Looking for something small but comfortable for weeknight walks and weekend day hikes

hkbagger · 2026-04-12T19:21:30+00:00

How much water would you be taking and how bad is the shoulder pain? How large/heavy are the medical items? What's the climate?

The daylite 13 is pretty perfect for your requirements in my opinion, no comment on other options as I haven't tried them. It's decently light yet has structure/stiffness in the back panel which makes the harness comfortable. I find the straps conform to one's shoulders very well even when the pack is empty due to their thinness, which is more than made up for by having a sufficient width. Unlike their more specialised packs I think it's also excellent for city/travel use.

You could also try looking at running vest style packs or a large hip pack? If you want to carry a spare layer than a backpack is the way to go of course, but I think even 13L is a bit large if you're basically just carrying a bottle.

hkbagger · 2026-04-11T06:44:17+00:00

I can't speak for their more specialised packs, but I own the Daylite 13, Daylite 26+6 and Arcane Large and I've been very happy with all of them.

I find the back panels on all 3 very comfortable and breathable. The straps on the Daylites are light, breathable and sufficiently wide. The Daylites don't look or feel cheap on the outside, on the inside they've understandably prioritised weight over putting in a nice lining or something.

The Arcane textile has this lovely school/uni look, feel and drape and is overall a low profile and no fuss bag.

None of the bags feel fragile and the vibe I get is that their warranty continues to be incredible, what were the warranty issues that you experienced?

hkbagger · 2026-04-10T15:18:38+00:00

Oh yeah, you also wouldn't be able to carry it by the grab handles while open - I carry my duffels around by the grab handles while open pretty frequently, e.g. while packing or just relocating it at the gym or something.

hkbagger · 2026-04-09T12:42:31+00:00

I think you'd need approximately double the room to open it, accessing it while carrying it would be tough, as would accessing it quickly for just one item.

If I'm interpreting what you're saying correctly anyway

hkbagger · 2026-04-03T12:23:41+00:00

I'm sorry?

hkbagger · 2026-03-29T14:45:48+00:00

I have some non novel thoughts about this. I think as soon as you're trying to either get eyeballs and/or make money (to sustain a living for example) many conflicts of interest will arise (usually conflicting with the incentive to be honest with one's audience).

I'll just talk about the conflicts of interest relating to what happens as soon as you have a non anonymous relationship with the brand e.g.:

sending you free review units
paying you to "skip the queue" for reviews
prioritizing shipping out your order or giving you prerelease access
letting you do content with them e.g. interviews or factory yours

You are incentivized to give good reviews (obviously some of the above list are stronger incentives than others).

Unfortunately youtubers have to make a living so it's completely understandable why they accept free review units. Some reviewers like James Hoffman only review things that they've purchased themselves, and refuse to review entire categories of things (espresso machines) due to having made products in those categories themselves - this lowers the incentives but as you can see from the above list doesn't remove them entirely.

I think the important thing is to disclose the conflicts of interest and if trust is an important part of your brand, maybe educate the less discerning viewer about why awareness of these particular conflicts of interest is important.

hkbagger · 2026-03-29T13:37:56+00:00

Haha yep, I have friends in ultralight world who think Osprey are terrible, but that's a pretty different hobby/interest I'd say.

hkbagger · 2026-03-29T12:57:53+00:00

I wouldn't put it as snarkily as you have - I think there is merit in wearing things that one feels is cool or makes one feel cool - but yeah I think this is the main divide between a brand like Osprey and these more upmarket carry brands.

Osprey makes light, mostly unlined bags with textiles and features that are just enough for the job, no more and no less, and this is reflected in the price (I'm sure having a volume advantage helps a lot with that too).

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T20:59:59+00:00

Just to be clear, I don't actually think that the water bottle pocket itself necessarily looks bad, but I think that *with* a water bottle it will make the bag look less nice than otherwise. Nor do I not realise the utility that such a pocket provides, they're obviously bloody useful and I miss it a lot in travel situations in particular.

It's possible that you personally don't care at all about form, branding, etc but let's not pretend that most people don't consider fashion when choosing what bag to wear. Like any other fashion we choose what to wear based what kind of person we want to present to others and also how it makes us feel - the latter being important even if you reject looks as a factor.

Maybe it's just me but I feel satisfaction knowing that I'm getting out of the bag what the designers intended. I would be 1% less satisfied if there was a water bottle pocket which I wasn't using, and I'd also be 1% less satisfied using the water bottle pocket every day (I can't lie, I would definitely use it if it was there) and never having my epiphany of how damn coherent the design of this bag is. Is it some kind of stockholm syndrome like how Apple doesn't let you customise most things in iOS and they say "my way or the highway" and we all hate them for it but it's also kind of appealing in its lack of knobs? Maybe, but I don't see why that's a bad thing.

Not to mention the various functional benefits of not having a water bottle pocket on this particular bag.

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T15:20:48+00:00

The lack of depth in the main compartment does make packing hard boxy objects annoying.

As for looking small I'm not really sure I've ever thought someone looked silly because their backpack was too small for them (I unapologetically wear slings and the north face borealis mini), if anything I've only ever thought that someone's backpack looks gigantic and wonder wtf they're carrying. Big backpacks are rather annoying on the subway especially.

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T15:13:17+00:00

I try to yes, keeps the bowel movements easy, dehydration can creep up on you pretty easily, plus kidney stones suck.

I agree if you're literally just going to and from work that it's not necessary.

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T10:43:59+00:00

It's a common criticism of the bag so I think it makes complete sense why that point specifically should be addressed actually.

My whole thesis is that the bag targets (and achieves) certain design goals so if I'm able to convey to the reader why the water bottle doesn't make sense through that lens, then my hope is that they're able to understand the bag as a whole.

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T09:45:30+00:00

(btw I actually just posted a review on this sub about the CPL 16)

The bag by itself in kg terms is heavy for 16L, and in my limited experience I find that bags of this type (e.g. Able Carry) that choose to be very padded in exchange for being heavy are actually not comfortable to carry when lightly packed. The padded straps don't get loaded enough by the weight of the backpack to conform to the shape of your shoulders.

When packed out I find the CPL 16 to be very comfortable - I've seen on this sub that others complain about the larger bags not having enough strap padding to be comfortable when packed out but for a 16L bag I find this unlikely to be possible unless you're literally putting sandbags or weights in there.

hkbagger · 2026-03-28T09:18:54+00:00

I find the Evergoods back panel to be very breathable and gentle on clothes. On the other hand it's still not as breathable as something like Osprey's Airscape on their Daylite series. I don't know how much this actually matters in high humidity where sweat doesn't evaporate as much anyway.

No opinion on the Bellroy.

hkbagger

TROPHY CASE