For an all-around excellent, user-friendly, and lightweight hiking daypack at a fair price, grab the Gossamer Gear Loris 25, now made with recycled Robic Nylon.

• Weight: 19.5
• Price: $130
• Materials: 70D Robic Nylon
• Back Panel: Modular Foam Sit Pad
• Main Compartment Volume: 25L
• External Volume: 7L*
• Pros: Lightweight. Easy gear access. Full external pockets plus top bonus zipper pocket. Sustainable. Comes with sit pad.
• Cons: Zipper-roll top hybrid is controversial. Light-not-ultralight.

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Features

The Gossamer Gear Loris 25 is a roll top design with a twist. It has a singular zipper running down the center from that can be opened when the lid is unrolled and unclipped. This allows for easy access to gear in the middle of the pack without going full yard sale. It’s unusual, but overall boosts user-friendliness in our opinion.

The full set of external mesh pockets, plus lid pocket, is what swayed us to include Loris in our guide to the best hiking backpacks. External volume is not provided, but we conservatively estimate 1L per side pocket and 4L on the rear back. It also has a small zippered ~1L pocket on top of the lid, ideal for valuables, sunglasses, or anything else you don’t want to squish.

Loris’ back panel doubles as a foam sit pad. This blocks lumps and gives you something to sit on at breaks. It is surprisingly comfortable.

The pack is made with recycled Robic Nylon, which isn’t fancy, but is economical, sustainable, and has a high strength-to-weight ratio. It does not come with a hip belt, but one can be purchased separately (and includes .5L hip belt pockets) for an extra $20 and 3.3 oz.

Verdict

This is a versatile and well-thought-out design, and easily one of the best ultralight daypacks. It’s lightweight, user-friendly, and complete with full external pockets. A great pick up for a very reasonable price that checks all of the boxes.

Compare this to the other best day hiking backpacks! Make sure you’re all set for your next day hike with our 3 pound ultralight day hiking checklist. Need a bigger pack, jump to our guide for best backpacking packs.