backpack reviews

Gear Review: Sea to Summit Flow 35L Dry Pack

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Sea to Summit Flow 35L Dry Pack
Sea to Summit Flow 35L Dry Pack

Waterproof Backpack
Sea to Summit Flow 35L Dry Pack
$200, 35L/2,136 c.i., 2 lbs. 4 oz.
One size
seatosummit.com

We reached the first, deep pool of water that we had to swim across in the narrow canyon called The Subway, in the backcountry of Utah’s Zion National Park. I tucked my expensive camera gear inside my new Sea to Summit Flow 35L Dry Pack, with my food and extra clothing—and hoped this pack would prove true to the company’s claim of being infallibly watertight. (I did put my camera gear inside another dry bag first, of course.) Then I dropped into the frigid pool—wearing a dry suit—and kicked across it, floating the Flow. And yes, it did keep its contents completely dry—thankfully. But more than just a glorified dry bag with shoulder straps, it proved itself to be a solid and comfortable pack for hiking all day, too.

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Gear Review: Kelty PK 50 Backpack

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Kelty PK 50
Kelty PK 50

Backpack
Kelty PK 50
$200, 50L/3,050 c.i., 3 lbs. 8 oz. (S/M)
Sizes: men’s S/M (fits torsos 14.5-18.5 ins.) and M/L (fits torsos 17.5-21 ins.), women’s S/M (fits torsos 14.5-18.5 ins.)
kelty.com

A cursory glance at the PK 50 tells you this may be the most unusual backpack you’ve ever seen, with its zipper-less design that’s laser-focused on how the user accesses its contents. It’s certainly one of the most unique packs I’ve ever tested and reviewed, so I felt intrigued enough to take it out on a three-day, 41-mile backpacking trip on the Timberline Trail around Oregon’s Mount Hood—to see whether hyper organization would persuade me to recommend a backpack.

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Gear Review: Osprey Exos 58 Backpack

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Osprey Exos 58
Osprey Exos 58

NOTE: Click here to read my review of the 2018 version of the Osprey Exos 58 and Osprey Eja 58 backpacks.

Ultralight Backpack
Osprey Exos 58
$220, 55L/3,356 c.i., 2 lbs. 8 oz. (small, fits torsos 16-19 ins.)
Sizes: unisex S-L (M 58L/3,539 c.i., fits torsos 18-21 ins., L 61L/3,722 c.i., fits torsos 21-23 ins.)
moosejaw.com

When Osprey introduced the Exos pack series in 2008, it immediately became a leader—and helped redefine how we think about backpacking. It showed us that a backpack weighing under three pounds can serve the needs of everyone from weekenders to longer-distance backpackers and thru-hikers, and it gave ultralighters an option to the minimalist rucksacks that fill that category (which are “minimalist” both in weight and comfort). As a fan of the original Exos packs, I took the new Exos 58 out on recent four-day, 86-mile backpacking trip in northern Yosemite National Park, and a seven-day, hut-to-hut trek on the Alta Via 2 through Italy’s Dolomites in July, and concluded that Osprey has taken something that was very good and made it lighter and better.

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Gear Review: Black Diamond Element 60/Elixir 60 Backpacks

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Black Diamond Element 60
Black Diamond Element 60

Backpack
Black Diamond Element 60/Elixir 60
$220, 60L/3,661 c.i., 3 lbs. 6 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s medium and large (62L/3,783 c.i.), women’s small (58L/3,539 c.i.) and medium (60L/3,661 c.i.)
blackdiamondequipment.com

On a June backpacking trip with my 13-year-old son to Alice Lake in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, I found myself clambering over four-foot-tall, slick, densely consolidated drifts of snow not yet melted out on the trail, fording a fast, frigid, and knee-deep creek, and tiptoeing over logs across the creek. In circumstances that challenge your balance, it’s nice to have a pack that feels like an extension of your body, rather than tugging you in a direction you don’t want to go. The impressively lightweight Element 60 did that, plus it has the capacity for longer trips and smart design details.

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Gear Review: The North Face Banchee 65 Backpack

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Backpack The North Face Banchee 65 $239, 65L/3,967 c.i., 3 lbs. 12 oz. (L/XL) Sizes: men’s S/M (fits torsos 16-19 inches) and L/XL (fits torsos 18-21 inches), women’s XS/S (fits torsos 14-17 inches) and M/L (fits torsos 16-19 inches) moosejaw.com On the second afternoon of a tough, three-day backpacking trip with my 10-year-old daughter in the Grand Canyon, I had …

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