Lightweight Day Pack – What are some good options?

[Avery S]

Camp X3 light, Lowe Alpine Lightflite 28.

I've been looking for something similar, but a bit more durable (heavier) and with dedicated crampon attachments.

[Avery S]

JanSport Catalyst 20
Millet Couloir 30 Lite

[Jon Leibowitz]

Yeh, I found 2! Hahah. I got the Flash for my dayhikes and the Osprey Viper for trail running.

BTW, Warren, the Flash does have a hip belt. The padding in the back adds some rigidity, but it's less than an internal frame or stays obviously. Though, since there is a dedicated space for it, you could find any hard material that suits your fancy and fit it the space.

[Warren Greer]

Dean,

Is the torso correct sizing or is it well below the shoulders? That's the only problem I had with the Stoke 19. Torso was unisex and probably three inches below the shoulders so it was not comfortable. Thanks for your help.

[Warren Greer]

Avery,

I like the Lowe pack. The 25 or 28 is pretty cool and at 14.1 and 14.5 ounces respectively are pretty light. Wish they stated how long the torso is and how many CI they are. That would help. You wouldn't happen to know would you?

[Avery S]

I've never actually seen the pack and I couldn't find any more info on it =/

[Mary D]

I just ordered from the REI Outlet a REI Stoke 19 pack, women's. It appears to have many of the features that you're looking for, and is also available in a men's version. (Only the women's is on closeout because REI has unfortunately switched to a unisex version.)

REI has two men's packs in their "Stoke" series which might be worth your investigating. The men's Stoke 19 (liter) weighs 20 oz. The Stoke 29 (liter) is 24 oz. Neither of these is on sale, but you could use the current 15% off coupon if you're a member.

Oops, I see you've already looked at those. The Stoke 29 does come in two sizes, though–did you try a large?

[Jon Leibowitz]

So Warren, if you remember from my other thread, I never decided on "one" bag. I ended up getting two, one for running (osprey) and one for day hiking (rei flash). My predictions came true. If you have not seen an osprey water bladder, I highly recommend you check the line out. They have a hard plastic frame built into the bladder so it never flops down, even when empty. The relevance of this is that, just as I had hoped, when outfitting the Flash 18 with the Osprey bladder (with our without the foam pad that comes with the Flash) I now have an 11 ounce bag with a sturdy frame regardless of how full it is. It actually works out waaaay better than I thought. For $27 (with the 20% off) for the flash and the $26 for the Osprey bladder, I would highly recommend at least trying the set up. You can always return it.

[Anthony Miller]

I pretty mcu had the same demands but could not find a single pack that met them all. I realized I did not need tham all at once either in a single pack.

I settled on a GoLite Rush (a 2011 model)in a large and a Gossamer gear 2012 Murmur. the GoLite gives easy hydration capability and i added the Osprey 2l bladder withe rigid plastic frame. The combination of the GoLite padded and ventilated back and the rigid osprey frame it carries well. It has a hip belt with pockets for trail snacks and will just hold a rain jacket or wind breaker, a cap and with effort an insulating layer too. The side pockets give me the option of more inside capacity without the bladder as I can put a water bottle in each. I like this for really hot days when I want the hydrationbladder and need little extra clothing. It weighs a little over 1 pound empty.

For cooler days or with rain pending I want more clothing capacity and sometimes less water. The Murmur meets this easily holding a puffy layer and a wind or rain shell, or all three of them if you really wanted. You could still add a hydration bladder and have two nice deep water bottle pockets too. A minimal hip belt but at 8oz. empty it carries so well it does not need a better hip belt. Both have their place in my day hike line up and the Murmur could easily handle a few nights out if needed.

My ideal would have been the Gregory Z30 except it weighed in at over 3 pounds. I really did not want a pack that weighed more than what I planned to carry inside of it!

Tony

[Mike M]

if the torso happens to fit this would meet most of your stated needs, if not, the Talon 22 w/ it's adjustable torso length would work (albeit a little heavier)

I also like the Osprey bladder w/ it's built in frame sheet

[Warren Greer]

Mary,
I mentioned this earlier about the Stoke 29 “Also looked at the Stoke 29, which has a proper sized torso but it is just too big for a day pack”. It just seemed too big and floppy but the torso was pretty good. Too bad they didn’t make the torso that long on the 19.

Jon,
Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate it. I’ll check them out.

Anthony,
Glad you could fill me in on the Rush pack. Sounds a bit small for me. Thanks for sharing.

Mike,
You shared with me on the Hornet 24; I'm the one that asked about your experience because I knew you'd mentioned the torso was too short. So after you replied, I also decided to email Osprey to get the scoop. Here’s their email to me below.

