Chart your course through a fun, active or productive day, and you’ll often find cause to carry things. Backpacks are arguably the best people-powered way to do it, used by pretty much everyone from Napoleonic soldiers and Ötzi the Iceman to ultra-marathoner Courtney Dauwalter, as well as innumerable workers, students and travellers.
The best backpack to choose depends on which elements of your own world you wish to carry, and where you’re planning to take them. You can choose between smart-looking options suitable for work and travel, hiking-focused day packs and trail packs designed for outdoor itineraries, and versatile backpacks with water-resistant materials and a high storage capacity.
A lifetime of using backpacks (and several months testing them) has taught me that these bags are just about as diverse as our daily needs and occasional adventures, with only the two shoulder straps in common. I’ve walked and travelled hundreds of miles in a range of backpacks to bring you the selection below, which includes recommendations for everyday, travel and outdoorsy use. Your next shoulder-worn companion is in the bag.
People have told me they rarely see me without a backpack. My hairdresser once said that I’d arrived for a trim looking ready for a Himalayan trek. Usually, I’ll respond by saying that daily life demands a lot of stuff: I need a laptop and tech accessories for work, a waterproof coat or mini umbrella to keep off the rain, books, sportswear, old sweet wrappers and so on. I also hike and camp, so I often use larger and more rugged hiking rucksacks, too.
On the bus home from Leeds city centre, I’ll often have a backpack across my legs with a laptop perched on top of it, so that I can write product review notes for the Filter without searing a large rectangle into my body. I’ve written this publication’s guides to items including travel pillows , cordless drills and cat toys . It’s a simple pleasure to help people choose things they’ll like.
My daily life over a few months of summer 2026 gave me ample opportunity to test 16 backpacks, which I whittled down to my 10 favourites. I used each backpack in situations suited to its intended use, using some for work or for travel, and others for hiking or camping. I tested each rucksack under different loads and in various weather conditions, taking note of its internal organisation, capacity and comfort.
For an additional test, I took all of the backpacks on a train journey to assess how easy they were to pack and unpack in a busy, confined setting, under time pressure. We chose to travel on the Settle to Carlisle line, which wends through 73 miles of Yorkshire Dales and Cumbrian countryside, past the Yorkshire Three Peaks and over the spectacular Ribblehead viaduct. Thanks to photographer Christian Hopewell for capturing the scenic fun.
Backpacks not returned to the manufacturer after testing were donated to Cat Action Trust 1977 , Leeds, for its next yard sale. The charity’s previous event, which saw my top-rated packing cubes flying off the shelves, raised more than £550 towards care for feral cats.
The Settle-Carlisle Railway is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Day Ranger tickets allowing multiple stops along some of the most scenic sections of the line cost £15.10 each for an adult.
Backpacks can place less strain on the body than comparable types of bags such as shoulder bags or satchels. The two straps of a backpack can distribute weight across the shoulders, rather than overloading one shoulder. Plus, using a backpack’s available chest or waist straps helps distribute the load across the torso.
Making full use of a backpack’s adjustment features is essential to getting the best possible fit and minimising discomfort. Tighten the shoulder straps enough to make the bag rest against your back, but not so closely that it limits movement. If your backpack has them, cinch the chest strap (or sternum strap) across the top of your chest, and secure the waist strap around the tops of your hip bones. Ideally, your hips will bear as much weight than your shoulders do.
Some backpacks are sold as men’s or women’s, with specific designs that account for average differences in male and female proportions. Fit is individual, however, and the best option is the one that fits your body comfortably. I tested unisex backpacks for this article.
Most backpacks have some level of water resistance, so they can withstand a certain amount of rain before letting water through. However, only a minority of backpacks are waterproof to the same extent as the most effective waterproof jackets . Where relevant, the level of water resistance or waterproofness should be indicated in the manufacturer’s product description, usually as a specification such as “hydrostatic head” (which tells you how much water pressure is needed to cause a material to let water through, in millimetres).
You can protect a backpack from wet weather by using it with a rain cover, which is a detachable accessory that fits tightly over the bag. Some backpacks come with a rain cover in a dedicated storage pocket. If your rucksack doesn’t include a rain cover, I would recommend getting one. I’ve been using this Fjällräven model for more than five years, and it still keeps my day-to-day backpacks perfectly dry.
For more, read our guides to the best carry-on luggage and the best suitcases for your next holiday
Pete Wise is a writer from Leeds. A frequent contributor to the Filter, Pete has undertaken some of our most intrepid product-reviewing quests, including testing travel mugs on a trampette and stress-testing suitcases by hurling them from a ladder. His best and most challenging backpack-toting adventure of 2026 was a hike across the North Pennines
The best backpack to choose depends on which elements of your own world you wish to carry, and where you’re planning to take them. You can choose between smart-looking options suitable for work and travel, hiking-focused day packs and trail packs designed for outdoor itineraries, and versatile backpacks with water-resistant materials and a high storage capacity.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Pete Wise. Published 4 Sept 2026, 02:00 pm.
