LightBackpacking.com

A light daypack is an essential piece of equipment for the light backpacker.

I’ve taken many, many three-day loop trips that involve two overnights and 8-10 miles of day hiking wearing your pack. That’s great except for one thing: you’re wearing your pack the whole time. Even an ultralight pack is still a weight on your back.

More and more of my backpacks involve hiking to a campsite and then taking long day hikes to explore the area. My companions The Duke, Wild Bill and I load up our sandwiches, windbreakers and water in Duke’s ultralight daypack and head out. In the Caribou Wilderness, for example, we hiked in 4 miles to a great camp, then took 10-12 mile day trips.

The Duke’s wife found his daypack years ago, but couldn’t remember where she got it. My wife finally found one for me the other day in a Bed Bath & Beyond. From my web search it appears they are mostly sold in luggage shops.

The Kiva “key chain backpack” weighs just 2 ounces and is four inches wide by 3 inches high. Unzip it and you have a 612 cc daypack. Cost: $10. It was a great find. A feather on my back.

Be light. Be safe. Be one with the pack.