backpack reviews

Gear Review: Kelty PK 50 Backpack

by
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.

Read on

Gear Review: Osprey Exos 58 Backpack

by
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.

Read on

Gear Review: Black Diamond Element 60/Elixir 60 Backpacks

by
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.

Read on

Gear Review: The North Face Banchee 65 Backpack

by

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 …

Read on

Gear Review: Osprey Reverb 18 Snow Pack

by
Osprey Reverb 18
Osprey Reverb 18

Snow Pack
Osprey Reverb 18
$100, 18L/1,098 c.i., 2 lbs. 2 oz. (S/M)
One size
ospreypacks.com

You’re skiing or snowboarding at a resort, riding lifts, but the groomers have been totally carved up and even the off-piste snow in the trees is hash. So the only remaining option for finding untracked powder is to go where most skiers and riders don’t go: to the slopes not served by lifts, where you have to climb uphill under your own power. For that, you’ll need a lightweight, compact backcountry snow pack—one that has enough space for your safety gear but isn’t too cumbersome to wear while lift-served skiing. A pack like the Reverb 18.

Read on