Day Pack or Small Backpack?

40L is a lot for a day pack, but if it compresses well when not full, then it could work just fine.

My wife and I have done the TMB and SWCP in England in similar luxury with near daily main luggage transfers to our nightly accommodations and our 36L Gossamer Gear Murmurs were perfect size for us to carry wine in Platyz and picnic foods in addition day hiking necessities. Room to spare actually.

Doing TMB 1st week of July and taking an Ultimate Direction Fastpack25

The current logo on that ud pack is obnoxiously yuge

I’ve never done a trip like that before. But I would tend to go with the pack that would be more useful in the long term. Extra space wouldn’t be a trip killer. But an expensive, small backpack going mostly unused after the trip would be a tough pill to swallow for me. Good luck with the trip!

My wife and I are doing the Walker’s Haute Route this summer. We are doing it self-supported so will need to carry all our gear, but will be staying in hotels and huts so no shelter and only minimal food. I went through the pack size dilemma and decided on a 40L pack as it will be more useful in the future.

@DavidP

Just make sure you have full storm gear. You might not need it, but then again

This was MID-SUMMER on the Tour du Mont Blanc, at the Col du Croix du Bonhomme. It’s the Alps, and weather happens…

Cheers

Thanks. We’ve hiked the Swiss Alps the last three summers, mostly day hikes with a few 3 day hut trips. Always carried storm rain gear but luckily have had good weather. I’ve been debating whether to take microspikes, looking at that picture I think we will.

Microspikes? Personally, I would not bother. We found the snow was either dry and crunchy, straight after falling, which was fine for joggers, or softer (and wetter) after a day or two. I don’t think we ever met the sort of ice you might need spikes for. It is summer after all.

Cheers

I like a 24-ish liter day pack. The smaller ones ride too high and tend to get full which means to less comfort. I like Gossamer Grears day packs and find that they are one of the few UL pack makers that make good shoulder straps that don’t collapse and pinch. Their Minimalist 24 pack is 11oz and $59.

https://www.gossamergear.com/collections/backpacks/products/minimalist-24-daypack