It’s that time of year when my thoughts turn to hiking and then to what shape my packs are in. Do you have the right backpack for the job? If you do a lot of day hiking, keeping your pack small and light is probably your first priority while not skimping on what you need.

Granted, you may need more than one backpack or daypack if you plan to do a variety of hikes. There’s no need for a jumbo sized pack if you are only going for a short day hike and on the other hand if you plan to do some over-nighters you are going to need a pack to handle all your gear.

I’ve put together this chart that compares some of the best selling daypacks and highlights the best and not so good qualities of each pack. Take a look below and see if this could help make your decision simpler and hopefully save you time too.

	#1	#2	#3
	Mantis 26 Will Go From The Urban Jungle To Day Hiking	Osprey Talon 22 Pack	Gregory Miwok 18 Pack – Take It For a Day Hike
: Full product review
General General: Section divider
Capacity Capacity: Load capacity for pack	26 Liters	22 Liters	18 Liters
Dimensions Dimensions: Dimensions of pack	19" x 11" x 9.5"	21" x 10" x 6"	17.5" x 9.5" x 7.5"
Weight Weight: Pack weight	1lb., 13oz.	Small to Medium; 1lb.,9 oz. Medium to Large; 1lb.,11 oz.	1 lb., 8 oz.
Colors Colors: Colors the pack comes in	Black, Silver Sage, Coffee Bean, Raisin, Greenback	Cayenne, Meteorite, Indigo, Clover, Iris	Sulfur Green, Iron Grey
Details
Highlights Highlights: Best things about the pack	Panel loading Side zipper pocket for smaller items Lots of organization compartments Good load balancing	Holds hydration bladder perfectly Material is lightweight and d urable Highly adjustable for good fit Great back ventilation to keep cool Convenient hip pockets to stow items like camera,gps,snacks Lightweight comfort	Small, lightweight pack Great for people with shorter torsos Will hold all you need for a day hike in comfort
Could Be Better Could Be Better: The things that could be improved upon	Not quite large enough for a full size laptop The side mesh pocket not large enough for a 1L nalgene bottle Zippers could be more sturdy	The slight curve of the frame makes it hard to pack rigid items Not the best choice for commuters Hip belt pockets are hard to close with one hand	Pack is designed for smaller people Poorly designed media pocket Sternum strap hits a little high

Tags: day pack, daypack comparison, daypacks, hiking packs, packs

This entry was posted on May 10, 2011 at 5:04 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in blog Day Hikes 18-30 L by Kimberly No Comments Yet