Best backpacks for women 2024 | Tested and reviewed

The Tempest is one of the biggest selling daypacks in the world. Or, to put it another way, we’ve never climbed Snowdon and not seen someone carrying one. What’s its secret? Well, it just has everything: copious main space, well thought-out alternative storage, huge hip-fins with big, easy-access pockets, clever ‘stow- on-the-go’ attachments for your walking poles, space for a hydration bladder and a breezy back system whose length is highly customisable.

(A word on Osprey’s back systems: this one sits close to your back; if you want a suspended system, Osprey offers the Stratos/Sirrus range, but we find that the Tempest's works great even in midsummer anyway.)

The zip pulls are user-friendly, the chest strap is on a slider and the harness is well-ventilated. And as a whole, it comes as close as any pack to being undetectable when worn. It’s slightly fussier than the Gregory Jade, there’s no raincover and personally we don’t need the chunky cycling/climbing helmet attachments But these are small quibbles. There’s a reason it sells like hot cakes: it’s really, really good.

This has the capacity and features for a long day’s hiking, and Berghaus have carefully thought through every detail, from access to the main compartment, to the size and positioning of its many pockets. This is a maximalist pack, and at over a kilo, it's not one of the lighter hiking bags on test - but we love it for its excellent all-round hill versatility.

The specific female fit back system is fully adjustable, with hook and loop to hold it securely in place and deliver a stable, comfortable carry. The back system itself is centred around a supportive foam backboard with a mesh carry system with a pocket for airflow, keeping you cooler on the uphills. On that note, however, this is a backpack designed for cooler climes. The substantial padding on the hip belt, which cradles the body oh-so-snugly, quickly becomes sweaty when the mercury reaches above 25 degrees on a regular basis.

However, for the UK and northern Europe, the Remote Hike 35 is fab. We particularly like the easy-grab pocket for things like maps, snacks and waterproofs, should you be caught out in showery weather and be taking things on and off constantly.

A favourite of dirtbag climbers, the Simond Alpinism 33 offers absolutely everything you could need or want from a mountaineering pack, at a bafflingly good price. Perhaps the handiest feature is that there's a bottom zip entry, meaning that you're not scrabbling around for your rack or snacks when you need them. The 33L capacity is more than enough when you consider that you've got a separate carrying system for your helmet, which we've found also double up as a good stash pocket for waterproofs if you're using the bag for hiking rather than climbing or skiing.

We also love that you can choose the level of back support you want: remove the foam for a fast and light pack which will compress down into a larger expedition duffel bag, or keep it in for a more comfortable and supportive carry for a big day (or two, with a bivvy in between).

Of course, what really sets this pack apart from the rest is the ludicrous price. At under £60, sure, it's not going to be the best mountaineering bag you've ever used, but it performs like something that could easily cost twice as much. Durability, which we'd have assumed would be the first thing to disappear as the price-point shrinks, doesn't seem to be much of an issue: it's surprisingly tough, with Ripstop 420 denier polyamide as the main fabric, which has thus far proved incredibly durable, even when being dragged over sharp granite in the alps. If you're getting into scrambling or climbing, then this is the perfect first bag for you - but even if you're just a hiker it's pretty great value too.

Mammut often market their gear for mountaineering, but the Ducan is aimed at women who hike. In fact they’ve designed it specifically for the shape of the female body, and when first trying it on, it instantly felt really snug from shoulders to hips. The ventilation is excellent – the mesh maintains a constant airflow on our backs.

One thing we particularly love is the bungee- cord chest strap, which helps keep the pack secure, while also allowing full movement when I need to take deep breaths. We also like the phone holder on the hip belt – the phone sits vertically in a pocket that hangs down from the belt, and there’s room for other small knick-knacks in a separate compartment.

