Daypack Reviews

Gear Review: Marmot Aquifer 24 Daypack

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Marmot Aquifer 24
Marmot Aquifer 24

Daypack
Marmot Aquifer 24
$129, 24L/1,465 c.i., 1 lb. 11 oz. (without Hydrapak reservoir, included)
One size
marmot.com

Wear a daypack for enough hours and you will know—maybe better than you want to—whether you love it, like it, or might chuck it off a cliff. I hauled Marmot’s Aquifer 24 hydration pack on a couple of ultra-hikes on opposite ends of the country, in very different terrain and climates: a 17-mile, 6,800-foot, 15-hour, June dayhike over four summits in the Northern Presidential Range in New Hampshire, and a 25-mile, roughly 4,000-foot, 12-hour, late-May dayhike off the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, to take a full measure of the Aquifer’s comfort and functionality.

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Trekkers outside a teahouse on Nepal's Annapurna Circuit.

Ask Me: What Pack Do You Recommend for Hut Treks?

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Hi Michael,

Hope all is well. I’m looking for your opinion on a 30-liter pack. I am going to Nepal in October on a 15-day trek. I think this would be the perfect size for me, because also I like a little bigger daypack for my hikes in the White Mountains. I have an older Gregory Z30, and I just tried on the new one and like the new details, plus I sweat really badly on hikes. As always thank you in advance, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Mike
Everett, MA

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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: L.L. Bean Day Trekker 25 with Boa Daypack

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L.L. Bean Day Trekker 25 with Boa
L.L. Bean Day Trekker 25 with Boa

Daypack
L.L. Bean Day Trekker 25 with Boa
$100, 2 lbs. 2 oz. (M/L)
Sizes: S/M (1,422 c.i./23L) and M/L (1,620 c.i./27L)
llbean.com

Tradition meets modern technology in Bean’s Trekker 25 with Boa compression. On dayhikes from Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve to the Needles District of Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, the Trekker 25 gave me plenty of space for extra clothing and food for my kids and me, carried quite comfortably with up to 15 pounds, and offered the kind of organization that makes an obsessive-compulsion person like me feel all warm and fuzzy. But the deal closer is the pack’s two Boa compression systems, with internal wires that are cranked tight and released with an external knob (think: ski and snowboard boots), that snug undersized loads against your back so well that the pack never shifts, even when scrambling rugged, off-trail terrain.

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Gear Review: Mammut MTR 201 10+2L Hydration Pack

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Mammut MTR 201 10+2L hydration pack
Mammut MTR 201 10+2L hydration pack

Hydration Pack
Mammut MTR 201 10+2L
$90, 10-12L/610-732 c.i., 9.5 oz.
One size
mammut.ch

How can the lightest hydration pack on the market be stable enough for trail running and mountain biking, yet have the capacity for a big dayhike? When that pack morphs into a different animal with the pull of a zipper. From mountain bike rides of up to five hours and numerous trail runs of up to 20 miles and 3,600 vertical feet in the Boise Foothills, to dayhikes in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, the MTR 201 10+2L proved unusually versatile and carried surprisingly well for being lighter than any hydration pack I’ve reviewed.

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