REI Co-op  Traverse 35 Pack - Women's

LOVE THIS PACK! Just finished an 8-day trek doing the O Circuit in Patagonia, and this baby fit everything. It packs much more like a 45L. The main compartment fit my sleeping bag, pad, tent's rain cover and stakes (husband carried mesh tent and poles), Jet Boil, camp mug, food, travel towel, travel daypack. Lid/brain had my med kit, toiletry kit, headlamp, knee brace, and the underside carried the pack's rain cover, my rain coat, and a beanie. Front zip pocket had my camp clothes and one extra leggings/tank and socks/underwear in a vacuum-esque bag. And the pouch between the front pocket and main bag held rain pants and extra ziplock bags. Hip belt pockets ARE small, but fit my old iPhone SE (same size as a 5 or 6), chap stick, foldable sunglasses, sunscreen, insect balm, and a few small snacks. I utilized loops on the exterior for camp sandals and my puffy in it's foldable pocket. After a couple days of eating food though, everything fit inside the pack. Total weight with food and water was 28lbs, and felt fine, well distributed. Things I liked: - beautiful - even with the bright yellow color, didn't get very stained - rain cover is brilliant! has loops for the hip belt and an elastic band for the top, so it didn't blow away in the patagonian winds like some other rain covers i saw - spacious for it's size - whistle on chest buckle - water bottle pockets accommodated both a full size Nalgene, and a slimmer Smart Water bottle (has a little snap to make the pocket more snug to hold slimmer bottles) - can access water bottles by myself, and don't need help getting them back in while pack is on! due to forward location and angling forward as well. - even fully packed, fit as carry on for both domestic and international flights Things I didn't like: - straps DO brush your neck, but only when empty. When full, and even at the end of the trek when it only weighed 17lbs after my food was gone, the straps laid perfectly on the shoulders and not against my neck - hip belt pockets could be bigger but it wasn't a deal breaker - lid/brain is a bit smaller than I'm used to - lid/brain does not detach to make a day pack like on the bigger Traverse models All in all, my new favorite pack!

As a newbie backpacker who didn’t know what I wanted out of my pack, what did I base my decision on? The color. Genius. I do love mustard yellow. But also, being a small size pack, I assumed it was on the lighter side as far as backpacking packs go. Well, now that I have some miles under my belt and know what I want from my pack, I’m really surprised by how heavy this is given the size. There are 55L packs from Osprey, Gregory, and the REI flash 55 that are 0.5-1 pound lighter than this pack, with more gear capacity, that are also internal frame. I don’t agree with this pack weighing over 3 pounds and only being 35L. It doesn’t sound like much difference, but when you wear it for even just an overnight, for 10-15 miles any little place you can cut weight helps. I did manage to remove the lid by pushing the straps out of the buckles (so I could attach it later if I like rather than cut them), and it works for now, but I can’t say I’d recommend this pack to a friend. I would save this for just a day pack or a short outing where you don’t need to pack an ursack and a ton of water and food. For longer trips, personally I wish I had gotten the REI flash 55.