Gregory  Miko 25 Pack - Men's

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from the REI Trailblazers sampling program in exchange for my honest review. The Gregory Miko 25 is a great all-day pack with ample storage and water bladder capacity. The comfortable straps and back panel are great for someone like myself who struggles to find a pack that promotes adequate air flow along the back and under the shoulder straps. The Mike 25 includes a padded kidney belt with pockets on either side. These pockets are large enough to fit a regular-sized iPhone Pro (the larger model one might not fit well), though with the pockets situated almost directly on your sides, I'm not sure I'd risk storing anything that could break or crack under any sort of strain that will come from bending. If these pockets were brought around to your front more, they'd be better in my opinion. The kidney belt and shoulder straps are comfortable. There's no adjustment for the width of the should straps, but they are situated in a way that they probably wouldn't dig into your neck, regardless of neck size. The Sumac Red color is pleasing to the eyes. There are some panels of fabric that have a reflective stripe pattern which is a nice addition to help you be better seen in low light conditions. I was a bit disappointed that a water bladder does not come standard with this pack. I did purchase a separate 3L bladder from REI specifically for this pack and I'm impressed with the design of both the bladder itself and the way the Miko 25 supports it. In other packs that I have, the bladders are held in place with a button strap, which is fine, but I found the hard plastic hook-and-loop (see photo) solution to be a simpler way to secure the bladder so it doesn't fall to the bottom of its compartment. The Miko 25 allows you to route your bladder's straw tube directly up and out of the top of the pack so that you can easily bring it over either shoulder. The main storage compartment of the Miko 25 does not allow for any sort of compartmentalizing of whatever you're carrying with you. In this regard, it is like any other plain backpack. There are two stretchy pockets on either side of the pack that are deep enough that a water bottle or other similarly sized thing could easily be carried with you. There is a stretchy pocket on the front of the pack that is secure with a clip at the top. The fabric there has a lot of stretch so you could easily stuff your rain jacket or a lightweight fleece in there when not needed. Also included on the outside of the pack are straps that allow you to stow your hiking pole. That is singular, not plural. If you use two poles, you might have to get your McGyver sunglasses on and figure something out to stow both of them. All of the zippers have nice, wide plastic finger hooks which I presume will help a lot for anyone taking this pack on a hike in colder weather. All but the thickest of gloved fingers should easily be happy with those.

Last weekend, I had the perfect opportunity to put the Gregory Men's Miko 25 Pack through the paces. I took a trip from Phoenix to San Diego to camp on the beach with my son and his friends and their dads, so I decided to use this as my primary pack. I found it to effectively meet my needs but with a little room for improvement. The pack has four compartments. The one closest to your back when wearing it is a hydro compartment. I have a compatible Gregory hydration reservoir, but I wasn’t planning on hiking, so I left that behind. Instead, I found the compartment perfect for a book I was reading. The next compartment is the main one. I found this to be plenty big enough for all of the clothes I packed on the trip (see attached photos--yes, I packed underwear and a toothbrush, and they are not pictured, haha). The outside compartment is an mesh arrangement with just a clip in the middle. I’m sure the elastic and mesh will keep things in place, but I hesitated to store my wallet here even though it was the most logical space for it in terms of accessibility and size. I wished that space sealed more securely. Finally, the outside top is a small zippered compartment. I put my sunglasses there along with my keys. Some packs will line this pocket with a felt-like material, but Gregory chose not to, and I wish they had made a different choice. There are pockets on each side of the outside of the bag that are ideal for water bottles. I used them to pack a spare pair of shoes, and the shoes were very secure in the elastic pockets. Finally, the hip straps have small zippered pockets. These would be ideal for a small set of keys or my Bose earbuds, but I didn’t use those pockets on this trip. Carrying the bag felt good, but not perfect. I’m 6’0” tall and very long-waisted. This bag has a really ingenious system for shortening and lengthening the fit of the pack (there’s a velcro fold-over pocket near the top of the shoulder straps that can change the length of the entire upper half of the pack--it really is pretty smart), but I found it wasn’t really long enough for me even at it’s longest setting. Taller folks might find this to be an awkward carry over many miles. For my purposes, it was fine. I needed to get from the parking lot to the tent and back. I loved the way this pack cinched my gear--that’s a big win. Nothing was loose or flapping, and the chest strap cinched up for a perfect fit across my shoulders. This is a very good bag. 4.5/5 really. I fit a lot of gear into a seemingly small pack. Aside from the shorter fit, the bag carries well. I wished for a felt-lined pocket for the sunglasses. It’s a good looking pack, too--fairly minimal in design but still eye-catching.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I used the Miko 25 for a week of hiking in Yosemite and it worked out GREAT! Plenty of room for everything, and I really appreciated the extra big pockets on the sides for our water bottles. It was 90+ degrees in Yosemite that week so we carried extra water. The zip pockets right at hand level are SO nice. We kept our cells phones in there and I was thankful to finally have a pack where our phones were easily accessible without taking off the pack. Also appreciated the coolness on my back, with the breathable design. My last pack would leave my back sweaty. Not so with this one. Material was definitely rugged enough for all our hiking needs. The pack is actually so versatile that we are now using them for our carry-on bags for all our flights. And we plan to bring ONLY these packs for a trip through Europe next year. All in all, we are VERY happy we picked the Miko 25!

