HOW TO CHOOSE A HIKING/TREKKING BACKPACK?

Choosing your hiking or trekking backpack is crucial for successful outings. Let us guide you to find the backpack that will meet all your needs.

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Choose the volume of your hiking backpack

To find the right volume for your hiking backpack (it is expressed in litre), you just have to ask yourself what type of outing you are going for in order to adapt its capacity to the duration of the outings. The longer your hike, the bulkier your trekking backback will be.

Backpack for a day hike

The equipment you bring will be limited, so you can choose a hiking backpack with a small volume that will allow you to carry your snacks of the day, a water bag and clothes allowing you to face the rain and the cold. If you're heading to the peaks in the dead of winter, your mountain backpack will also need to accommodate your avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe. The recommended volume for your backpack is 20 to 40 litres.

Backpack for a hike of several days

More important than for a day, the volume of your backpack should contain everything you need to spend the night in a refuge. If you don't have lunch there, some groceries and the classic outdoor cooking equipment will also need to find a place in your mountain backpack, which must display a volume between 35 and 50 litres.

Backpack for a hike in total autonomy for several days

The volume of your trekking backpack will have to accommodate much more material. You will indeed have to add the toiletries, food provisions, a stove and a set for cooking them, a sleeping bag, a mattress and, if you do not like nights under the stars, a bivouac tent. In addition, if you go in winter, you will necessarily bring clothes and a larger sleeping bag, so opt for a backpack of 50 to 85 litres.

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How to organize your hiking backpack?

If the main pocket of your backpack is where you will store the most items, it is important to choose a hiking or trekking backpack also equipped with storage distributed over its entire surface. Indeed, this will allow you to better organize yourself and give you direct access to certain accessories such as your sunglasses, your hat or your camera. Loops/straps for your hiking poles and a compartment for your water bag, with a specific passage for the hose, are also welcome. For better organisation of your pack, the larger volumes often offer a separation between the top of the backpack and the bottom to allow you to store your pack more easily. To deal with any eventuality, the rain cover is a must.

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Take care of the wearing comfort

For a few hours or a few days, carrying a hiking backpack is heavy. So, for the experience to be as comfortable as possible, it is important to choose a backpack for trekking offering good carrying comfort. To do this, you need to find a hiking backpack suited to your body type. It is therefore important to measure the size of your back, from the iliac crest (the bone that protrudes above the hips) to the 7th vertebra (the bone at the base of the neck). You will be able to find a bag at the right height or with an adjustable back.

You will then have the choice between different carrying systems:

• System with back mesh: it optimizes air circulation and allows perspiration to dry faster.
• Flat back system: it follows movements and is equipped with padding optimized for air circulation.
• Belt system: more enveloping in shape and entirely made of mesh, it stays close to the body and has less influence on your balance.

So that the straps of your backpack are also perfectly comfortable, they must be padded, but also adapted to your morphology. It is therefore important to choose a trekking bag for women or men, taking into account the differences in the construction of the carrying belt: this is the best way to eliminate friction and feelings of discomfort in the pelvis.

To perfectly distribute the weight of your backpack, the shoulder straps have small straps called load recallers. Thanks to them, you will be able to retain the weight of your mountain backpack as close as possible to your body, and thus maintain perfect balance. The stability of your pack will be reinforced by the chest strap, which will keep the shoulder straps in place.

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Summary chart to know which hiking backpack to choose

Here is the number of litres to plan for an intermediate level hiker evolving in changing weather conditions and being able to refuel with water. Any equipment for mountaineering or extreme conditions is not taken into account.

These volumes for choosing your hiking or trekking backpack are indicative. Depending on the season, but also on your travel habits, the number of litres required for your excursion may be more or less important.

Whether for a day trip or a weeklong expedition, having a good backpack for trekking is essential to carry all the necessary equipment for your comfort and your safety. To choose your hiking or trekking backpack, you will need a volume adapted to your outings so that you can travel light, but always well equipped.