How To Choose A Backpack: The Ultimate Guide

Having a backpack is a crucial thing, isn’t it? Whether you are a travel freak or a Student you often need to use a backpack. Choosing the right backpack will worth it.

For a student, it’s essential for daily classes and it’s also essential for travel freaks and hikers because it needed to be a fully spaced backpack for travel freaks and hikers.

Do you want to know how to choose a backpack? here is one of the best ultimate guide.

As we know that backpacks are designed to fit more essential things than day packs it’s really important to get a better quality backpack at an affordable price because there is plenty of backpacks to choose from in the current market.

The backpack is one of the best investments or expenses whatever you say. Choosing a durable and quality full backpack will worth it

We will go through and breakdown from essential daily life backpacks to student’s backpacks, travel backpacks to hiking backpacks, and also office backpacks.

You need to choose a backpack for your daily life. Whether you are a student or an employee you often need to use a backpack for every single day you use a backpack.

For this type of daily work, you should think to buy a considerable backpack for even in the budget here in this blog I will also include some of our recommended budget backpacks that will help you in daily life.

Choosing the right backpack will make your daily life easy if you are a student and even for a travel freak because the quality of backpacks should be the same as it is after some time.

We will go through three main guides for a category and will consider the use case, backpack size and other features, type of material.

As often we travel daily basis so I’m also going to include some of the best backpacks for travel and as well for hiking.

Here is a brief summary of how to choose a backpack:

1) Types of backpacks

1. Basic Daypack
2. Laptop Backpack
3. Rucksack Backpack
4. Anti-Theft Backpack
5. Duffel Backpack
6. Drawstring Backpack
7. Hiking/Trekking/Cycling Backpack

Before going to start let me describe that quality, fabric, size may be different. In this blog, we are going to discuss about types of bags, size, and lifestyle. In size, we have 2 measurement options first Liter, and the second one inches.

1. Basic Daypack

A basic daypack is one of the most used daypacks or a type of backpack that can be used for students, for gym, office, and for many other things.

The one thing to note before buying a basic daypack is that most basic day pack has a large front pocket so make sure to buy a daypack with a large front pocket. Their capacities stick between 15-40 liters.

Nowadays daypack is one of the best bags to buy for students. However, this type of basic daypack has a minimum of 15L capacity so if you tryna buy this for traveling or one-day trekking it won’t do the things.

But if you are a student who takes only 2-3 books at once then this type of backpack will do the best.

So what to look before buying a daily or basic daypack?

1. It should have made of a minimum of at least 10L.
2. It should have a large front pocket otherwise you won’t be able to fit basic things like chargers, pens, and much more.
3. Your selected backpack needed to be lightweight.
4. It should have an adjustable shoulder strap.
5. It should have a durable zip.
6. If you need a laptop for your work or study buy a daily backpack with an inner pocket that can hold a laptop for you.

Best pick for you:

2) Laptop backpack

Number 2nd in our type of backpacks is a Laptop backpack. The laptop backpack is one of the most famous backpacks out there.

There is plenty of laptop backpacks exist which can make your daily task easier to fit a laptop and essential things with it.

Generally, their capacities stick between 20-40 liters.

A laptop backpack must be easier to clean up and must have a pocket where you can place a charger, mouse, and other essential things.

Not only for charger it should also have other pockets as well for books and all that other stuff. Talking about fabric if it’s made from Polyester fabric then this should be considered in your list of buying a laptop backpack with metal zippers.

Before buying a laptop backpack you first make sure that your torso size matches with the bag if your torso is smaller than that or much bigger than that backpack will not work.

Here in this blog later on we will see that how you can major your torso and as well hip to buy a perfect sized backpack that will fit you well.

What to look for before buying a laptop backpack?

1. It must be water-resistant because as here we are considering a laptop which is an electric it will completely destroy if waterfalls in the laptop, it can destroy some parts of your laptop.
2. The length of bag size must be a minimum of 16-17 Inches which will help you to fit your MacBook of 15.4 inches or if you have other laptops.
3. It should have an adjustable shoulder strap.
4. If it has a charger plug for your smartphone then it’s good to consider it in your list of buying a laptop backpack.
5. Consider buying a backpack with a side pocket also to fit a bottle.

