …

Cold Cold World is a small cottage manufacturer in New Hampshire’s White Mountains that specializes in making climbing and mountaineering backpacks. They’re world-famous in climbing circles for making high-function, durable backpacks. The 66L Cold Cold World Chaos is a frameless alpine backpack, weighing 3 lbs 12 oz (3 lb 8 …

Elemental Horizons is a well-regarded cottage backpack manufacturer based in North Carolina with a small but loyal customer following. They’ve recently added XPac fabric as a material option to their backpacks, including the adjustable frame Kalais XT reviewed here. XPac is an ultralight waterproof laminate like cuben fiber (now called Dyneema …

The Osprey Packs Talon 44 Backpack is a lightweight pack with an adjustable torso length that’s good for weekend backpacking trips, technical day hikes, climbing, and peakbagging. Weighing 2 pounds 7 ounces, it can carry a remarkable amount of gear, has a ventilated frame to help keep you dry, and a …

The Kelty Redwing 50 Backpack is a multi-faceted pack that can be used for day hiking, backpacking, school, or travel with a plethora of pockets and features to keep your gear well-organized and accessible. Featuring a new adjustable length frame, its greatest strength is its adaptability for many different kinds of …

Hyperlite Mountain Gear makes small and large packing pods which are the ultralight equivalent of the luggage packing cubes that people use to pack travel bags. They’re U-shaped to fit snugly into Hyperlite’s backpacks and can be used in place of a white plastic compactor bag to provide extra moisture …

The Zpacks Nero is a frameless 38L ultralight backpack that weighs 10.9 ounces and is made with waterproof Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), formerly called cuben fiber. It’s seam taped inside, making it effectively waterproof so you don’t have to line it with a plastic garbage bag or cover it with …

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Daybreak daypack is a 17L backpack made with two layers of black Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), a waterproof laminate that makes the Daybreak lightweight, durable, and highly water-resistant. The Daybreak is laid out very much like HMG’s overnight backpacks with two side water bottle pockets and a …

The ULA Photon is a 35L frameless ultralight-style backpack that weighs between 22-27 ounces, depending on how the pack is configured and whether you keep all of the optional components.  It’s basically a lower volume version of ULA’s CDT ultralight backpack (54L) ideal for day hikes, short backpacking trips, hut-to-hut overnights, …

The Exped Traverse 40 Backpack is a lightweight alpine style backpack with an innovative frame that can be curved when you want more airflow for back ventilation or flattened when you need a backpack that hugs your back and hips more closely. A convenient rear hatch also provides panel-style access …

Granite Gear backpacks have been longtime favorites with Appalachian Trail thru-hikers because of their light weight, carrying capacity and durability. The Blaze AC 60 incorporates many improvements over past models of Granite Gear packs, including a better compression system and a large front mesh pocket. I’ve been testing the Blaze AC …