Editors' Choice Gold Award 2017: Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Day Pack

An ultralight pack like this brings versatility to a new level. It can serve as your food bag, stuffsack, pillow, daypack, laundry bag, and carry-on all in one. It’s so useful that many brands make one. But most are either cheap, flimsy, or uncomfortable (remember those drawstring bags?). Others are overbuilt and bulky, calling into question why you brought one to begin with.

Not the Ultra-Sil. It squishes down to the size of an egg, but can carry 20 liters—which is why we haven’t gone on a trip without one in years. Tough Cordura fabric can handle brushes against tree branches and granite, and wide, flat shoulder straps keep 10-pound loads comfortably secure on your back. We loved leaving our big packs at camp and tagging summits with the Ultra-Sil.

Nothing has changed with this bag over the last decade because nothing has needed to.