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After additional testing, we’ve added two new picks: Away’s The Packable Backpack and the WaterField Packable Backpack.
Packable daypacks are a perfect option if you need a lightweight spare bag to stash inside your luggage when you travel. They’re also great if you need an extra bag while running an unexpected errand during your daily commute.
After testing 18 packable daypacks, we chose four lightweight, portable, well-constructed bags to fit a variety of situations, including traveling, hiking, and commuting.
Although every trip has its specific considerations, the bags we recommend share a few similar qualities. All of them are water resistant to some degree, pack down small enough to fit easily into a carry-on bag, and hold at least 20 liters comfortably. We picked a bag for city travelers, a pack good enough for daily use, and a lightweight bag that stays dry in stormy weather. For space-conscious travelers, we have a pick that fits in the palm of your hand.
I’ve covered travel luggage and bag design for Wirecutter for nine years and have personally researched, tested, and compared hundreds of bags in that time.
For this guide, I built on previous years of experience and research by a writer and two editors who have, among them, worked remotely from every continent except Antarctica.
We developed our earliest criteria for this piece after doing an interview with Sara Morrow, an archaeologist who spends summers working expeditions on a small island off the coast of Ireland. She uses a packable daypack to transport her tools, notebooks, and personal items between the base camp and dig sites, and she considers it a necessity in the field.
Personally, I try to pack lightly and almost always travel with at least one packable bag to use on small day journeys once I’ve reached my destination.
Remarkably light and easy to compress, this bag ticks all the boxes for daily use while traveling: comfortable, quietly stylish, and sturdy.
Who this is for: It’s a good option for anyone who wants a packable bag that takes up as much space as a pair of socks but is still comfortable. Its casual look is also unlikely to draw attention when you’re walking around.
Away’s The Packable Backpack is made of a blend of light recycled nylon, with classic, if somewhat minimal, good looks.
It doesn’t weigh much, and it’s comfortable to wear. On your shoulders, the only thing that sets this bag apart from a regular backpack is the lack of structure, a side effect of the bag’s 7-ounce weight. It doesn’t have the same reassuring heft of a traditional backpack (no packable bag does), but when it’s filled with a few odds and ends, its wide straps and sensible shape are comfortable to carry on your back. To save on weight, Away designed the top of the bag like a cinch tote with a flip cover—a simple and effective solution.
It packs up small. When not in use, it rolls up and fits into a separate zippered pouch; it’s about the size of a bunched-up heavy T-shirt.
It’s well made and well priced. For a bag of this quality, it’s an excellent bargain. Away uses the same materials in similarly designed packable tote and sling bags, which we recommend if you’re looking for packable options that aren’t backpacks.
A minor quibble is the lack of internal organization beyond the one small, zippered wallet pocket. If you need more organization, the WaterField Packable Backpack has another front pocket and bottle holders. But it’s such a small complaint for bags in this category that it’s hard to call it a flaw.
Slightly heavier weight and more-advanced materials give this backpack a reassuring heft and impressive water resistance—and a high price tag. It’s comfortable enough to use as your daily backpack.
Who this is for: Anyone who values a slightly mature look with extra durability and protection from the rain will appreciate this pack. However, it is our most expensive pick.
The WaterField Packable Backpack is a well-built travel backpack that marries the heft of a regular backpack with the compactness of an easy-to-pack tote.
It looks and feels like a regular backpack. In addition to being the most traditional-looking backpack of our picks, it feels the most like a traditional backpack. The shoulder straps, which are ergonomically shaped and lined with breathable mesh fabric, make the bag easier to carry over long distances.
It has more organization. WaterField’s Packable Backpack has a front zippered pocket and two open side pockets that could hold a water bottle and an umbrella. When you’re not using the bag, you can fold it down into a built-in packing pocket, which doubles as an interior zippered pocket when the bag is on your back.
Its high performance matches its high price. However, it’s WaterField’s attention to materials that sets this bag apart from our other picks (and increases the overall price). A layer of Taslan nylon—a very thin, but sturdy, fabric—is layered with a structural tricot mesh and a robust water-resistant coating. Water practically bounced away from this bag during testing—even more so than with our pick from Matador—so it’s a good option for wet climates.
This bag will keep your things dry during adventures in wet climates or unpredictable weather. It packs down to about the size of a potato, but its lack of overall structure isn’t ideal for long hikes or days of carrying.
Who this is for: If you need a spare lightweight bag that can stand up to the elements while taking up very little space, the Freerain22 backpack is for you.
The Matador Freerain22 Waterproof Packable Backpack is excellent in wet climates or anywhere where you might realistically expect to get caught in the rain—think hiking around Seattle or touring London in the fall.
It’s mini but mighty. The Freerain22 backpack folds down so small—to about the size of a pocket camera—that it feels like a magic trick. Made from 30-denier abrasion-resistant Cordura nylon (denier is a measure of the fiber thickness in a fabric), it kept our things dry even in a rainstorm, although a small amount of humidity and moisture did get in on occasion while we were hiking around Hawaii. The main compartment opens and closes with a roll top that buckles down on the sides like a dry bag. It’s the best possible design if you’re serious about keeping out water.
It’s versatile—to a point. During our testing, it worked well for travel and on the trail, as long as we didn’t try to carry too much, too far. This pack’s mesh shoulder straps, though very breathable and wide enough to distribute the weight, are like two pieces of hosiery: barely there. And though they are wide enough to resist pinching, a thin strip of fabric can only do so much to protect your clavicles. In addition to using this pack for travel and hikes, we also liked to throw the Freerain22 pack into a jacket pocket in case it rained during commutes around town.
