10 Best Ultralight Backpacks

Most truly ultralight backpacks are frameless, hip belt optional, and only designed to carry maximum recommended loads up to 20 pounds. While backpacking this light isn’t for most people, the increased availability of ultralight backpacking gear and access to know-how on the Internet and through social media has made it more achievable than ever.

Convention has it that you’ll want to drop the weight of your gear (minus food, water, and fuel) to 10 pounds or less to go ultralight, including the weight of your backpack. One way to do that is to use a backpack made with ultralight waterproof materials like Dyneema DCF or XPac. Another option to pick a simple, minimal pack that’s light on features or is a low volume pack that saves weight by requiring less material to make.

Here are the 10 ultralight backpacks that we recommend that manifest these qualities.

Be sure to read our Ultralight Backpack Selection Guide below which explains these tradeoffs in greater detail.

1. Mountain Laurel Designs Exodus 55L

2. Superior Wilderness Designs Superior 40L

3. Atom Packs – The Atom 40L

4. Zpacks Nero 38L

5. Pa’lante Packs V2

6. ZimmerBuilt QuickStep Pack 36L

7. Granite Gear Virga 2 54L

8. Gossamer Gear Kumo 36L

9. Gossamer Gear G4-20 42L

10. ULA CDT Backpack

Ultralight Backpack Selection Guide

Ultralight Backpack Volume

How much volume do you really need in an ultralight backpack, when you’re really trying to get your TOTAL pack weight below 20 pounds? It’s hard to make a blanket recommendation because it ultimately comes down to the climate you plan to hike in and what your clothing, sleep insulation, shelter, nutrition, and water needs will be. For general three-season conditions, most UL backpackers find that a 40L pack provides more than enough volume for a 3-5 day trip, including gear, food, fuel, and water. It gets much more difficult to fit everything you need into a 30L backpack, however, unless you can resupply more frequently, you go stoveless, or you don’t need to carry much water. However, given the list of packs above, there’s not a huge weight penalty for carrying a higher volume pack than you need, since they’re all so lightweight and you can compress them using a roll-top closure or side compression.

Ultralight Backpack Fabrics

Most ultralight backpacks are made with Dyneema Composite Fabrics (DCF), XPac, or Nylon (Robic, Cordura, Dyneema X, etc.) In terms of durability, XPac is usually the most durable in terms of abrasion resistance, then DCF, and then Nylon, although it depends on the denier or weight of the material used. DCF and XPac have both revolutionized UL backpack manufacturing because they’re so lightweight.

The biggest areas of wear and tear on a backpack is the base, where you put it down on the ground, and the side pockets, especially if they’re made with mesh. Most UL pack makers have switched to more durable mesh, use more durable stretch mesh that has finer holes and is less prone to snagging, or have switched to making external pockets with solid fabrics for better durability.

DCF and XPac are both waterproof materials so they won’t absorb water when it rains. DCF has the advantage that it can be seam-taped which greatly increases the waterproofing of a backpack. While XPac can be seam-sealed, most people don’t bother and line their packs with trash compactor bags or use waterproof stuff sacks. Very little water will get in anyway. It’s much the same with Nylon although it will absorb water, can make your gear wet, and takes a while to dry out. See the following FAQs for more advice and reader discussion:

• Dyneema Composite Fabrics FAQ
• Do You Need a Backpack Rain Cover?
• How to Keep Your Backpacking Gear Dry with Trash Compactor Bags

Hip Belts on Frameless Backpacks

The hip belts found on frameless backpacks are not load-bearing because there’s no frame to transfer to load to the hips. This explains why many ultralight packs don’t have them, they’re removable, or stowable, and only made with webbing if they’re included at all. Their only real purpose is to provide an anchorage for hip belt pockets or to prevent the pack from bouncing against your torso if you walk fast.

Since the hip belts are not load-bearing, all the weight will rest on your shoulders. When choosing packs, you should consider how much shoulder strap padding you prefer and the strap width that you find most comfortable.

Gender-Specific Backpack Features

An increasing number of UL pack makers are including S-shaped backpack straps on their packs, that are more comfortable for women because they accommodate breasts more comfortably.  Many men also find them more comfortable than the J-shaped shoulder straps that were used previously.

Sizing

Shorter torso lengths are also increasingly available to accommodate women, who on average, aren’t as tall as men. However, matching your exact torso length is a little less critical on a frameless backpack because the hip belt is not load-bearing. The fitting process is actually more similar to fitting a daypack (without a hip belt) than a regular framed backpack, although matching your torso length is still a good benchmark to aim for.

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