Key factors
Cool zippers, new waterproofing, etc... sometimes it's easy to get lost in all the hype (over-spending happens on features). Our guide focuses on the fundamental factors you should always keep in mind (thus, this short list is similar across all items). Then only at the end do we have some questions to get you thinking about other minor features.
We highly recommend reviewing Type or Style first, where we review what you can use to address the Core function--a regular item you have at home may work! The other factors are secondary & depend strongly on the Type or Style you've picked.
While we encourage you to use regular items wherever possible, as an outdoor gear shop, we only carry outdoor-specific products
Type or Style
We've organized the most commonly used items people use to address the Core function below, with example images, characteristics, features, etc.
| Name |
Exterior cover |
Interior liner |
| Hiking backpack specific |
Heavy duty trash compactor bag |
| Example images |
![Backpack]( "Backpack")
|
![Backpack liner]( "Backpack liner")
|
![Trash bag]( "Trash bag")
|
| How effective is it? |
There are inevitable entry points for water. Even if just the shoulder straps are getting wet, that moisture can transfer to the inside of your pack. That said, unless it is raining really hard, generally these are sufficient to protect most gear |
Since they directly cover your gear, they perform better |
| Is it durable? |
Similar technical fabric used in backpack itself
|
|
| Does it protect gear strapped to backpack exerior? |
|
|
| Does it protect backpack itself from getting wet? |
|
|
| Does it keep contents separate for easy retrieval? |
Covers don't affect how gear is organized in pockets
|
Once things go in a liner they all go in! That's why see-through liners are more popular, or some people bag up items individually for easier retrieval
|
| Effect on secondary factors |
Price
|
$20-55 |
$1-5 |
|
Weight
|
1.7-6oz (48-170g) |
1-2oz (28-57g) |
| Rationale |
More technical (similar material to tents) |
|
Less technical (basically a plastic bag) |
|
Why we do/don't carry it
= we rent = we sell
|
Easy to use with less planning. Also many people who would go with a liner would choose a trash bag, which we explicitly don't carry
|
Not specific enough for outdoor use & there may be issues with durability |
Price
One of life's certainties is the trade-off between price & quality. This creates an inherently unfair situation. If you save money today by buying something lower end, you'll end up replacing it more frequently, spending money & time each instance so that at the end, you probably haven't actually saved anything. On the other hand, if you decide to invest in something higher end, you'll need a lot more upfront money, and you need to be able to use the item frequently enough to make it worthwhile.
We developed our rental program to address this unfairness. We don't sell lower end items. But for our higher end items, we offer them for rent at up to 90% off retail price, generally well below the cost of buying even the cheaper option. That's a win-win!
It may seem like the price & quality trade-off is disappearing, because you can find a cheap version of almost anything for tens of dollars that still has good reviews (assuming the reviews are real). Remember 2 things:
- Many reviews are written after only a trial use, first use, or infrequent use: We've seen entire review videos of gear done at home, which is very different than actually being outdoors!
- The point of gear is to give you a good experience because you've already spent money to be on vacation from work! Don't let quality issues affect your relaxation
For gear specifically, the quality issues center around performance & durability.
For backpack covers, performance & durability are linked (ripped fabric lets in water!). Fabric-wise, lower end items tend to be made with polyester, which is less durable than nylon (more info in our clothing protip); and of course, if the fabric tears, performance is compromised. Finally lower end items may not have or may have less effective waterproofing treatments
Methodology notes on prices shown on this page
In addition to losing money by buying lower end products that just aren't worth it, you can also lose money by buying higher end products that also aren't worth it. Once you reach a certain tier of quality, any additional price differences are based on branding or design (check out this Louis Vuitton chalk bag [other chalk bags cost $20-50]).
For the reason above, the price data on this page for outdoor-specific gear (i.e., not household items) generally excludes
low end & high end prices. This way, you get a more accurate sense of price comparison & trends across categories (i.e., if there's a $20 version of everything, then it's hard to get a sense of trends if the ranges all start at $20).
Low end products are defined those that:
- Most professional reviewers don't mention
- Tend to be sold at mass retail (i.e., non-specialty stores)
High end products are defined those that:
- Are mainly branding driven (like the LV chalk bag; the brand isn't specialized in gear)
- Are so technical even most backcountry, off-track explorers won't really need it (we looked at a lot of consumer forums & our own expert staff for input on this)
Rule-of-thumb: when looking for decent quality, most bigger gear items (e.g., tents, sleeping bags, backpack) & key clothing (e.g., outer layers like jackets, pants, gloves & insulating mid-layers) should be at least $100; most smaller gear items (e.g., headlamps, small stoves, water filters) & clothing base layers or accessories (e.g., buffs, socks) should be at least $20
Capacity (size)
Cover: should have around the same Liter capacity as your backpack
- What if it's bigger? The cover will be super "baggy" over the pack, which may make it easier to catch on a branch & pull off (especially if it can't be cinched down enough)
- What if it's smaller? The cover won't cover everything! It'll also be easier for the cover to fall off if it can't cinch tight over the pack
Liner: should have around the same Liter capacity as the compartment within the backpack that it needs to fit into. If you have a 60 liter backpack, where the brain is 10 liters and the body is 50 liters, you may want a 50 liter liner for the body and a 10 liter liner for the brain. Some people also have many smaller liners to separate contents
As you can imagine, as capacity increases, so does price and weight & size.
Weight & Size (Compactness) for Backpacking
If you're thru-hiking 20+ miles (32+km) per day, every advantage counts! In this case, size refers to compactness. You can carry more gear in the same size backpack if all of it is very compact, or for more weight savings, you can get a smaller size pack.
|
Exterior cover
50-70L
Capacity
|
Regular |
Ultralight |
| Nylon |
Nylon |
Dyneema |
| Weight |
4.9oz
(139g)
|
2.6-4oz
(71-113g)
|
1.7oz
(48g)
|
| Effect on other factors |
Price |
$33 |
$25-40 |
$55 |
| Rationale |
Though the "denier" (thickness) of ultralight nylon is lower than regular nylon, it's not that much more expensive |
More technical fabric |
|
Why we do/don't carry it
= we rent = we sell
|
Standard for most outdoor uses
|
Most people who care this much about weight would choose the liner (specifically trash bag), which we explicitly don't carry (see Type or Style section) |
Methodology notes
- Only exterior covers are compared; interior liners are already so much lighter & more compact (again, they can just be a trash compactor bag)
- Only weight is compared exactly. Size is less relevant, all covers are pretty compact and they need to be able to expand to cover your backpack
- Capacity is a key determinant of weight & size, you can think of the spectrum from the Capacity section as the first column--for each capacity, there could be a Regular vs Ultralight comparison. That said, we've focused on the 50-70L range because:
- Most standalone covers cover a broad range
- This range represents the majority of hiking backpacks you'd be covering
- While weight ranges are based on our own research in trying to find natural 'breakpoints' in the market, 'Ultralight' is an industry term, so we've tried to ensure that if a brand calls its product 'Ultralight', then that it generally does fall within our range. In this case, it led to a complication, where 'Ultralight' has been used to describe some nylon covers (e.g., same material as regular covers, just thinner), and also dyneema covers. But the two are quite different in terms of weight & performance (dyneema tends to be more durable), so we've split it in the table
Minor features that may be important
Here, we give you a list of questions to start thinking about minor features. We hope our approach of savings these features for last gets you to more critically think about what you need & not get caught up in the hype of what's cool and over-spend your budget.
- Does it come with a carrying case?
- Does it have a drainage hole at the bottom for any water that does get inside?
- Is there a drawstring to cinch the cover tighter or just an elastic band?