It has some nice extras. Along with a sternum strap, removable hip strap, and loops to hold trekking poles or ice axes, it has two side pockets for water bottles, with side buckles for securing the containers in place, and a zippered front pocket. Other than that, it doesn’t have much organization. But that’s not why you buy a bag like this. The Freerain22 backpack is best as a just-in-case bag. It’s so small that you can bring it with you everywhere, and when you need it, you’ll be glad you have it.
Toss this lightweight, phone-size packable bag into your luggage or coat pocket, and you’ll never get caught without a spare bag again. If you need something to carry more often, though, you might prefer one of our more structured picks.
Who this is for: It’s fantastic for anyone who needs a light, spare bag that they can take with them anywhere, anytime.
The Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Day Pack is perfect to keep in your pocket or in the glove compartment of your car—it’s handy for when, say, you need a spare bag at the market.
It’s our most packable pick. The Ultra-Sil pack is the smallest and lightest packable backpack we recommend. Packed up, it’s very discreet: nearly the size of a keychain accessory.
It’s tougher than it looks. The bag itself is a no-frills sack made from a paper-thin siliconized Cordura nylon, which means it’s very light and water resistant. It has reinforced stitching at stress points, so it can carry more weight than you would expect. That said, since this pack is made of such thin, light material, carrying large or awkwardly shaped loads is somewhat uncomfortable, especially when compared with our more-structured picks.
Depending on whether you plan to scale cliffs or tour museums, certain features become more or less important when you’re choosing a day bag.
To help make sense of what to prioritize among the dozens of available options, we pored over articles across many outdoor publications and consulted other comparative reviews and advice from sources such as REI and GearLab.
We also considered our own experiences to determine what makes a great packable daypack. Here’s what we look for:
If you’re planning some heavy excursions and looking for the absolute best equipment: You might consider the Hyperlite Summit 30. It’s a remarkable piece of equipment, a full-size 30-liter backpack weighing only 0.8 pounds. Made of Dyneema composite fabric, Hyperlite backpacks are highly water resistant and long-lasting. And each one folds up to take the same space as a couple of T-shirts. Most people looking for a spare travel bag don’t need a $200 ultralight backpack designed for hiking. But for a rare type of traveler, the Summit 30 might be the best choice.
If you need a heavy-duty bag for hiking: The Matador Beast28 Ultralight Technical Backpack is a capable hiking daypack that’s hydration-bladder compatible, but not everyone needs a packable bag this hefty. Alone, it’s 1.25 pounds, which is heavier than any of our picks. For the price, we prefer the simplicity of our other picks. But the Beast28 is a good bag, albeit with a large footprint even when it’s packed up.
If none of our picks are available: Consider the REI Co-op Flash 18 Pack, another decent choice in the sub-$50 cinch-top-bag category. It’s a fine alternative, but for a little more money you get a lot more value with our other choices.
Aer Go Pack 2: The previous version was a pick, but the current model is too bulky to be packable; it takes up more space in your suitcase than would ever be worth it on a trip.
Cotopaxi Luzon 18L Backpack: This is a decent small backpack, but the drawstring closure top kept this out of consideration. Not only are drawstrings a hazard if they slip out, but they are prone to breaking, and the cinch closure is useless against bad weather.
Dakine Packable Backpack 22L: These are tempting bags, especially for the price. But the fabric (115-denier recycled nylon) feels thin and underwhelming—although it’s Bluesign approved, which we like. The problem is the bag’s closure, which only has a cinch top. If Dakine added a lid that could close over the design similar to Away’s The Packable Backpack, we’d likely make it a pick.
Eddie Bauer Stowaway Packable 20L Backpack: This bag was previously our runner-up pick for hikers. Its zipper and material felt flimsy enough that we were concerned they would fail with long-term use.
Fjällräven High Coast Foldsack 24: This is a good bag at a slightly high price, but it didn’t make the cut for us because of its weight and large size even when rolled up.
Gonex 20L Lightweight Packable Backpack: Although it has rave reviews online, we found the stitching was more fragile than we like to recommend.
L.L.Bean Stowaway Pack: The Stowaway Pack was organized and comfortable enough that we liked carrying it on the hiking trail, but we preferred our pick from Matador for its better weatherproofing.
Mystery Ranch In and Out 19: The In and Out 19 is made of a 100-denier Cordura nylon, which was strong but too heavy for us. The biggest mystery during our testing was how to fold this bag back into its pouch.
Patagonia Ultralight Black Hole Tote Pack 27L: This is simply a bad design for a tourist. The tote’s large handles, which hang loosely off the back of the bag when it’s worn as a backpack, are a huge red flag for personal safety and security. And all the extra straps and connections make carrying and using the bag a pain.
REI Co-op Stuff Travel Pack - 20L: This is a competitor of the Matador Freerain22 pack that falls short. It mimics our Matador pick in its design, but not in the quality of its materials. Its flimsier fabric and zipper will fail sooner.
This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan.
Kit Dillon is a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. He was previously an app developer, oil derrick inspector, public-radio archivist, and sandwich shop owner. He has written for Popular Science, The Awl, and the New York Observer, among others. When called on, he can still make a mean sandwich.
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