Gregory Miwok 12 / Maya 10
Best fit
Our take On days when we were speeding down the trail, this pack and its body-hugging fit were an easy pick. Clever use of foam and stretchy mesh allow the shoulder straps and hipbelt to flex and relax like tendons, so the Miwok stayed glued to one tester’s back on a 10-miler in Montana’s Bighorn Mountains. Our tester easily adjusted the torso length (the Miwok and Maya each have a 5-inch range, almost unheard of in daypacks) via a Velcro flap, which also accesses a hidden pocket between the backpanel and packbag that’s ideal for passports and credit cards.
The details Our tester fit 2 liters of water, a puffy, a shell, and a sandwich in the pack—the Miwok can’t hold much more. Rectangular cutouts in the foam backpanel provide venting, but some testers reported that the extra-wide hipbelt got sweaty in 85°F temps. The microfiber-lined pocket on the top keeps sunglasses scratch-free.
Trail cred “I like the big, 3-inch-wide hydration tube hole at the top. It’s much easier to thread the tube through than other ones I’ve used,” a tester said after a hike in Oregon’s Opal Creek Wilderness.