Deuter Futura Air Trek 60+10/Futura Air Trek 55+10 SL

Our take The Futura Air Trek is built to go the distance, and big enough to take it all with you. This pack stands out for its load-levitating suspension, which let us haul heavy cargo day after day. Two vertical, spring steel stays transfer loads to the lumbar region of the pack, which is thickly padded with foam and integrated into a wide hipbelt. “I was shocked at how comfortable this thing was,” said one tester after 80 miles and 20,000 feet of vertical gain in Wyoming’s Wind River Range. “With all the support, my 35-pound load felt like nothing.” Another tester reported pain-free shoulders, even after 40-pound water carries on the Arizona Trail. Credit the weight transfer to the pivoting hipbelt, which connects to the frame just behind the lumbar, and the S-shaped shoulder harness on the women’s version.

The details It’s got all the bells and whistles: The Futura Air Trek sports a built-in rain fly, U-zip access to the main compartment, dual toplid pockets, a mesh shove-it pouch, hipbelt pockets (though too small for maps or smartphones), and side bottle pockets big enough for 32-ounce Gatorade bottles. The 210-denier nylon and 600-denier polyester held up fine to bushwhacking, including a full day of deadfall hopping on an “alternative trail” in the Winds, though one tester did report a small tear along the storm collar cinch near the end of the season.

unisex regular and SL (“Slim Line”)