Best pick for you:

3) Rucksack Backpack

Rucksack backpacks have a flap that covers the main compartment. One of the differences between a Rucksack and a Daily backpack is that the daily backpack has a zip-around main compartment where the Rucksack backpack has a flap that covers the main compartment.

Their capacities stick between 20-40 liters.

Another difference is that most Rucksack backpacks are made of soft durable PU and nylon fabric. Generally, Rucksack backpacks have 2-3 components.

Outer zipper Pocket inner component as main components and the other one is for bottles that used as side pockets.

What to look before buying a Rucksack backpack?

1. Make sure that it’s a durable backpack.
2. Consider a backpack with a 20-40 litters capacity range.

Best pick for you:

4) Anti-Theft Backpack

Anti-Theft backpacks are generally similar to a day pack and laptop backpack but you won’t see a zipper around this bag instead it has a zipper in the back of that bag or come with a small zipper.

It’s generally made of anti-scratch /-cut fabric and most of the anti-theft backpack has a charging port in it which later on can be connected by a power bank.

The majority of the anti-theft backpack comes with pockets that can be used to fit laptop books and also has tiny pockets to fit chargers and other crucial things.

What makes the Anti-theft backpack one of the best is that it has its zippers in the back which is safe because no one will open that zipper without your permission.

What to look before buying a anti-theft backpack?

1. Make sure that its zippers aren’t visible from the front.
2. If the bag has a USB port then this would be good to consider in your list.
3. If it has more than 2-3 pockets you can consider it into your buying list.

Best pick for you:

5) Duffel Backpacks

Duffles are one of the best backpacks that I personally recommend for daily use and as well for travel. Duffles are great for road trips.

Duffle bag has very good shoulder straps. You can use it on your back and as well with your hand because it has a handle to use as with a hand.

Duffel backpacks’ size can range from 30L – 120L it depends on your needs whether you are going to visiting somewhere this thing will work well.

In duffle backpacks, you can pick foods, shoes, and many essential things. This is one of the best backpacks for short trips. Even many reviews show that for short trips duffel backpack is the best option they liked.

What to look before buying a Duffel backpack?

1. Check that the duffle strap is in-built in bag.

Best pick for you:

6) Drawstring Backpack

A drawstring or sackpack is secured closed by a drawstring. Generally, drawstring backpacks do not come with zippers instead a drawstring covers backpack.

It comes in many varieties including canvas, nylon, leather, etc. One of its disadvantages is that it is a small backpack which generally comes in 10-25L because of there small size it’s very lightweight to carry.

Nowadays this is being used by many athletes, sports players. Drawstring backpack could be one of the best backpacks to choose if you are a GYM freak and need a backpack in the GYM.

If you are a GYM freak or an athlete you can consider a drawstring backpack in your collection of accessories.

What to look before buying a Drawstring backpack?

1. Check that it has drawstrings instead of zippers otherwise why would we call this a drawstring backpack.

Best pick for you:

7) Hiking/Trekking/Cycling Backpacks

In this category of the backpack, we are going to look at some of your interesting backpacks if you are a travel freak or trekking freak.

This is a wide category of bags that you could choose from. In this category, you can’t decide which to choose unless or until you get it hand to hand.

Size: the volume that you need depends on your needs.

We will go through and breakdown from 0 to 10 liters, 10 to 20 liters, and so on and will also consider about kind of use that you would have with that size of a backpack.

Keep in mind that backpacks are typically sized by volume and that would be how much stuff that could fit inside.

Note this table before going through all size of backpack guide.

Duration	Winter	Other Seasons
1-2 nights	40-60L	20-50L
3-6 nights	50-80L	30-80L
7+ nights	80L+	70L+

1) 0 – 10 liters

Let’s start with 10-20 liters. Herewith 0-10 liters it would be a minimalist day hiking backpack or for students.

