Deuter Trail Pro 36 / 34 SL
Most versatile
Our take This hauler bridges the gap between huge day and ultralight overnight hikes. Lushly padded foam shoulder straps and a wide hipbelt supported 30 pounds on one tester’s two-day trip in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, but the Trail Pro’s compression straps and a tall, slim profile mean that it’s not unwieldy when half-filled. The extra space didn’t get in the way on a day mission a week later.
The details Two toplid pockets swallow a ton of gear; our tester stashed socks, undies, gloves, swim trunks, and beanie in the top pocket, and a wallet and guidebook underneath. “I stuck my bivy-bag poles in the 18-inch-deep zippered side pocket and put my tarp in the mesh pocket on the other side,” our tester says. Tradeoff: weight.
Trail cred “I beat the heck out of this pack, but even after 80 miles of off-trail travel through alder and scrub oak in the California Sierra, it hasn’t suffered a rip,” one tester says of the Trail Pro’s 600-denier, PU-coated polyester material.