We also found we can pack an extraordinary amount into the main pocket, given that it’s just 24 litres - and we can squeeze quite a bit more into the lid pockets too. The bag also holds its shape thanks to its sturdy frame. It’s generally a really comfortable rucksack, but we do find, when getting into our stride, that the hip belt rises slightly, and we have to pull it down again. Overall, though, this is an excellent bag.

This is the return of an old design but you wouldn’t guess that, so complete is the upgrade. The new Freeflow range is unisex, but the ‘S’ versions have shorter back lengths which are likely to fit women better. The old Freeflow was an affordable workhorse; this has a more advanced design and higher price point to match. The whole package is sleek and futuristic. The back system is a continuous sheet of mesh tensioned across a concave frame. This means that the pressure of the load tends to focus on the lower back, but the bag is cushioned here with lumbar padding.

We found that it really did prevent our backs from getting too sweaty, even on a consistent uphill climb. We're also a big fan of the pockets, especially those on the shoulder straps, and the drawcord adjustable side pockets – it makes getting a bottle in or out much easier. The body of the pack has a kind of clamshell design, with the zip running all around the top half, making it easy to find things. Our only gripe is that the tensioning cords down the sides tend to get in the way of the zip. All in all, though, We're very impressed.

Read our full Berghaus Freeflow 24 review

Any extraneous details are trimmed off this one to create a functional, streamlined pack that is, happily,
also very comfortable to wear. We were sceptical at first, noting the absence of a cord to secure walking poles and only three pockets, but we’ve been won over. We're fans of the single buckle closure which minimises faffing; ditto the side access zip which allows you to quickly and easily access kit at all levels of the bag. Features are extremely minimal, but it works.

Poles are secured with the tensioning straps and loops at the base; pockets are simply done away with. Even the central part of the shoulder straps and hip belt has been cut away. This results in greater flexibility for a close fit as well as allowing ventilation and saving weight. We found it very comfortable and though back systems like this (a lightly padded suspended frame holding the bulk of the pack away from the body) can feel unstable on other packs, it doesn’t here. The fit was so neat and secure that I thought nothing of wearing it for a full, long day in the hills – and have happily done so several times since.

Read our full Salewa Alp Mate pack review

This is another of the unisex bags which are small and nimble enough to make a fantastic women's hiking pack. Blue Ice is primarily a mountaineering brand, specialising in lightweight climbing and skiing rucksacks, but we've found that their bags perform brilliantly for hill days too.

The 18 litre capacity of the Dragonfly isn't massive, but we've been using it for shorter days out over the last two years, and it's never let us down. A minimalist pack at heart, with one main bag cavity, a simple drawstring catch, mesh drinks bottle pocket and a small zipped valuables pocket, the dragonfly is perfect for fastpacking adventures, or day-hikes where your objective is to do as much in as short a space of time as possible. The bag weighs around 400g, but is supremely comfortable for the weight, with a well-padded shoulder system and a static back mesh to provide breathability for sweatier uphills.

The fit is snug to the shoulders, and while the waist-belt is minimal, the small pack size means you'll not need quite the amount of support you would from other, larger packs with a higher load capacity.

Deuter have two main lines of hiking day pack – the Futura and the Trail. One of the key differences is the back system, where the Futura has a mesh suspension and the Trail has foam bars – less ventilated perhaps, but it allows more room in the main compartment and keeps the load closer to your back, which you might prefer on tougher terrain.

The foam bars on this new version of the Trail are firm enough, and protrude enough to still ensure good channels of ventilation. The shoulder straps and hip fins are also well padded, but perforated, also helping to keep you cool.

We find it really comfy to wear – it sits nicely on the hips, and the strong frame keeps it in shape. The main pocket offers plenty of room and the U-shaped opening allows you to open the pack like a suitcase and reach all your gear.

The stretchy side pocket offers decent space for a bottle, but the zipped pocket at the other side isn’t so spacious. Nor is the pocket that hangs from the hip belt – it fits a smartphone, just. But these are minor quibbles about an extremely comfy and beautifully made backpack.

