backpack reviews

The Gregory Zulu 55 backpack on the Teton Crest Trail.

Gear Review: Gregory Zulu 55 and Jade 53 Backpacks

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Backpack
Gregory Zulu 55 and Jade 53
$220, 55L/3,356 c.i., 3 lbs. 13 oz. (men’s S/M)
Sizes: men’s Zulu S/M and M/L, women’s Jade XS/S and S/M
moosejaw.com

Our first day backpacking the Teton Crest Trail in late August was a fairly big one: about 11 miles and more than 3,000 vertical feet uphill. Farther than I prefer to carry an uncomfortable pack (and I’ve carried many over more than two decades testing gear). Fortunately, I didn’t. In fact, throughout that 36-mile, three-day, absolutely glorious traverse of the Teton Range (one of America’s 10 best backpacking trips), the newly redesigned Gregory Zulu 55 proved to be a comfortable and user-friendly backpack, and my complaints about it were minor.

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The Osprey Exos 58 in Glacier National Park.

Gear Review: Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58 Ultralight Backpacks

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Ultralight Backpack
Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58
$285, 58L/3,539 c.i., 2 lbs. 11 oz. (men’s medium Exos)
Sizes: men’s Exos S-L, women’s Eja XS-M
backcountry.com

It’s difficult and sometimes dangerous to improve on a piece of gear that’s nearly perfect in its simplicity and functionality. So when Osprey rolled out the redesigned Exos for 2018, along with a women’s version, the Eja, with some changes to this popular model—which became an ultralight pack archetype when it was introduced in 2008—I immediately wanted to see whether the changes represent an improvement. Taking it on a six-day, 94-mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail through Glacier National Park, I found definite improvements—including that it carries better than the previous iteration—and I think some backpackers may miss one convenient feature that’s absent from the updated pack.

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A backpacker hiking the Timberline Trail around Oregon's Mount Hood.

Are You Still Wasting Money on Outdoor Gear?

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By Michael Lanza

What if every time you laid down money for hiking, backpacking, or other outdoors gear, you always knew exactly what you needed and were invariably satisfied with your purchase for years afterward? What if you knew every time whether it was smarter to spring for the pricier piece of gear or go for the cheaper model? What if you always knew when and where to find the best gear at rock-bottom sale prices?

Read on to learn how you can become that expert gear buyer—just in time for ongoing gear sales at many online retailers.

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The Gregory Optic 58 ultralight backpack in the Grand Canyon.

Review: Gregory Optic 58 and Octal 55 Ultralight Backpacks

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Ultralight Backpack
Gregory Optic 58 (men’s) and Octal 55 (women’s)
$210, 58L/3,539 c.i. (men’s medium), 2 lbs. 7 oz. (men’s small, without the included rain cover, 3 oz.)
Sizes: men’s S-L, women’s XS-M
moosejaw.com

No one loves loading extra water into their pack—especially upwards of 13 pounds of it, as I did as we left our last water source on our final evening backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop. We needed to haul enough liquid sustenance to get us through the 2,600-foot climb we were embarking on at 5:30 p.m., plus another 2,000 feet uphill early the next morning. That pushed my total pack weight up toward the limit of the ultralight Optic 58—as good a test as any. And Gregory’s first foray into ultralight packs not only handled that assignment well, it shines for many other reasons, too.

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The Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor backpack.

Review: Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor 40-60 Backpack

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BackpackSierra Designs Flex Capacitor 40-60$200, 2 lbs. 9 oz. (men’s S/M pack with S/M hipbelt)Sizes: men’s S/M (fits torsos 16-19 inches) and M/L (fits torsos 18-21 inches), plus four hipbelt sizes (XS/S to L/XL)backcountry.com Many avid backpackers eventually find themselves facing an expensive quandary: the need for a second or even third pack to better handle the range of trips …

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