hydration pack reviews

The North Face Chimera 18 daypack in the Grand Canyon.

Review: The North Face Chimera 18 Daypack

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Daypack
The North Face Chimera 18
$99, 18L/1,098 c.i., 1 lb. 1 oz.
One size each in men’s and women’s models
moosejaw.com

For many dayhikes, the best daypack is one that’s light, carries only what you need without superfluous capacity, and remains mostly unnoticeable on your back. I carried The North Face’s new and interesting Chimera 18 on several hikes, including a 21-mile, 10,500-vertical-foot, rim-to-rim dayhike across the Grand Canyon, and came away very impressed by its comfort with more weight than expected for a 17-ounce pack, plus its stability and surprising versatility for a range of hikers.

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Patagonia Nine Trails 20 daypack.

Review: Patagonia Nine Trails 20L Daypack

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Daypack
Patagonia Nine Trails 20L
$129, 20L/1,220 c.i., 1 lb. 11 oz. (S/M)
Sizes: S/M and L/XL
backcountry.com

What’s an ideal daypack for three-season hikes? When you’re only carrying food, water, extra clothing, and perhaps some incidentals like camera gear (as I do), a daypack of 15 to 20 liters is ideal for most dayhikers in three-season conditions: They’re light on your back but offer all the space and features you need. Sometimes the story behind a piece of gear will appear sparse, precisely because it dispenses with the superfluous in service to functionality. On various dayhikes from Zion National Park to a 27-mile, 16-hour traverse of western Maine’s Mahoosuc Range, I found the Nine Trails 20L hits a sweet spot for supremely easy access, low weight, capacity, and comfort.

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Gregory Citro 20 daypack.

Review: Gregory Citro 20 and Juno 20 Daypacks

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Daypack
Gregory Citro 20/Juno 20
$170, 20L/1,220 c.i., 2 lbs. 3.5 oz. (without reservoir)
One men’s and one women’s size
Citro: backcountry.com
Juno: backcountry.com

On a 16-mile, roughly 5,000-vertical-foot October dayhike of 11,749-foot Mount Timpanogos in Utah’s Wasatch Range, on a day when I needed clothes for temperatures ranging from around 50 to the 30s Fahrenheit, with strong, cold winds at higher elevations, I carried the Citro 20 for several hours with about 15 pounds of water, food, clothing, and camera gear inside. That day convinced me that many hikers would like the men’s Citro 20 and women’s Juno 20. Here’s why.

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Exped Skyline 15 daypack in New Hampshire's White Mountains.

Review: Exped Skyline 15 Daypack

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DaypackExped Skyline 15$129, 2 lbs. 5 oz.One sizemoosejaw.com Daypacks come in many sizes and designs these days, some for multi-sport use, some more specialized. But real technological innovation happens rarely in that market. Now comes Exped’s new Skyline 15, which, with one simple adjustment that takes a few seconds, essentially shape-shifts between two different types of pack. To see whether …

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Hikers testing the Osprey Tempest 20 on Telescope Peak, Death Valley National Park.

Review: Osprey Talon 22 and Tempest 20 Daypacks

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DaypacksOsprey Talon 22 and Tempest 20$170, 20L/1,220 c.i., 1 lb. 11 oz. (men’s S/M)Sizes: men’s S/M and M/L, women’s XS/S and S/Mospreypacks.com Daypacks are a little like flavors of ice cream—there’s something for everyone’s taste, and they vary so greatly that you can get to feel like one isn’t nearly enough. So how do you find the right model when …

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