With a women's tailored back length, and superb load transfer, the Women's Mammut Trion 38 is an understated hero in the world of mountaineering backpacks. It offers the sleek, minimalist design of many climbing packs, but with more of a squat carry than many others on the market, which tend to rise upwards in a continuous long column.

This makes the Mammut Trion ideal for multi-activity purposes: cycling, skiing and scrambling with a bag that doesn't block upwards head movement is a blessing when you've been suffering as a shorter woman with longer packs. We also love the women-specific shoulder straps and hip belt; the Trion is our top pick for comfort in this category.

Mammut aren't such a common brand in the UK, but are known across Europe for strong, durable kit, (which doesn't often come cheap). The women's Trion retails at £145, which isn't the bargain you'll find with the Decathlon packs but is guaranteed to last - and perform at the highest of mountaineering standards.

The Ortovox 33S cuts a sleek physique - it's designed primarily with climbing in mind, so its body-hugging shape stays close to your back as to not mess up your centre of gravity too much. We have used this bag for climbing, mountaineering, and skiing, but be warmed that if you're looking for a hiking back that'll do the odd scramble, you're better off with a different brand. The Ortovox is a true climber's pack and the snug back system that's so useful for vertical ascending doesn't do quite as well on the old ventilation front for long days hiking.

But if you're a keen mountaineer, then keep reading. The Ortovox isn't super-duper lightweight as it is - a little over 1kg for a 33L pack is about average - but there is option to remove the aluminium frame if you're on the gram-shedding bandwagon. What the Ortovox is, however, is durable. In fact, the entire thing has been designed with quality and toughness in mind, with 420 ripstop fabric throughout.

Happily, the Ortovox scores very highly on sustainability too - it contains no environmentally harmful per- or polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), was manufactured under fair working conditions in conformity with Fair Wear Foundation, contains recycled materials and Ortovox also offset their carbon emissions.

We really like the fact that it's been designed with the female mountaineer in mind: the back length is shorter than Ortovox's regular back system packs; the shoulder straps are thinner and shorter, and they have a pronounced S shape that is most suited to the female anatomy.

This is an incredibly lightweight bag for its capacity - it's just 924g for the S/XS version, which is about half the weight of many other bags of this size. And Osprey, being Osprey, haven't skimped on quality either: despite being super lightweight, the Eja Pro 55 is comfortable, durable and quite possibly the top-performing bag we've ever tested when it comes to through-hiking.

Osprey's packs can often stray into the 'over-featured' end of the category, with so many bells and whistles you don't know what to do with half of them. Happily, the Eja pro is ultra-lightweight, so it does away with most of them, leaving only the essentials: huge side pockets, a series of outer lash-points for tents and roll-mats, capacious hip belt pockets, and a removable lid, to shed even more weight if needs be.

We absolutely love Osprey's airflow system, which means even when the pack is fully loaded and you're working hard uphill, you're kept cool by the mesh suspension - which also makes the bag feel like featherlight your back. Does all this come at a cost? Absolutely it does. At around £240, this is at the top end of any budget, so bear in mind how often you'll be using it. If you're about to do a long distance hiking trail, or are a regular trail aficionado, it'll be worth its weight in gold. But if you're only using it for the occasional weekend camp, then something this high-end might not be worth the initial outlay.

Sometimes, all you want is a something nice and simple: not too fancy, not too stodgy. The Gregory Maven 55 is the fish-finger sandwich to the delicate champagne jelly of the Osprey Eja Pro. It's a comfortable, durable workhorse which is a fantastic all rounder in the outdoors, and at 200g lighter than the Lowe Alpine Sirac (let's call that one pie and mash), it's a breeze to carry.

With a larger load capacity of 23kg, the Maven ticks all the boxes for a through-hiking pack for longer trips. Our favourite feature is the side zip, which allows easy access into the bag's interior without rummaging around in the rain like some sort of outdoorsy racoon. We also like the stash pocket on the front for easy waterproof or windproof storage - but again, we're not huge on the dual-entry mesh side pockets which are only really suitable for waterbottles (like the Sirac 50, anything smaller just falls out the moment you bend over).