Warren,
If you have a Torso length of 19 inches you would be right on the cusp of a S/M or M/L. Typically if a customer has a torso length of 19 inches of less they would be a S/M and 19 inches or greater they would be a M/L So, this would be a personal preference on to which pack fits and feels better. You did mention that the store you went to did not have a Hornet 24 to try on to see what size fits best. If they had a Hornet 32 or a Manta or Raptor in any size the same fitting rules apply. So if the Manta 25 in S/M fits you comfortably most likely the Hornet 24 in a S/M would fit the same way and the same for the Raptor or the Hornet 32. I hope this is helpful.

Thanks,
Customer Service Team
Osprey Packs, Inc. USA

Thank you all for your help. I've narrowed it down to the Lowe Alpine Lightflite 28 or 25, Hornet 24, or a custom built pack, which would be the lightest option.

[Nick Gatel]

Warren,

Not exactly what you are looking for, but my normal day pack is a Flash 18. It is heavier than my Murmur or zPacks zero (both of which I have used for trip up to a week long). The small capacity makes me limit what I take. 3 liters of water is not a problem, because with everything else I am still under 10lbs. Maybe re-evaluate what you are taking on your day hikes? No criticism intended. Plus the Flash is cheap, cheap, cheap :)

[Mary D]

Sorry about posting about the REI Stoke 19 before I read all the posts! The women's version (discontinued and therefore on sale) arrived yesterday and is absolutely perfect for me. Unfortunately the new version is unisex, too big for me and too small for you! For some reason I never weighed my old pack (from TNF) and it turned out to be 39 oz, 11 oz. heavier than the backpack I take for 10-day trips!

With REI, you can order the packs that they don't have in stock (such as the Hornet 24) to be sent to the store. No shipping charge and you can try them on there and return the ones you don't want. If you time this to happen right after the billing cutoff date for your credit card, the charge and return credit should hit in the same billing period and cancel each other out! You can order several and decide which (if any) you want.

Another and definitely lighter possibility: one of the smaller ZPacks packs, such as the Blast 22 or the Zero X-Small or Small. Even adding extras to the Zero like side pockets and a padded hip belt, the result will be well under a pound. You can always add some stiffening inside to provide more weight transfer to the hip belt. Contact Joe Valesko of ZPacks and see what he can do for you. Maybe he could make you a smaller version of the Exo, which has carbon fiber stays. I'd suggest the hybrid cuben fiber fabric even though it's rather pricey. I have a hip belt pocket of the hybrid fabric (which bought to use for my fishing gear) and am impressed with it! I'm thinking about this option for a winter day pack, which obviously has to be larger than the Stoke 19!

Good luck! Please let us know what you end up with!

[Mike M]

Warren- you are probably not on the cusp w/ a 19" torso- if you're going to order one to try on, get the M/L

my 20" torso was much too long for their M/L Hornet- they've (Osprey) evidently corrected this w/ the 46 by providing a S,M,L, but they didn't go to the three size format for the 32 or 24- they are still S/M, M/L

if your torso size works w/ the Hornet I think you'll be impressed w/ the pack- very full feature set, solid construction and still pretty light weight; I'm probably going to give the 46 in Large a go this upcoming season

Mike

[Warren Greer]

Nick,
Ya, I should look at the Flash 18. It’s been mentioned several times in this thread. I guess the thing I’m not that thrilled about is the lack of padded hip belt, not sure webbing will be enough when I do get up to 10-12 lbs. Most of the time I'm way below that though.

Mary,
My current day pack is heavier than your old one! That’s why I want to move on. Plus the torso is much to long too. I’ve been thinking of ordering from REI then I can mitigate the risk. Gotta decide soon. I have also been giving thought to Joe @ ZPacks and Chris Zimmer for a custom pack. A Blast 22 with all the features I want minus some sort of back pad/frame sheet is just 9.5 ounces. So I know I can get a bunch lighter than a store bought solution.

Mike,
Thanks for the comments on the Hornet. I like it for the reasons you mention. I’ve noticed there is one on eBay for $75 and there are a few others that are cheaper than REI. I think your m/l suggestion is a good one.

I did also email Lowe on their pack but got no reply. It's only been a day though.

[Warren Greer]

Hornet 24 in size M/L and used my 20% off coupon and dividend at REI. If I don't like it it can go back and I'll give something else a try. Hope to get it before next weekend and use it next weekend. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

[Warren Greer]

The new Hornet 24 arrived today. First thing I did was take all the store tags off and weigh it, size M/L – 20.02 ounces, just what Osprey says it weighs. There are not really any meaningful items to cut off. The straps are all pretty short and even if I cut off the axe loop and the little pockets on the shoulder straps, they don’t account for much weight. That seems to be in the back padding and main compartment material.

