Best Backpacks for Hiking for Men

What are the best backpacks for hiking? After spending 12 days in the New Mexico wilderness and hiking over 100 miles, I have my own opinion. I’ll also share with you the other packs I considered, as well as my philosophy for the best backpacks for hiking at Philmont when I return, next summer.

Best Backpacks for Hiking

Before we get started with my Philmont story and why I think the Osprey Atmos AG 65 is one of the best backpacks for hiking, let’s take a look at the contenders for best backpacks for men.

Backpack	Price	Weight	Capacity	Max Load	Purchase
Osprey Atmos AG 65	$269.95 on Amazon	4 lbs. 4 oz.	65L	50 pounds	Purchase on Amazon Buy at REI
Osprey Aether AG 60	$290.00 on Amazon	4lbs. 15 oz.	60L	50 pounds	Purchase on Amazon Buy at REI
Osprey Exos 58	$219.95 on Amazon	2 lbs. 10 oz.	58L	40 pounds	Purchase on Amazon Buy at REI
Gregory Baltoro 65	$299.95 on Amazon	4 lbs. 13 oz.	65L	50 pounds	Purchase on Amazon Buy at REI
ULA Circuit	$255.00	2 lbs. 9 oz.	65L	35 pounds
ZPacks Arc Blast	$325.00	1 lbs. 4 oz.	55L	35 pounds

Factors to Consider When Picking the Best Backpacks for Hiking

• Comfort
• Durability
• Weight
• Max Load
• “Sexy” Factor – how it looks plays into my decision
• Cost
• Does manufacturer stand behind their product?
• Frame
• Capacity

I considered all of the above when looking at, wearing, researching, and using the backpacks in this post. You should do the same when you purchase one of these packs or any other one that you’re considering for a hiking/backpacking trip.

Let me pull out a few of these for special attention.

Backpack Comfort

Comfort plays a crucial role in selecting your best backpack for hiking. Carrying a 40-50 pound load for 5, 10, 15, or 20 miles at a time grinds on you, even in the best of circumstances. An uncomfortable pack makes for a miserable hike. If it’s uncomfortable when you’re trying it on at REI, it’ll be uncomfortable on the trail.

Beyond any other consideration, comfort should take the primary role in your consideration to buy a good backpack for hiking.

Backpack Cost

In most instances, you get what you pay for with hiking backpacks. Just bite the bullet on this one. As my uncle often tells me, “Buy what you’re going to end up with, anyway.” In other words, buy once, cry once.

Yes, hiking backpacks are expensive. So is any other worthwhile, durable hiking equipment. I own several Osprey packs. They cost a bit more, but the company stands behind their product, they’re extremely well-designed and thought out, and they last. When they don’t last, you send them back to Osprey and they fix or replace them. No questions asked.

Backpack Capacity

Capacity and maximum recommended load go hand in hand. Ultimately, you need enough room for your stuff and the pack needs to have the load rating to handle it.

The last thing you need is a pack falling apart on the trail due to overloading. Equally important is having enough space for your gear. Having everything but the kitchen sink attached to the outside of your pack and smacking the backs of your knees will wear you out, quickly.

Backpack Weight

Additional weight adds discomfort to your hike. Your load out may be ultralight, but if your pack weighs 10 pounds, none of that matters.

Most modern hiking backpacks fall within a few pounds (sometimes ounces) of each other. As you reduce pack weight, though, you sacrifice comfort and maximum load capacity. You must find the balance between pack weight, comfort, and load capacity that best suits your needs and ability. I think the Osprey Atmos AG 65 hits that perfect sweet spot. I could go lighter, but I would lose comfort and capacity. Going heavier on pack weight would increase capacity, but sacrifice comfort.

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

Traditional Hiking Backpacks

Traditional hiking backpacks make up the majority of what you see at Philmont. Standard, internal frame packs that weigh right around 4-6 pounds. External frame packs have gone the way of the do-do bird and ultralight packs make an occasional appearance. The same can probably be said for the Appalachian Trail (AT), but you will probably see more ultralight packs on the AT.

Osprey Atmos AG 65

The Osprey Atmos AG 65 served me very well at Philmont. I describe the feel of this pack as, “the backpack gives you a hug.” It’s the most comfortable pack I tried on before buying.

The Atmos strikes a good balance between weight and capacity. It’s also in the middle of the road on price among the backpacks I considered.

Osprey Aether AG 60

I looked at the Aether 60L and 70L backpacks when I bought the Atmos. Both sizes just wasn’t very comfortable. It was nice that you could change out the waist belt if it wasn’t the right size (or you lost 50 pounds, like I did from the time I purchased the Atmos until I went to Philmont). As silly as it sounds, the Aether just wasn’t as “sexy” as the Atmos, either.