Overall, thought, this is a great bit of kit. It's not the cheapest sack on the street, but the high density nylon will last for years and the carry is more comfortable than most of the bargain bags out there.

The Lowe Alpine Sirac series consists of a brilliantly sturdy set of packs - a 40, 50, and 65 litre - all available in a female-specific fit. We've had our paws all over the Sirac 50 since it came out, and it really does do everything you want in a trekking pack: it's spacious enough for a week's worth of camping and walking gear; it's a supremely comfortable carry; and it's not as over-featured as many larger hiking packs can be, meaning you don't lose your stuff down various pockets for years on end.

The one drawback of the backpack is the duel-entrance side pockets. Unless you're carrying a waterbottle, or stuffing something bigger and bulkier like a waterproof jacket down them, then smaller stuff is prone to falling out of the pockets due to them only being sewn up on two of the four sides. It's a minor niggle, however, and the value, space and comfort of the sirac more than makes up for only being able to store smaller stuff in the lid or the hip belt pockets.

Overall, the sirac is a great choice for a trekking bag - and at £60 cheaper than the Osprey Eja Pro, it's really good value in the field.

The Women's Travel 900 from Decathlon's Forclaz range is a backpack is a brilliant choice for a take-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink travel backpack.

It’s got a great capacity and compartments, has several handy features like a passport pocket and a spare daypack for travel, is logically designed with function in mind, and most importantly, does not break the bank.

We searched high and low for a larger travel pack that ticked as many boxes as this one, including those in much higher price brackets. But in the end nothing seemed to fit the bill as seamlessly as the Women's Travel 900. And all for £104.99 – easily half what most other packs on the market will set you back.

Read our full Decathlon Forclaz Women's Travel 900 60+6L review

Another unisex bag that fits women really well - all too often we find ‘unisex fit’ packs don’t fit our shape brilliantly; they’re often too wide around the shoulders so that they chafe and slide off. But not so here. And we're delighted because we love this ultra-light, lemon-yellow pack.

Just the look of it puts a spring in our step and there’s no bulk to hold us down. If you are on the shorter side, Kathmandu also do a women's specific fit, but we tested the unisex one because it's a much nicer colour!

Part of what contributes to its low weight is a stripping back of features. The waist belt is a simple webbing strap and extra pockets are minimal: there are only the two stretchy side pockets, one security pocket inside the lid and a nifty mesh mobile phone pocket on the shoulder. That means there isn’t much option for overpacking, but that doesn’t matter because this little bag is surprisingly capacious, easily swallowing all the kit needed for a summer hill-walk. And the features it does have, we really like.

The zips have huge loop pulls, making them easy to grab even with gloves or cold, fumbling hands. It also sits close to the body, with just a pitted mesh back system. It suits the pack, with its low weight and stripped-back features, making it perfect for fast-paced or agile days.

This pack moulds perfectly to the shape of our back. It’s been designed to fit the curvature of a woman’s spine (especially the base which can otherwise suffer with sturdy but straight packs). It sits comfortably on our hips, and is height adjustable too, so we can get it exactly how we want it. The hip belt feels snug and supportive and the mesh back system works a treat when it comes to maintaining good airflow.

The Jade has an extra large opening at the top, which it calls U-Zip, and this is a great feature for accessing gear more easily. It also has generously sized front, side and hip belt pockets – the side pockets are wide enough to fit more than a drink and the strapping starts inside the pockets, so you can tie down small items as well as large.

But it’s awkward to pack large items into the main pocket when a full hydration system is in place, as it creates a tricky shape. The biggest drawback is the rigid frame at the top of the pack which makes it difficult to look upwards. Adjusting the height helped a bit, but it’s something to check before buying, especially if you're a little smaller.