backpack reviews

Gear Review: REI Traverse 70 Backpack

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REI Traverse 70
REI Traverse 70

Backpack
REI Traverse 70
$239, 4 lbs. 13 oz. (men’s medium, including rain cover)
Sizes: men’s S (66L/4,028 c.i., fits torsos 17-19 ins.), M (70L/4,272 c.i., fits torsos 18-20 ins.), L (74L/4,516 c.i., fits torsos 19-21 ins.)
rei.com

Much as I really prefer carrying a light backpack, I have many times hoisted a pack weighing 50 pounds or more, because sometimes that’s the price of a worthy adventure. With no water available along the route of my family’s late-March, overnight backpacking trip into the canyon of Utah’s Dirty Devil River—except the heavily silted river, which would strangle any filter—we had to carry all we’d need for two days. And guess who’s the family porter? As I loaded 15 liters of agua into the Traverse 70, I did some quick math: the liquid weight alone reached just about 32 pounds. With gear, food, and clothes, my pack tipped the scales at nearly 50 pounds. That’s a pretty good test for a pack that weighs under five pounds empty.

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Backpacking The Narrows, Zion National Park.

Buying Gear? Read This First

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By Michael Lanza

Are you in the market for a new pack or boots for hiking or backpacking, or a new tent or sleeping bag? How do you find something that’s just right for you? What should you be looking for? How much should you spend? These are questions I’ve heard from many friends and readers over the years as they’ve waded through the myriad choices that are out there. Here are my five top tips for buying gear that’s right for you, gleaned from lessons I’ve learned from two decades of testing and reviewing gear and helping people find gear they love.

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The Osprey Ace 38 kids backpack.

Gear Review: Osprey Ace Kids Backpacks

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Kids Backpack
Osprey Ace 38
$140, 38L/2,319 c.i., 2 lbs. 4 oz. (my scale, not including the 3-oz. rain cover that comes with the pack)
One size, adjustable, fits torsos 28-38cm/11-15 ins., for ages 6 to 11 (approx.)
Osprey Ace 50
$160, 50L/3,051 c.i., 3 lbs. (my scale, not including the 3-oz. rain cover)
One size, adjustable, fits torsos 33-46cm/13-18 ins., for ages 8 to 14 (approx.)
Osprey Ace 75
$180, 75L/4,577 c.i., 3 lbs. 9 oz. (weight stated by Osprey)
One size, adjustable, fits torsos 35.5-48cm/14-19 ins., for ages 11 to 18 (approx.)
backcountry.com

If backpacking is sometimes hard on an adult, it presents a particular set of challenges to a kid who weighs 100 pounds or less. One rule I followed when my kids were young was to not ask them to carry a backpack; instead, I waited for them to say they wanted to carry their own pack. (See my popular “10 Tips For Raising Outdoors-Loving Kids.”) And then, I made sure my kids had good-quality gear, to help ensure they’d want to go backpacking again. My kids (now 15 and 13) have carried Osprey Ace backpacks on trips from Southwest canyons to Idaho’s Sawtooth and White Cloud mountains to Canada’s Kootenay National Park. Built for a huge range of children’s body sizes—from the youngest you’d want to put a pack on to bigger teenagers—the Ace packs have made it a little easier to turn your child into a backpacker.

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Looking For Reviews of the Best Gear? Look Here

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By Michael Lanza

I take a bit of a different approach to testing and reviewing outdoor gear at The Big Outside. I don’t try to blanket my readers with reviews of every new piece of gear hitting the market—I can’t do it, but frankly, a lot of it is average and not worth recommending. Instead, I find the best backpacks and daypacks, backcountry tents, shoes and boots, bags, outdoor apparel, and other gear that I actually want to use and would recommend to friends. Then I take it on my backcountry trips and see if it works in real situations. After two decades of testing and reviewing gear, including many years as a field editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine, I think I have a pretty good eye for what outdoor gear and apparel performs well and delivers value and what’s not worth your money.

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Gear Review: Exped Thunder 50 Backpack

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Exped Thunder 50
Exped Thunder 50

Backpack
Exped Thunder 50
$249, 50L/3,051 c.i., 3 lbs. 4 oz.
One size, adjustable
Men’s torso range 17.5-22.5 ins./ 44.5-57cm
Women’s torso range 16.5-20 ins./ 42-51cm
moosejaw.com

The idea of downsizing your backpack and other gear is always enticing (and a smart goal; see my tips on that). But unless you have pockets deep enough to finance a quiver of packs, you probably need one that can handle whatever kind of trip you take, and you may be leery of buying one that’s too small or specialized or lacks convenient features. The Thunder 50 struck me at first glance as a pack that may offer exceptional versatility while hewing to a minimalist ethic that keeps weight low, so I took it out on a mostly off-trail backpacking trip with my son in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains to test my theory.

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