Backpack portfolios

ZimmerBuilt: My pack for week-long trips. Love it. Carries beautifully up to 32 lbs., which is as much as I've had to carry.

BPL Absaroka: My weekend pack. I still really like it too.

Osprey Aether 80: Load hauler reserved for family trips where dad gets hosed.

My wife has an MLD Prophet and an Aether 65, and we have various REI and Deuter packs for friends and children. They get a surprising amount of use.

I use an REI Stoke 29 for most of my day hiking. It is really just another frameless pack in the Flash series. That might seam a little large for a day pack, but it allows me to haul rain gear, meals, camera gear and the like without struggling to fit it all it. I've given up on 20-ish liter packs that are always too full. I could pull off a summer overnighter with it and my most Spartan gear.

My multi-day pack is a Gossamer Gear Mariposa, with good weight transfer and enough capacity for "cloud packing" of insulation and enough outside pockets for good access to items en route.

I prefer shoulder/messenger bags for urban travel. They are easier to get though crowded buses and doorways. They are good at organizing small electronics, glasses, cameras, pens, etc. I could see needing a pack when hauling several books and laptop. Students regularly haul loads that exceed multi-day pack weights. My bag-du-jour is a Timuk2 Snoop with a removeable camera insert.

-Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon for work stuff.
-Osprey Manta 25 for dayhiking.
-Osprey Raptor 14 for mountain biking
-Osprey Exos 38 for my frequent, but short, backpacking trips.
^^occasionally even get to use all those in a single week!
-Osprey Exos 58 for occasional longer trips and/or cold weather.
I refuse to go without a ventilated back panel…

Hikes – short / strenuous – Zpacks Z1 (older model) – 2600ci – 6oz

Hikes – all other – Mountainsmith Ghost (older model) – 2800ci – 36oz

City – day use – Sea to Summit Ultra Sil day pack

Travel – Jansport Oxidation

No pack for work.

Main: I have a few Zimmerbuilt dyneema grid backpacks for backpacking with some related travel (22 in torso – volumes for 20F and 40F quilts) that blend lightweight and ruggedness (plus the black dyneema looks pretty sweet – I couldn't stop at just one like the chip commercial)

Day-hike specific: 18L REI Flash daypack and 20L U.K. Terra nova cuben-like Ultra*

*Will likely replace one daypack with an Osprey Talon 22

Ed: spell check on my spell-checker

Work: Timbuk2 medium messenger bag
Daypack: Gossamer Gear BigBag
Backpacking (normal load, 12-28 lbs): Granite Gear Crown VC
Backpacking (large load, up to 40 lbs.): Granite Gear Blaze AC

"I am not talking about ALL of your packs, but the ones that you use. I'll start with my example of what I am talking about."

OHM 2.0 for everything from day hikes to 11 day backpacking trips.

ULA Circuit- Dayhikes, overnights, weekends, multiday, canoeing, mountaineering, etc.

"I am not talking about ALL of your packs, but the ones that you use. I'll start with my example of what I am talking about."

OHM 2.0 for everything from day hikes to 11 day backpacking trips.

+1 ,but mine's a v1.0

I do have a couple of day packs that get some use, a Jandd Tozi Kletter and a Black Diamond Bbee. But the Ohm is the 95%

"Osprey Aether 80: Load hauler reserved for family trips where dad gets hosed." LOL ain't that the truth. I thought it would stop when my kids were grown. My wife said no, that just means you can now carry all my stuff (on day hikes). It's also funny the stuff she needs when she's not carrying it (but honey, the larger nikon binoculars are so much clearer than the small ones). But… I like having her around so… on the other hand, that's why I will only day-hike with her now.

Everyday: Inside Line Equipment Default (Check it out!)

Backpacking: Boreas Buttermilk 40L

Hauler: Kelty Frame Pack, 50L?

Unfortunately (no, fortunately), my girlfriend is now with me on just about every trip, and the boreas fits her perfectly. I'm a heavy packer for now, the horror!

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Totally agree the Ohm 2.0 can do all – but to be honest I do like that I have a smaller option as well for day hikes.

-Ohm 2.0 for multi-day hikes.
-Osprey Kestrel 32 (panel loader) for long fast day hikes (mostly once or twice a week).
-Montane Dragon 20 coming soon for summer speed hikes or races (has a vest harness).

edit –
Have a Boreas Muir Woods 20 as an everyday use pack. Wish their larger packs fitted my torso length. Bit heavier but very nicely designed.

My traveling backpack is a Columbia panel loader day pack that I've removed the internal frame out of. I bought this pack when I thought I was deploying for Hurricane Katrina but our assignment was nixed. It's since become my go-to backpack for traveling. Lots of pockets to stow water bottles, passports, etc. and it fits nicely in the overhead compartment as a carry-on. While not a UL pack per se, this is where my journey to UL began. Whether it's an overnighter or for a week, this is the only bag I bring when traveling solo as I wear-one-wash-one when traveling.

I bought a couple Eddie Bauer nylon day packs for about $20 each. Not the lightest option out there but light enough to bring as a summit pack or an extra bag to bring souvenirs home with.

ULA Ohm 2.0 is my heavy hauler. Great pack but much bigger than what I need. While it doesn't see much use right now due to its size, I keep this pack for trips where I have to haul a lot of water, or I'm bringing extra food and gear for the kids.

MLD Prophet. This is my go-to backpack that I bought used from a BPL member. I'm fine carrying upwards of 30lbs on my shoulders (not that I would with the Prophet) and I rarely carry more than 20 with this pack. While a great pack, it's still larger than what I need and I don't use the belt.

My next pack will either be a MLD Burn with removable belt or a GG Murmur.

MLD Newt for daily walks to work and for day hiking.

MLD Burn for backpacking trips up to a week long.

I have a free backpack from Kaiser for work that carries my laptop, papers, pens and other computer paraphernalia. Chosen because it was free, has all the necessary compartments for organization and the back panel and shoulder straps are well padded.

Old REI Morning Star that I attached a heavy duty waist belt to for loads over 40 lbs. Used once a year on a camping/backpacking trip. It's only 1.5 miles so I take everything! Chosen because of the organization ability. It was my first internal frame backpack.

GG Vapor Lite for real backpacking. Chosen because it was a real framed pack with a good hip belt. It was also in excellent shape for very cheap ($60) on gear swap. I was planning on attempting a MYOG pack, but this was better for less! I had to move the shoulder straps outward, but otherwise it carries 30 lbs well.

Edit:

For day hikes I use either a large waist pack I have or one of the free Kaiser backpacks we have. Except for the time I carried my 35 lb daughter up the mist trail in a bookbag with holes cut out of the bottom for her legs! :^)

ULA Ohm 2.0 for multiday

Osprey Talon 22 for day hikes and around town bike rides

Gregory Rufous 8 for trail running and biking without hydro bladder