Gregory Arrio 24 Backpack Review

The Gregory Arrio 24 is a lightweight ad streamlined, ventilated daypack. With three external zippered pockets and hydration compatible sleeve, it’s a solid all-around choice for local hikes, peakbagging, and hut-to-hut trips.

Specs at a Glance

• Volume: 24 L / 1356 cu in.
• Gender: Unisex
• Size: fits torso 16”-21” (also available in Plus size)
• Load Lifters: Yes
• External Pockets: 3
• Raincover: Not included
• Weight: 25.5 ounces / 723 g
• Max Carry Weight: 20 pounds
• Dimensions: 21.7″ x 10.6″ x 8.7″

Backpack Storage and Organization

The Gregory Arrio 24 is a wide, top entry daypack with a top lid and drawstring closure making it easy to peer into the pack to see its contents. It also includes an internal hydration sleeve with a hangar system that is compatible with Gregory and third-party hydration systems.

The top lid is sewn on, as opposed to floating, and secured with a single, centered buckle and compression strap. All of the zipper pulls on this pack utilize Gregory’s “Custom ComfortGrip” molded zipper pulls. I found these to be a nice feature that allowed me to open the zippers quite quickly and easily.

One deep stretchy mesh side water bottle pocket is big enough for my Nalgenes or Hydro Flask; its deep sizing kept my water bottle from sliding out. On the other side of the pack there is a vertical zippered stash pocket with a key clip. This pocket is designed to allow you to “swing” the pack around so you can quickly unzip it to access your keys, map, essentials, and/or for quick storage. This is a great feature for traveling when you need to access travel documents, a passport, or airplane tickets.

Backpack Frame and Suspension System

A lightweight, perimeter frame gives the pack a stable shape. I really like Gregory’s “FreeSpan” ventilated suspension system. Simply, this is a suspended mesh panel that kept the pack well off my sweaty back, allowing heat and moisture to escape.

There is a modest hipbelt, which is removable. While I tend to prefer a touch “more” from a hipbelt for long day hikes, there are many applications, such as when I’m geocaching, where not having a hip belt in the way is an advantage. It’s not needed for the loads that the back is designed to carry.

The sewn-in adjustable shoulder straps are made of a perforated and breathable material. I liked that they were wide, flexible, and comfortable. These shoulder straps incorporated load lifters straps, a feature I believe to be important to getting a good fit on a pack. The straps also had a sewn-in hydration routing loop.

Backpack Compression and External Attachments

The pack has two nylon compression straps which are located at the top, one on each side. I tend to prefer packs with both lower and upper compression straps, but with this pack, having just the upper strap is what allows the pack to have the long vertical quick stash side pocket.

There is also one, reflective attachment loop near the lower front. Otherwise, this pack is designed for users who like to organize and stash all of their contents inside a streamlined pack.

Materials and Construction

The main body of the pack is made with 210D Honeycomb cryptorip HD nylon and the base is made with 420D High-density nylon. Gregory has made an ecologically supportive decision to treat the fabrics with a PFC (Perfluorinated Chemicals) Free DWR (water repellant).

In addition to this standard, unisex sizing, this pack also comes in a Plus Size with extended-length shoulder straps and hip belts. This is a new initiative that Gregory has rolled out across their product line to make the outdoors more accessible to Plus-size individuals.

Sections of attractive reflective fabric make this pack versatile for folks who might bike ride, walk across college campuses, or otherwise walk along streets at night.

Lastly, let’s not forget about Gregory’s lifetime guarantee.

Comparable Daypacks

Recommendation

The Gregory Arrio 24 is a lightweight, well-built, general-use day pack. While I prefer day packs with a full hip-belt system for my day-hiking, I can clearly see the advantage to having a removable webbed hipbelt for certain activities and uses. The ability to “swing” this pack around to get into the vertical side pocket would be handy for quickly checking a stowed map, or quickly retrieving keys without having to take the pack off, for example. Universal in size, this is a pack that could also be owned and utilized by several family members or kept on hand for visitors.

Disclosure: The author received a pack from Gregory for an honest review.

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