REI Stuff Travel Daypack – $20

Good price on the Travel Stuff sack. I tried it and found the design to be flawed: it's tall and narrow, so it's difficult to retrieve small items from the bottom of the pack pack without pulling everything else out first to get at it. Also, the side mesh panels are placed very poorly, sewn in high at the middle of the sides but not long enough to allow contents to stand upright when the pack is placed upright on a level surface …this means anything heavy in those mesh pockets (water bottles, etc) instantly pulls the pack over, toppling it and/or spilling the pocket's contents out. This design never works and I'm surprised that designers keep repeating the error. REI also knows better because earlier versions did not have this flaw. YMMV.

A better choice at REI would be their 22L Flash Pack. This has the full length mesh pockets where the contents/water bottles/etc can stand upright because the mesh runs all the way to the base of the bag. Compare pics and you'll see what I mean. The Flash is definitely the better designed pack of the two, but may be pricey for what it is. Again, YMMV.

Both of these REI packs, but especially the 22L Flash Pack, are almost exact dead ringers for a packable $29 25L daypack that Eastern Mountain Sports offered for many years until recently (but redesigned in 2012 for the worse, changing designs from the Flash style to the Stuff style above with the shorter midway pocket flaw).

Glad to see REI carrying the 22L Flash, wish it were a 25L (with this shape body the extra 3L makes a difference). Really wish EMS would bring back their pre-2012 daypacks, which were part of their 'packables' line.

I used the linked pack for a few months and found it frustrating. The vertical closing strap is poorly place–it bottoms out unless the pack is all the way full. The result is a floppy bag that you can't cinch down.