Math Says You Should Buy One of These Backpacks
The Problem
If you want to go backpacking, you are going to need a backpack. There are a lot of people on the internet, on YouTube, at THE outdoor big box stores that have an opinion on what the best backpack is for you and they probably all have a different recommendation. I know this because when I first went shopping for a backpack, I came to a different conclusion every time I went looking for a reasonable suggestion. I have since bought several backpacks but wanted to find a rational answer to the question: what backpack should I buy. SO - I went through the internet and collected a bunch of data on a range of different backpacks for sale today and came up with 6 that I think are the best options for the typical section hiker.
What You Need From Your Backpack
Your backpack is there for one main task - carry your stuff. And if that was the end of it the best bag would be the cheapest one you could find that all your stuff fits in. But, when you want to hike for 8-10 hours per day, the quality and comfort of your pack plays a large factor in not only being able to hike for that long but actually enjoying it as well. Your pack therefore needs to carry all your stuff AND be comfortable enough to wear all day long. Several factors can determine the comfort of the pack including shape, cut, materials, padding, and how you pack it.
I always recommend that you try on a pack (with weight in it) before you buy it or buy it online from a retailer that accepts returns.
While all of the factors I listed are important, anyone who has gone on a decently long hike will tell you the most important factor in determining comfort on that hike is how much or little your pack weighs.
The Big 3
When it comes to pack weight - ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain. That is to say all the little things that you throw in your pack just in case add up quickly to a pack that can weigh 2-3 times as much as it needs to. The three items that you can trim significant weight from are you sleeping insulation, your shelter, and your pack. Together these are known as the big three. Yes, you can spend hundreds of dollars on ultralight titanium pots and carbon fiber trekking poles but the weight savings there will be measured in ounces where with the big three it is often measured in pounds.
Ultralight Backpacking
The weight of your kit can significantly improve your hike. Don’t trust me? Next time you go on a hike add an extra 5-10 pounds to your pack and see for yourself. Some hikers take this to the extreme and build kits that are ‘ultralight’ or have a base weight of less than 10 pounds.
Base-weight is the weight of all your kit excluding consumables such as food, water, and fuel. Some people also exclude cameras as they are not ‘essential.’
In order to build an ultralight setup you will sacrifice both a lot of money and many small comforts that make a trip, in my opinion, worth taking.
All of this considered, the pack you should buy balances value for money with weight savings to give you a light enough pack to make your trip enjoyable while not breaking the bank.
The Solution
With that premise laid out, I went to several different websites that sell backpacks and collected data on them to try and understand what the relationship is between pack weight and price. You would think that with weight being the focus, the lower the weight of the pack the higher the price and vice versa but that is not the case. As illustrated in the graph below, pack price starts high and drops when approaching the 4 pound mark then starts to go back up again
The first group of note are the 5 pound pricey packs that mostly are outliers - we can scratch them off the chart to start.
Second - there is a large cluster between 3 - 4.5 lbs that offer good value at an acceptable under 5lb weight.
Third - a decent number of packs make up a third grouping are over 5lbs and except for special circumstances are just too heavy and should not be considered.
On the other end, a forth group of packs are 2.5lbs and under, putting them in the ultralight territory. You will pay a premium for these packs.
That leaves us with the last group, 6 packs, under 3 pounds and also under $4.00/liter price points that as I promised, math says you should buy
This ideal zone that minimizes weight while maximizing value for your hard earned money. Of the 6 all but 1 are $200 or less and one is even on sale at the moment (April 2020) for less than $140 which is the deal of the century for a pack that weighs just 2.8 pounds.
1 - Osprey Exos 48 - 2.6 lbs
5 - REI Co-op Flash 45 Pack - 2.6 lbs
6 - REI Co-op Flash 55 Pack - 2.7 lbs
I personally went with and recommend the osprey 48 for because of Ospreys’ rock solid warranty, value, and features but you cant go wrong with any of these 6 packs as your first or upgraded optimized pack.
What do you think? Are there any other packs that fall into this ideal zone that should be considered? If so comment below and let everyone know.
Disclaimer: Big Guy Backpacking uses affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links.