The Best Hiking Backpacks
For serious outdoor enthusiasts, buying a hiking backpack can be almost as important as buying a new car. Sure it is not as expensive, but it is a small investment and not one to take lightly. And the first rule has not changed in twenty years: never buy a pack you have not had on your back with weight in it.
Fit is measured by torso length, not by your height. This is the thing most people get wrong. Measure from the bony bump at the base of your neck to the level of the top of your hip bones; that number, not your height, tells you the frame size. A tall person with a short torso needs a small pack.
The weight should sit on your hips. Around eighty per cent of it. If your shoulders ache, the hip belt is in the wrong place or the torso length is wrong. Load the demo pack with about 15kg in the shop and walk around for ten minutes, up and down stairs if they will let you.
Size has come down since this was written. Gear got lighter, so 50 to 65 litres now covers what needed 70 to 80 in 2009, and most people buy too big. A bigger pack gets filled.
Women's-specific fits are now standard rather than a novelty: shorter torso ranges, differently angled shoulder straps and a hip belt shaped for a different pelvis. Worth trying regardless of what the label says, because fit beats category.
Where to do this: a shop that will load a pack and let you walk in it. That single service is worth more than any review, including this one.
Part of the guide to backpacks and daypacks.