The Best Backpacking Backpacks for Beginners

A first backpacking pack has a harder job than any pack you buy later. It has to fit a torso you have probably never measured, carry a kit that is heavier than it will be in two years, and survive you learning how to pack it. Those three facts are what this page is judged on: adjustable torso fit, a published load rating that covers a heavy first kit, and a warranty that means something.

Then the usual ranking, because a beginner pack should not also be a boat anchor: grams saved against a mainstream framed pack, per dollar of list price. Full rules at our methodology page. If you already know your base weight and it is low, skip this page and read the ultralight pack ranking instead.

What actually matters in a first pack

An adjustable torso. You will measure wrong the first time. Every pack here except one offers either multiple torso sizes or a sliding harness: the Kelty Asher adjusts 15.5-21 in, the Osprey Rook has 4 in of adjustment in one size, and the Crown3 60 comes in three fixed sizes.

A published load rating. A beginner kit is heavy. Granite Gear publishes 35 lbs with the framesheet; Kelty publishes an optimal carry of 25-45 lbs for the Asher and 30-60 lbs for the Glendale; Osprey publishes 30-40 lbs for the Atmos AG 65. Match the number to your actual loaded weight, not to your ambitions.

A warranty you will use. Osprey's All Mighty Guarantee repairs any damage for any reason. Granite Gear, Kelty and Teton all publish lifetime warranties against defects. On a first pack that is worth real money.

How we picked

The gate: a framed pack of 55 liters or more, with a published torso fit range, a published load rating and a published warranty. The reference: the Osprey Rook 65 at 1,678 g (3 lb 11.2 oz), which is itself one of the most commonly bought first packs, so this page is largely a question of what beats the default. Value 35%, weight 20%, carry and capacity 25%, materials 10%, ease 10%.

The evidence side by side

The three packs that beat the reference on weight.

The heavier packs, which is where the highest load ratings live.

Three of the six weigh more than the mainstream reference, so their grams-saved figure is zero. That is the honest shape of this category: comfort under a heavy load costs weight, and a beginner pack is designed for exactly that load.

Who each pick is for

1. Granite Gear Crown3 60: the best beginner pack overall

1,080 g (2 lb 6.1 oz) without its lid, 60 liters, a removable framesheet rated to 35 lbs, three fixed torso sizes from 15 in, a Re-Fit hipbelt and a lifetime warranty. It saves 598 g (1 lb 5.1 oz) vs the Osprey Rook 65 for a value figure of Value 2.3/10, the best on this page. The removable framesheet is the feature that makes it a pack you keep: pull it out later, once your base weight has dropped, and the same pack becomes an ultralight one.

Buy it if you want to buy once. Skip it if your first loads will be over 35 lbs; the aluminum stay is an extra purchase.

2. Kelty Asher 55: the value pick

An adjustable torso from 15.5 to 21 in, a waist belt from 28 to 50 in, an optimal carry range Kelty publishes as 25-45 lbs, and a lifetime warranty against defects, at 1,420 g (3 lb 2.1 oz). That fit range covers most adults, which is exactly what you want when you are not yet sure of your measurement. It asks a higher MSRP band less than the Crown3 60.

Buy it if budget matters and you want one pack that fits while you learn. Skip it if you are already chasing a low base weight.

3. Osprey Atmos AG 65: the most comfortable heavy carry

2,092 g (4 lb 9.8 oz) in S/M, with the AntiGravity suspension, a full peripheral frame and a published load range of 30-40 lbs. Nothing else here carries a heavy first kit as comfortably. The price of that is the weight: it is the heaviest pack on this page and it saves nothing against the reference.

Buy it if you know your first loads will be heavy and comfort is the priority. Skip it if you want a pack you will still be using at a 10 kg base weight.

4. Kelty Glendale 65: for a heavy first kit

Kelty publishes an optimal carry of 30-60 lbs, the highest figure here, on a perimeter frame with an anti-barreling stay and nine exterior pockets. At 2,150 g (4 lb 11.8 oz) it is genuinely heavy, and that is the deal: it is the pack for someone carrying a tent, a bear canister and half the group's food.

Buy it if you are the one carrying the shared gear. Skip it if you are solo with a modern kit; you will never load it properly.

5. Osprey Rook 65: the reference pack

One size with 4 inches of torso adjustment, a LightWire peripheral frame, a sleeping bag compartment, an integrated rain cover, and the All Mighty Guarantee, at 1,678 g (3 lb 11.2 oz). It is the mainstream first pack, and it is the weight every pack on this site is scored against, so by definition it saves nothing against itself. That does not make it a bad pack; it makes it the benchmark.

Buy it if you want the safest default with the best warranty in the category. Skip it if weight is a consideration at all.

6. Teton Scout 55L: the cheapest way in

2,041 g (4 lb 8.0 oz), a 3/4 frame with an adjustable back panel, a torso range of 15-19.5 in, a belt to 60 in, a rain cover included and a lifetime warranty, for the lowest price on this page by a wide margin. It is heavy and the materials are basic. It is also a real backpacking pack, not a school bag, and it costs less than most people's first sleeping pad.

Buy it if you want to find out whether you enjoy backpacking before spending properly. Skip it if you already know you do.

The beginner weight trap

This is also the argument for the Granite Gear Crown3 60 over everything else here: pull the framesheet out once your base weight is down and it becomes a 25 lb-rated ultralight pack without you buying anything.

What missed the cut

Frameless ultralight packs. The Granite Gear Virga3 55 and the 3F UL Gear Qidian are lighter than anything here and rated to far less. A frameless pack with a beginner kit in it is the most reliable way to hate backpacking. They are ranked on the ultralight pack page.

Packs under 50 liters. They are the right answer eventually and the wrong one first: a beginner kit is bulky, and a 40 L pack forces decisions you are not yet equipped to make. See what size backpack for backpacking.

Packs sold without a published torso range. Fit is the single most important thing in this category, and a maker that does not publish the range is not one to buy a first pack from.

Before you order any of these, spend two minutes with a tape measure. Our backpack sizing guide shows how to measure your torso and hips and lists the torso range every pack here publishes, which is the measurement these packs are sized on.

How to choose your first backpacking backpack

1. Measure your torso before anything else. C7 vertebra to the top of your iliac crest. Height does not decide pack size; torso length does.
2. Weigh your kit, loaded. Everything you will carry, plus food and water. That number picks the load rating, and the load rating picks the pack.
3. Favour adjustability. You will get the fit wrong first time. An adjustable harness or a choice of torso sizes fixes that without a return.
4. Check the warranty wording. “Any damage for any reason” and “defects in materials and workmanship” are very different promises.
5. Load it in the shop if you can. A pack that fits empty tells you nothing. Put 15 kg in it and walk.
6. Do not buy the lightest pack you can afford. Buy the lightest pack rated for the weight you will actually carry.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying by capacity alone. 65 liters of badly fitting pack is worse than 55 liters of well-fitting pack.
• Buying an ultralight pack first. The ratings are real. A 25 lb frameless pack with a 35 lb kit in it is a shoulder injury.
• Sizing the hipbelt to your trouser waist. The belt sits on the iliac crest, which is higher and usually a different measurement.
• Packing to fill the pack. A 65 L pack will absorb 65 liters of gear you did not need. Compression straps are not a packing strategy.