It was also a much heavier pack (the heaviest of all the packs I researched).

Gregory Baltoro 65

I briefly considered the Baltoro 65. One of the other dads on our trip used this pack with great success.

When I tried it on, it fit better than the Osprey Aether, but not as good as the Atmos. It was also significantly more expensive than the Atmos and weighed a lot more.

It does come with it’s own daypack, though, which is kind of cool.

Ultralight Backpacks

The advantage of a ultralight hiking backpack boils down to the weight. Obviously. These packs provide excellent quality with very low product weight.

What you sacrifice in weight, though, you lose in maximum load. Besides the increased cost, this was primarily what steered me away from the ultralight backpacks. They’re sexy and I wanted to be as light as possible for Philmont, but I just couldn’t get my max load low enough for these packs.

I know many people at Philmont used the ULA Circuit and I’m sure they exceeded the max load, but I did not want to get out to New Mexico and find I couldn’t fit all my stuff in the pack or my pack fell apart halfway through the hike due to the heavy load.

Osprey Exos 58

The Exos came onto the backpacking scene fairly recently. One of the dads on our Philmont trip had this pack. It’s sexy as heck and very comfortable. I gave some serious consideration to buying this pack for my Philmont hiking trip, next year.

However, for this pack, the choice came down to capacity. 58 liters “should” be enough, but I really don’t want to cut it that closely for our trek.

ULA Circuit

The ULA Circuit made an appearance or two at Philmont. They all looked over-loaded based on max load specifications.

This is ULA’s most popular pack and I can see why. It’s sexy, very lightweight, reasonably priced (compared to most ultralight backpacks), and very user-friendly.

If it weren’t for the 35 pound max load limit, I would buy this pack, in a heartbeat for next year’s trek.

ZPacks Arc Blast

A very popular ultralight pack, the Arc Blast is the only cuben fiber (Dyneema) pack on my list. Cuben fiber packs tend to reach the summit of backpack cost. At $325.00, the Arc Blast is on the lower end of the Dyneema pack scale, but it’s the most expensive pack I looked at by a good measure.

Best Backpack for Hiking

As I mentioned, I went with the Osprey Atmos AG 65. During 11 days of hiking over 100 miles, I found it to be very comfortable and plenty of capacity. When food supplies got low (right before a food pickup), the pack was hardly noticeable.

When fully loaded down, though, I did run into a slight issue with the waist belt.

First, I’d lost 50 pounds from date of purchase to hitting the trail. This meant I needed to cinch the belt as tight as it would go. This caused the belt to pull the adjustment pads out of the waist belt. I contacted Osprey and they were aware of this issue. They sent out new buckles that took the stress off the adjustment pads, allowing me to tighten the belt as much as I needed.

Second, the waist belt rubbed my “love handles” a bit raw.

Hot Tip: Tuck your shirt in!

Our Philmont ranger mentioned that I needed to tuck my shirt into my pants. I just let it hang loose, but the moment I tucked my shirt in, all chafing stopped! It was a small miracle.

So, I’m not sure if this was the fault of the pack or my ability to dress myself. 🙂

Osprey Atmos AG 65 in 2020?

After nearly two weeks on the trail with the Atmos, I gave serious consideration to a lighter pack. Specifically, the ULA Circuit or the Osprey Exos 58. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Atmos. My backpack just remained one of the few places I could lose weight from my load.

I have a very light tent (Tarp Tent ProTrail), a very light quilt from Enlightened Equipment, very lightweight clothes, and very light sleeping pad. In other words, my backpack remains the last area of hiking essentials where I could cut some weight.

After coming home and doing more research on ultralight packs, I found that the Atmos provides the best of both worlds. While not “ultralight,” it is the lightest of the traditional packs. Also, ultralight packs just do not have the max load that I need for Philmont. Maybe, if I hike the AT or Florida Trail at some point, I could get away with less and lighter equipment. The crew gear and food just add too much weight at Philmont.

The Osprey Atmos AG 65 was, by far, the most common pack I saw at Philmont. The Osprey Aether (either 60 or 70L) was probably the second most common.

An average of 5,000 scouts and adults go into the backcountry, per week, during the summer season at the Ranch. With the majority of those scouts and adult leaders using the Atmos 65, I feel pretty solid in my choice of this pack for my best of the best backpacks for hiking.

Finally, as my wife would likely say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t spend money on a new one.” The Osprey Atmos worked great for me. It was comfortable, light enough, and had plenty of capacity for “stuff.” So, I guess, it ain’t broke. 🙂