How Useful is a Daypack?

[Steppin'Wolf]

Hi All,

I was wondering how useful a daypack/drawstring backpack is. You can get them as light as a couple of ounces. I know some use them to fetch water or use in town for resupplies/washing.

Do you use them? If so, for what? Are they useful enough to bring along?

Thanks.

[Wolf - 23000]

I thru-hiked the Colorado Trail with a 2.4 oz daypack, so would say it was EXTREMELY USEFULLY. It weight was next to nothing and it held all my gear/food.

Wolf

[map man]

I wouldn't use one on the AT. I have used one (though not as light as you are talking about) when combining hiking and mountain scrambling out west. Use the full blown backpack to hike to where you want to set up a base camp. Use the day pack (small enough to stow in the large pack) to scramble to the top of a mountain and back. I have done this to get to the top of Fremont Peak in Wyoming and Maroon Peak in Colorado, to mention a couple. Very handy when the mountain is a long ways from any trailhead.

[garlic08]

This question is very similar to the more common one about camp shoes. If you hike in large boots, you want them. If you hike in running shoes, you don't.

The answer probably depends on how closely you're watching your pack weight. If you're making a spreadsheet and using a kitchen scale that measures grams, you probably won't want to bring one. But if you commonly use the phrase "it weighs next to nothing," go ahead and bring it. You can always mail it home.

[chknfngrs]

As I see it, a stuff sac that doubles as a backpack would be useful. However that double use gets negated when you have to unpack your jazz to be able to use it. In essence it's good but creates complications you have to be willing to negotiate

[Christoph]

I use a draw string type nylon backpack (I guess that's what you'd call it) for my food bag. Hangs great for bear bagging and in towns I have something to carry groceries and supplies back with. Also serves as my laundry bag for trips back and forth to a laundromat/washing machine. Triple purpose. They usually give them away at colleges, job fairs, and big events around here (or you can buy one, they're only a few bucks really) and I found they work great and are very light and pretty durable if you take care of it.

[bigcranky]

We carry a silnylon grocery bag. It's helpful when I have to carry several full Sawyer water bags back from a spring, especially one of those "steeply downhill .5 miles) springs. Also useful in town when resupplying. Not necessary, but nice to have.

[MuddyWaters]

I will use my s2s as a travel bag to carry on $$$ gear when check my pack. Ive used it as a summit pack before, and it helps for food shopping in town too if have a ways to walk to lodging. But unless flying I dont bring it. I can do without.

[gbolt]

We carry a silnylon grocery bag. It's helpful when I have to carry several full Sawyer water bags back from a spring, especially one of those "steeply downhill .5 miles) springs. Also useful in town when resupplying. Not necessary, but nice to have.

+1 I have recently seen many current gear lists that now include a grocery or string pack for carrying water back from springs and using them in Town. Chasing Bigfoot swore by this after his 100 day thru last year and talks about it in one his YouTube Channel.

I have since added a "free" one and used it for Winter Gloves, Hat, Fleece on top of my Pack.

[StubbleJumper]

I'd say it depends where you hike. When I go to the Adirondacks, I always bring a daypack as I can leave 20 lbs of gear at a lean-to and just carry the 10 essentials to bag a couple of peaks. On a thru-hiike, the value of a daypack is much less clear. If you have the potential of slacking, then having a daypack is truly excellent. You can carry just the 10 essentials which are perhaps 5 or 6 lbs while slacking, and leave the heavy stuff in town. But on a long trail with limited peak bagging and limited slacking opportunities, a daypack is just extra weight with not much benefit.

[Longboysfan]

Could you use one of your stuff sacks to carry the sawyer squeeze water and or use it into town?