I have an older hiking backpack from the 2010s with a rigid frame and mesh that keeps air between your back and the pack. This is a significant improvement in that this bag has none of that but I still don’t feel the weight on my shoulders and it also is flexible and lighter, fits more places and holds much more (doesn’t lose out on that air space). I thought that the straps on the side of the bag would interfere with accessing the main compartment zipper but they didn’t. The belt strap pockets are large enough for an entire phone, which used to it be the case and is a game changer. My main improvement to this bag would be to add more small organizational pockets - my old bag had two small side pockets and two brain pockets in addition to two small main compartment pockets, which was maybe overkill but this minimalist take doesn’t cut it either. I recommend this bag; Gregory did a great job designing a lightweight, flexible dayhike / short overnight backpacking bag that is spacious and most importantly holds weight on your shoulders/hips extremely well.

I previously wrote a review where I said that it distributes weight well but could use more pockets. I’m updating to include that after about two months the top grab handle has broken. The rest of the pack seems well made but perhaps there is a design flaw with this handle.

The backpack was very spacious to fit supplies and food for my family day hike trip. I love the zipper grabs, they make it easy to open while wearing the backpack. The waist and should straps sit comfortably but firm. The built in suspension was great for the rocky and hilly hike we went on. The fabric rubbed against rocks and did not tear. It was nice having different compartments to put different gear into.

I bought this pack after spending a lot of time searching to replace my old Osprey Talon 22. After a few bumps in the road I settled on the new Mikos 25L and have to say this one ticks off so many boxes for me. I was looking for something a little bigger then a 20 Liter back, but 30L can be a bit too big for a good day back. This 25L has great carrying capacity. The mesh water bottle side pockets are large enough for a 32 ounce Nalgene to slide in and out. The back mesh pocket is good quality and is adjustable. It has the ability to strap hiking poles to one side. I liked the size of the hip pockets as well and it has a good hip belt also. One thing I really like is that the zippers are very high quality, easy pulls for if wearing gloves. I like that the hydration sleeve is a separate zippered compartment. I have only used a 1.5 liter hydration bladder in it so far, so not sure how it handles larger bladders, like a 3 liter. I have had up to 15 lbs in the pack on a hike and the load distribution is very good, infact superior to many. The shoulder straps were comfortable and did not dig into my shoulders or collar bone. The pack has good suspension and synchs up well. The one area I have some fault is that the there is thick adjustable velcro material to help adjust for Torso size. I find the material bunches up together and with heavier loads you can feel this material push into your shoulder blades a bit. Not a fatal flaw, but the one aspect the bothered me a little. I went through a Mountain Hardware and Osprey packs while in my search and this one had the most to offer and help up the best. A very comfortable pack, with good carrying capacity, good breathability. Standard pockets you would expect that work well. At just over 2 pounds the stability to weight aspect is very good and it is veryc comfortable I am a person who likes daisy chains and wish this pack had a few more lash points, but it does have 2 distinct lash points for a carabiner on both sides at the top of the pack. I have gone through a number of day packs and this one has many design elements that I look for in a pack and the designers have done a very good job on executing the construction

A good overall pack but for me it has one major flaw. The top of the adjustable foam frame cuts into my back. No matter how many adjustments I made I couldn’t resolve that issue. When I first used it I was wearing a light jacket and had no issues. The second time was with a T shirt and it was the most uncomfortable pack I’d ever used. Without that issue I’d rate it as a five; with it a zero. I spit the difference for the review. The pack will most likely go back.

This is my first “hiking” backpack. I’m 6’2 215lbs and it fits ok. A salesperson helped pick and fit the pack. That was a big help. I have done a bunch of hikes and I love it. Longest hike was 11 miles and the pack was comfortable the whole time. Plenty of room for water, lunch, water shoes, towels etc. I bought a 100oz. bladder that fits very nicely inside its own compartment. I have also washed it a few times and it still looks almost brand new. I think it will last for years!

I purchased this daypack for a trip to Zion National Park. We had 4 days of hiking planned. Unfortunately, the chest strap broke on the FIRST day! It made the other hikes a little harder without the strap to keep it tight.