Osprey Talon 44L Men's Lightweight Hiking Backpack, Black L-XL

Why it's worth it

The Talon 44 sits between a daypack and a backpacking pack, with a ventilated back panel, hipbelt pockets and side-zip access to the main compartment. It's the right size for overnights, hut trips and fast weekends when you're not carrying a stove for four.

Forty-four liters covers more trips than most people expect. An overnight, a two-day loop, a summer hut-to-hut, a long day with rope and layers. Below that, you're leaving the tent behind. Above it, you start filling space just because it's there. If your hiking looks like Saturday out and Sunday back, this is the size to buy, and it's over a pound lighter than the Atmos.

The AirScape back panel is a middle path on ventilation: ridged foam channels move air without pushing the load off your spine, so the pack stays stable when you scramble. A sliding yoke sets torso length and the BioStretch hipbelt flexes as you walk. Owners consistently describe it as comfortable well past the point where a pack this light usually starts biting.

From our review of 6 hiking backpacks, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +Forty-four liters covers more trips than most people expect
• +The AirScape back panel is a middle path on ventilation: ridged foam channels move air without pushing the load off your spine,…
• +Access is better than a top-loader has any right to be
• +It's also a decent travel pack

What to know

• –The main compartment is shallow for its volume, which owners notice when packing bulky items like a winter bag
• –Osprey changed the harness adjustment on the current version, and some long-time Talon owners prefer the older mechanism