Day Packs

A good day pack is handy going up the hills

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Backpacks are such emotional things. I have a friend who, for more than 25 years, continued to use a beat-up, uncomortable boy scout daypack for day hiking trips in Glacier National Park. I poked, prodded and eventually pleaded with him to get a REAL daypack as the benefits of a good daypack for day hiking are truly massive.

After more than a year, my friend finally broke down and bought a day pack designed specifically for day hiking. The result? The peculiar emotional attachment he had with his old, dreadful day pack mysteriously vanished after using his new pack for the first time! The reason - comfort, capacity, pockets, ease of use, and the list goes on and on.

A GOOD daypack, complete with internal frame.

So, if you are carting around a ill-fitting pack that fits like a upset monkey on your back, or if you are hiking with what I call a "pretend" day pack, it is time to upgrade!

So, what is a REAL daypack? Simple, a REAL day pack is a pack that has been designed specifically for day hiking - particularly longer hikes, over rough terrain, where you are carrying anywhere from 10-25 pounds of gear.

Want to learn more? Read the Buyers Guide Below.

Good Day Packs For Hiking : What to Get and Where to Get It

Need a quick recommendation?

How about North Face Technical Packs. They are durable, functional and all-around an excellent choice for day hiking.

Buyers Guide to Daypacks for Hiking

Day packs for hiking essentially come in two styles. Each of these day pack "styles" is profiled below :

General book bag (a.k.a. - the "Pretend Day Pack")

The "pretend" day pack. Good for books, bad for long hikes

This is the type of bag you see around campus and such, hauling books from place to place. These types of packs work well enough for this and are also inexpensive. However, these packs are awful choices for hiking up in the mountains due to suspect durability, their small capacity and, most importantly, the lack of a suspension system. If you just need a pack to haul books around, then get this style of pack. But if you plan on hiking in the mountains, you want to get a "real pack" for this.

Technical Day Packs (a.k.a. - "The Real Day Pack")

A technical day pack is a pack that has been specifically designed for heavy use in outdoor activities, particularly day hiking and climbing. As such, a technical day pack has excellent durability and is roomy enough for most gear you need on an outing. Common characteristics of technical day packs are the following:

Large Capacity - The pack will have a minimum of 2000 cubic inches capacity, and will sometimes range up to 3000 cubic inches. This sounds like a lot, but it really isn't, by the time you factor in clothing, water, camera stuff and leave room for a fancy lunch. Moreover, it is ALWAYS better to have some extra room in the pack than to stuff it full. The reason? Simple, a "stuffed full" bookbag rides like a ugly monkey on your back, as it is "puffed out," and can hang out way over your back. By not cramming full your pack, the pack will ride much more comfortably on your back.

Internal Frame - This is the KEY thing right here. If you see a pack calling itself the "ultimate day pack" or some such thing - yet it does not have a internal frame - don't even give this deceiving pack another look. A Internal Frame should be mandatory, repeat mandatory, in any day pack that will be used on longer hikes, especially where there may be lots of gear involved.

Why is an internal frame so important? Well, two reasons. First, and most importantly, a internal frame allows the weight of the pack to ride primarily on your HIPS, not on your shoulders. Now, 20 pounds may not seem like a huge deal. But, that 20 pounds is going to seem like King-Kong after a 15 mile hike up and down the mountains.

Additionally, by having an internal frame, you can adjust the pack to perfection. With a internal frame, you can pull the pack in, push it out, tighten it up, loosen it, remove weight from the shoulders, add weight to the shoulders, and so on. With a pack that lacks an internal frame, about the best you can do is hold it to your hip and adjust the tension across your chest with a sternum strap. In short, internal frame day packs are light years more comfortable than your typical "pretend" book bag that lacks a frame!

If you want to "visually" compare the difference between a standard bookbag type daypack and a technical backpack, click on these two links below to see the differences. After comparing these two types of packs, ask yourself which one you rather carry over 10 miles of hiking, 2000 vertical feet and under a 15 pound load?? The answer to that question is why I so strongly recommend a good quality technical day pack for anyone who is serious into hiking.

Visually Compare Styles

Technical Day Packs v. Standard Book Bags

Good Day Packs For Hiking : What to Get and Where to Get It

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