Measured the back panel and it is 18.25”. The pack material is pretty heavy, seems more than 210D but I’m no judge of materials; I’d bet they could have cut significant weight using much lighter material and not doubling up in unneeded areas. There are four main compartments, the hydration compartment, the main compartment, a small zipped area at the top for keys and other small stuff you don’t want to lose in the pack body, and a mesh pocket on the front. There are two tiny pockets on the shoulder straps as well good for electrolyte packs. The torso is longer than the REI Stoke 19 and when the pack has got some weight in it, it doesn’t pull across your chest like the Stoke did. I’ll give the Hornet 24 a try this weekend and hopefully it’ll work for me. The pictures below are the pack with all items I may carry on a hike: l/s shirt, Montbell EXL, Dry Ducks jacket, Playtpus 3l, FAK, gloves, some energy bars, and a couple water bottles so you can see how the pockets were made too small. Looks like taller/skinnier bottles will work best and the compression strap can be used to hold them in place. With all this gear in the pack I still have plenty of room inside for more stuff if needed. Osprey says it is 1,465 CI or 24L. I assume that includes all the pockets on the pack. Compression is pretty good. So, this pack appears to have hit most of my criteria, a bit heavier than I wanted but it’ll do for now. More photos on the next page.

[Warren Greer]

the other photos – figured it out.

[Warren Greer]

Went for a hike with a few friends from BPL out at Laguna Canyon this past Saturday. We did seven miles in some challenging terrain and I'm glad to report that on this first hike with the Hornet 24 I was pleased with its performance. The pack is very comfortable overall. On this hike total trail weight was around 6-7 lbs. according to my bath scale. The thin framesheet/pad worked as it should and the load floated on my hips nicely. I had a bladder and so I didn't get a chance to use the bottle pockets, which are my main concern. It's hard to tell from the manufacturers photos, but they are quite short and for the bottle to be stable in the pocket you need to use the compression strap to hold it securely. So next weekend I hope to give that a shot and see how it works. I was really hoping for pockets that could be easily accessed without too much fuss. But if that's the only thing that doesn't work then I guess I still got most of the tall list of options I wanted.

BTW – Was at REI on Friday and measured the Stoke 19 torso: 14-14.5". Would have been a neat pack to try out but that is just too short and uncomfortable even in the store. The Hornet 24 (m/l) has an 18.5' torso and that fit pretty good for me; my torso is 19".

[Mary D]

I'm glad you found what works for you! Pack fit is almost as individual as shoe fit, and both are unfortunately rather a trial and error process.

While the women's Stoke 19 that I just got is fine for me as a spring/summer pack, I know I will need something a bit larger next winter when I of course have to carry more clothing and gear. It's too bad REI went to unisex for the Stoke packs–the Stoke 29 won't fit either you (too small) or me (too big)! It would be a nice pack otherwise!

It's amazing how heavy most day packs are! I do need some structure in a day pack, but not something that's over a pound heavier than my backpacking pack!

[Warren Greer]

I used the Hornet 24 again this last weekend and got in some good miles with it. I have to say I really like this pack. The thin foam back pad works great and so the pack transfers all the weight to the hip belt. The shoulder straps are really just there to keep the pack from falling backwards. Just what I wanted. The only thing I’m not all the thrilled about is the short mesh side pockets. A taller water bottle seems to be the only choice here. And you need to wrap the compression strap around the top of the bottle to keep it from falling out of the pocket, but that worked fine. Even when I slipped in slick mud it stayed secure in the pocket. I wish that the pockets were a solid material and that I could get to them on the trail but I can’t. Just got to slow or stop. But I think I’m over that and I’m really just liking this pack, it has the basic features I was looking for. I think that if they were to use lighter weight material the pack could drop a few ounces and be just as tough. For those of you who are looking for a functional-featured lightweight daypack, the Hornet 24 should be considered.

[Mary D]

Interesting that after all the pessimism resulting from your initial post, you seem to have found exactly what you wanted!

Congratulations on your new pack!

[Ken Thompson]

I liked the side pockets on the beta version better. They went all the way up the side of the pack with a cut out on the bottom third for bottle access. Check my review

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews.html?forum_thread_id=36330&skip_to_post=308536#308536

[Warren Greer]

Mary, you are right. Pretty cool pack. Thanks for the kind words.

Ken, that 46 tester did have some big side pockets. Now the 2012 model has none it appears. Weird. I guess the 24 is a bit shorter so it was hard to make the pockets taller. Or maybe it is that is looks more sexy in the photos with the shorter pocket, which looks more proportionally correct (even if it is too short). I didn't get that from the photos before I bought it.

[Mike M]

Warren- have you considered using Platy bottles? they are flatter than most bottles and might fit those side pockets better???

I think the 46 still comes w/ the taller side pockets

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