The Best Ultralight Backpacks for Women, Ranked by Grams Saved per Dollar

Two things change in a women's-fit backpack, and neither is capacity. The shoulder harness curves differently, so the straps clear the chest instead of pressing across it, and the hipbelt is shaped for a different waist-to-hip ratio and usually sized smaller. Everything else — fabric, volume, frame, pockets — is normally identical to the unisex version.

That means this page is really about two published numbers: the torso range and the hipbelt range. Every pick below lists both, read off the maker's own page, alongside the weight and the load rating. Then the standard ranking: grams saved against a mainstream framed pack, per dollar of list price. Full rules at our methodology page.

What a women's fit actually changes

Shoulder harness curve. An S-curved strap follows the chest instead of crossing it. Gossamer Gear and Six Moon Designs both sell this as a separate harness option rather than a separate pack, which is arguably the better system: you choose the shape, not the label.

Hipbelt shape and size. Gossamer Gear publishes its curved belts as following “a gentle S-curve for better weight transfer to wider hips”, in S/M 28.5-56 in and M/L 32.5-60 in. Granite Gear's Re-Fit belts run 24-40 in as standard with a large option to 52 in.

Torso length options. This is where a women's pack most often differs from a unisex one: a Short torso from 15 in, which many unisex ultralight packs simply do not offer.

How we picked

The gate: sold by its maker in a women's fit, or with a curved hipbelt built for a wider waist-to-hip ratio, with a published weight, torso range and load rating. Everything here is under 1.1 kg, which is what makes it ultralight rather than merely light. The reference: the Osprey Rook 65 at 1,678 g (3 lb 11.2 oz), a mainstream framed 65 L pack. Value 35%, weight 20%, carry and capacity 25%, materials 10%, ease 10%.

The evidence side by side

The two lightest packs here, and the difference a frame makes.

The three framed Crown3 variants.

Every pack on this page beats the mainstream framed reference on weight, most of them by half a kilo or more. That is the whole case for a women's ultralight pack: the fit is the reason to buy one, and the weight saving comes free with the category.

Who each pick is for

1. Granite Gear Virga3 55 Women's: the best overall

735 g (1 lb 9.9 oz) in the Short size for 55 liters, with two large DWR-zipped hipbelt pockets, dual removable sternum straps, a roll-top and an adjustable torso height and width. It saves 943 g (2 lb 1.3 oz) vs the Osprey Rook 65 for a value figure of Value 4.7/10, the best on this page. Granite Gear also publishes a stripped weight of 1.18 lbs if you remove everything removable.

Buy it if your loaded pack stays under 25 lbs. Skip it if it does not; frameless past its rating is a shoulder problem.

2. Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50: the framed pick

885 g (1 lb 15.2 oz) in size Small with the S/M curved belt, on an aluminum closed-shape frame, rated 25 lbs for comfort and 30 lbs maximum. Three torso sizes and five hipbelt options, sold separately from the pack body, which is the most genuinely adjustable fit system here. Gossamer Gear sells direct, so its button is a plain reference link.

Buy it if you want a frame and a curved belt in a sub-900 g pack. Skip it if you want a single-box Amazon purchase.

3. Granite Gear Crown3 60 S.I. ECO Women's: the widest fit range

A Short torso from 15 in, a Regular to 21 in, and a belt choice running 24-40 in or 36-52 in. 1,043 g (2 lb 4.8 oz) without its lid, 60 liters, 25 lbs frameless or 35 lbs with the framesheet in. The lid converts to a lumbar or chest pack, which is a genuinely useful feature rather than a spec-sheet one.

Buy it if standard packs have never fitted your torso or your hips. Skip it if you are already comfortable in a standard belt; the Virga3 is 300 g lighter.

4. Granite Gear Crown3 40 ECO Women's: the weekend pack

The same frame and the same 35 lb framesheet rating in a 40 L body, at 1,043 g (2 lb 4.8 oz) without the lid. It asks the same MSRP band less than the 60 L S.I. version. One torso range only, 18-21 in.

Buy it if your trips are two or three nights. Skip it if your torso is under 18 in; this model is not offered in a Short.

5. Granite Gear Crown3 60 Women's Fit: the highest load rating

1,089 g (2 lb 6.4 oz) in the Regular torso, rated to 43 lbs with the optional aluminum stay, which is the highest figure claimed by any pack on this page. The stay is sold separately, so budget for it if that number is why you are buying.

Buy it if you carry bear canisters, winter kit or shared group gear. Skip it if you want the widest belt range; the S.I. version covers more.

The load ceiling is the real decision

Work out your loaded weight before you shop, not after. Base weight plus food plus water plus the clothes you are not wearing is the number, and how heavy should my backpack be walks through it. If your total is over 30 lbs, an ultralight pack of any fit is the wrong purchase until the rest of the kit comes down.

What missed the cut

Unisex ultralight packs with a women's hipbelt option. The Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 at 968 g (2 lb 2.1 oz) and the Durston Kakwa 55 at 895 g (1 lb 15.6 oz) are both excellent and both offer curved or multiple hipbelt options, but neither is sold as a women's pack. They are ranked on the ultralight pack page, and if you like the idea of choosing a belt rather than a label, start there.

Women's packs from makers who publish no weight. Several well-known women's backpacking packs are sold without a spec sheet we could read and cite, and this site does not print a number it cannot source.

Women's framed packs over 1.1 kg. They exist, they carry more, and they are not ultralight. If your loaded weight is over 35 lbs, that is the category you want, not this one.

A women's-fit pack is not automatically a short-torso pack. If your torso measures under 18 in, the subset of packs that publish a Short option is on best backpacking backpacks for petite women.

How to choose an ultralight backpack if you want a women's fit

1. Measure your torso first. C7 vertebra to the top of your iliac crest. It decides the size more than your height does, and a Short starts at 15 in on two packs here.
2. Measure your hips, not your waist. The belt carries the load on the iliac crest, which is usually several inches below where trousers sit.
3. Decide framed or frameless from your loaded weight. Over 25 lbs means a frame, whatever the pack weighs.
4. Check whether the belt and harness are separate purchases. Gossamer Gear sells them separately, which is a feature; budget for it.
5. Look at the hipbelt pockets. The Virga3 55 Women's has two large ones, which most sub-800 g packs give up.
6. Do not buy capacity you will fill. A 60 L pack gets packed to 60 L. If your kit fits in 40, buy 40.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying the pack before the rest of the kit. An ultralight pack with a 25 lb ceiling and a 2 kg tent inside is an uncomfortable pack.
• Sizing the belt to your trouser size. It sits higher and measures differently.
• Assuming women's means smaller volume. Every pack here is offered at the same capacity as its unisex sibling.
• Ignoring the removable parts. Granite Gear quotes weights without the lid and with the framesheet removable. Read which configuration the number belongs to.