How to Choose Between Lightweight and High-Capacity Hiking Backpacks

Ultralight backpacking is more of a lifestyle choice than a simple set of gear purchases. Even if you buy the fanciest of fancy dyneema/titanium/gossamer woven ultralight backpack in the world—the most meaningful way to lower your pack weight is from making gear sacrifices. For ultralight hikers, these sacrifices look like leaving a stove behind and letting cold ramen marinate in your pack for hours before eating it (called cold soaking) or choosing a tarp/hiking pole system over a full on tent. The benefits from those sacrifices coupled with ultra lightweight backpacking gear are plentiful, though.

In this article, I am going to break down the main differences between an ultralight backpack and heavier traditional backpacks, help you decide if you need one, and deliver buying suggestions. I am going to base this advice on the more than two decades I have been backpacking and 25 years I have spent as a guide, outdoor industry retail employee, and professional gear tester.

Differences between lightweight multi-day backpacks and regular backpacks

I mean, the obvious answer to this question is simple: the weight of these multi day backpacks is different—butt the differences lie within how ultralight packs shave off the ounces (or pounds) in their construction. Ultralight packs use much lighter materials which have a tendency to be a little less durable than their heavier counterparts. Lightweight and ultralight packs usually have way fewer features (all those external pockets, every compression strap, and zipper adds grams!) and usually have one main compartment to place all of your gear in. Heavier duty packs are usually built from more robust materials and can handle heavy loads more comfortably with padded shoulder straps and hip belts. They also tend to have more general comfort features (or doohickies as I like to call them) like a frame that allows your hips to rotate with each step or an uber intricate mesh back that mitigates back sweat.

Lightweight Hiking Backpacks Pros & cons

• Pros: You can shave off as many as four pounds of weight from your overall kit if you go from a monster high capacity backpacking pack to the best ultralight backpack. Likely, you would be shaving more like ounces to a pound off of your kit with a pack weight downgrade but it most certainly can help you stay disciplined about packing light. Every ul pack have less material to work with and is built with efficiency in mind so the best ones have really smart usability features—like ultralight stretchy mesh external pockets that you can access while you hike. These features can add to the overall efficiency of your movement (and in turn calorie output) of your hike.
• Cons: There isn’t a lot of room for super fluffy shoulder straps or weight distributing frames so for the most part, they are frameless packs and less comfortable. Lightweight backpacking packs are also often less durable since they have to use thinner materials than their burly counterparts. An ultralight backpack (or ul pack) and a lightweight backpack, for the most part, use more expensive materials so they have a tendency to be more expensive than packs built for heavy loads.

Traditional Hiking Backpacks Pros & cons

• Pros: The extra weight delivers opportunities for high capacity packs to be more feature rich. This translates into little hiker treats like a special zippered pocket for your snackies, built out hydration pouch integration, and a solid hipbelt pocket. Heavier weight backpacking packs also often have more comfort details than lighter counterparts which means that you can carry more, more comfortably. The most durable materials are often the heaviest, so the high capacity day hiking packs are often made of more durable materials. You can get a pretty solid one of these packs, like TK, for cheaper than a lightweight or ultra light pack.
• Cons: Just like people are likely to fill a bigger house with more furniture, when you have a heavy pack that was built to carry a whole heap of gear you are likely to bring heavy loads on a backpacking trip. All of the extras can add up and lead to much more tiring days in the mountains. A heavy pack on its own leads to more fatigue on your legs and feet as well if you plan to put in some serious hiking miles.

Tips for packing efficiently (aka How to organize your gear in your backpack)

In order to save weight on materials, an ultralight pack is usually composed of one big compartment—as opposed to multiple interior pockets or compartments that can often be found in a heavier backpacking backpack. This one large opening needs to be packed and organized more thoughtfully than a pack with purpose built compartments—like a sleeping bag compartment—in order for you to be able to find your ultralight gear as efficiently as possible. For comfortable weight distribution, place your heaviest pieces of gear low and close to your body. For efficiency, put the things you need to reach throughout the day—food, water purifier, and sunscreen—at the top of your pack and things like a sleeping bag and a lightweight fanny pack for a day hike that you won’t need until you are done walking at the bottom or places that are harder to reach.

Recommendations for the best lightweight and high-capacity backpacks

• Lightweight: Hundreds of Pacific Crest Trail hikers stop in my hometown of Ashland, OR to restock every summer. While I haven’t taken an official tally, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest frameless pack appears to be the most popular based on the packs I see the hikers place outside of the businesses in town. The Gossamer Gear Gorilla has an insane durability to weight ratio thanks to the tough Robic recycled fabric it was built from and super lightweight internal frame to add a bit of structure to your hike. The Mountain Laurel Design Burn 38L was built with efficiency at the forefront and the Ultra X version is fully seam sealed for an impressive level of waterproofing in a ul pack. Superior Wilderness Designs SL 40 Ultra also utilizes a removable internal frame to help distribute your load and an impressively thick hip belt for its bantamweight weigh in.
• High-Capacity: Deuter Aircontact Core 45 +10 trekking backpack offers an extremely cush shoulder strap experience which coupled with a mesh back panel that creates space between your back and the pack make it insanely comfortable—even with heavy loads. Mystery Ranch’s Bridger 65 is a hiking backpack that was built to haul some seriously heavy loads thanks to internal steel spring wire frame and yolk built with long distance weight distribution in mind.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good base weight for ultralight backpacking?

A solid base weight excluding food and water is 10 to 15 pounds for ultralight backpacking. As I have said multiple times in this article, hitting that low of a weight means sacrificing lots of comforts like fancy meals and maybe even a stove but if you are disciplined about packing only the basics of what you need—lightweight shelter, lightweight sleeping pad and minimalist mat, your backpack, clothes, and vessels for drinking and eating—you can get there.

What are the best ways to test the durability of a lightweight backpack?

The best way to test the durability of any backpack is hundreds of days in the field. Day after day of repetitive use is where you will notice all of the wear points in a lightweight multi day pack and also be able to test the abrasion resistance of the materials. Since you may not have that much time to test the best backpack yourselves, it is worthwhile to research ultralight hikers who are backpacking experts—many exist who have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and/or the Central Divide Trail—and read what reviews they have specifically focused on durability in an ultralight backpack.

What are the most important factors to consider when buying a lightweight multi day backpack?

The best backpacking backpack is the one you are going to actually enjoy using. As such: the most important factor to consider when buying a lightweight multi day backpack is how much comfort you are willing to sacrifice for weight. Long before you start going down the rabbit hole of the ounces shaved from one ultralight pack material to another, ask yourself if you are willing to deal with mosquitos buzzing your ears all night to shave pounds off your packing kit by eschewing a tent for a tarp.