When you want to go out on a day hike, a critical piece of kit you need to have with you is a day pack. A day pack is a small backpack that enables you to carry all the necessary bits of kit for your day hike.
From this page we link out to our best daypacks for hiking recommendations, as well other useful information re: daypacks.
If you’re completely new to hiking and daypacks, we recommend you check out the day pack buying guide first. It walks you through everything you should consider and what features are good to have in a daypack.
In brief, in terms of size, we suggest anywhere from 20 to 35L (1220 / 2135 CI) in capacity is a good option, depending on your needs. For example, if you hike in typically warm and sunny weather, a smaller 20L daypack may be perfect. If however, you like to head into the Highlands in Scotland in October, you may be better off with a bigger 35L option, as you may need to pack more layers away, to protect you from the very unpredictable weather.
There are no definite rules in that regard, but hopefully you get the idea. As avid hikers ourselves, we typically have 3 or 4 different size packs for varying uses e.g. day hiking, leading a group on a day hike, backpacking, etc.
As we always say, for any hiking gear item, get clear about what you need it for first. That is critical in helping you make the right choice, and guiding you to pick the best daypack to meet your needs.
Conclusion
OK, so that’s it for now. Check out the day pack buying guide and our top daypack recommendations using the links above. We’ll be updating this page as we add more daypack related material to the site, but those two posts are definitely the main ones you need, to get you going with all things daypack related.
Happy hiking!