Some of the stuff that you could fit in that will be a water bottle, you could also fit some snakes in there but you won’t be able to feet laptop. As it’s a 0-10 liter backpack you could be able to fit 1-2 books in it.

Note: Do not buy 0-10 liters if your intend for buying a backpack is traveling or tracking.

2) 10-30 liters

Coming in at the 10-30 liter backpack these backpacks are more comfortable and have more volume. Whether you want to feet laptop, books and if you are travel freak you could fit foods, water bladder, rain shield and a couple of other things that you want.

What to look before buying a 10-30L backpack?

1. Buy this size backpack if you often go for one day hiking or cycling.

Best pick for you:

3) 30-40 liters

The next volume of backpacks is 30-40 liters this is kind of for traveling. Talking about traveling 30-40 liters backpacks are between the size of these all types of travel backpacks.

30-40 liters are the best if you often go for 3-4 days hikes but it is not good for carrying shelter with you for hiking if you have another person who is carrying your shelters then this could be great but in these backpacks, you won’t be able to fit shelter along with other things that needed to fit in a backpack.

Probably 30-40 liters backpacks must have a hip-belt because you are going to be carrying more weight in it.

With 30-40 liters, you could take foods, cooking pot and other essential things to be considered.

You may be could feet ultralight shelter.

What to look before buying a 30-40L backpack?

1. Consider those 30L-40L backpacks which have hip-belt.

Best pick for 30-40L backpacks:

4) 40-50 liters

Now with 40-50 liters, it’s much easier to fit things in it. With this size of the volume you could feet multiple days food in there you could also take a compact shelter, bivy (for traveling) and you could take your sleeping bag and a couple of other comforts.

What to look before buying a 40-50L backpack?

1. Consider those 40-50 backpacks which have hip-belt.

A pick for you:

5) 50-60 liters

Herewith 50-60 liters backpacks fit shelter or bivy, foods, sleeping bag, cooking pot, fishing rod, and many other comforts. With 50-60 liters, you are leveling up the weight of pretty much everything that you’re putting in there.

In this range you can fit most of your basic needs unless you are bringing over items then this won’t be a scene. After buying a 50-60 liters backpack you would have zero regrets.

What to look before buying a 50-60L backpack?

1. Consider a backpack with a hip-belt.
2. Make sure that it is a waterproof backpack.

Here is one of my best pick for 50-60 Liters backpack:

6) 60-70 liters

In a 60-70 liters backpack, you can fit many comforts than all the other backpack sizes by liters. You can fit all kinds of foods you can pack up to 9 or 10 days worth of food, you can fit a large sleeping bag.

Best pick for you:

7) 70-100 liters

70-100 liters hiking or traveling backpack is big to fit many comforts than that of 50-60 liters backpack. If you are prepared for everything in hiking time you can feet foods, sleeping bag, shelter or bivy, and many more things to consider.

It is best if you are going to group hiking and you are the group leader who always takes all major things with you then you could select it to feet major things.

What to look before buying a 70-100L backpack?

1. You are going to fit many things so make sure to buy a backpack carefully after reading reviews on any online site.

Here is one of my best pick for 70-100 Liters backpack:

Now for choosing a right backpack for traveling and hiking is your final decision. Buy that one which fits you most here I’m with my words but the Conclusion is yours which suits you the most 30-40L, 50-60L, 70-100L so consider your perspective.

2) Size & Other Things To Consider

How to measure your torso and heap for a perfect size backpack?

1) Measure torso length

The distance between humans Iliac Crest and C7 Vertebra would be length of torso.

2) Measure hip

To measure your heap let use a measuring tape to find the widest part of your hip and the uppermost point of the Iliac crest of your body.

Other way to find perfect backpack size is With S, M, L, XL size of backpacks. Let’s see a perfect size for you.

Size chart for backpack

Backpack Size	Torso Length	Hip measurement
Extra Small	< 40 CM	<55 CM
Small	40 – 44 CM	55 – 69 CM
Medium	45 – 49 CM	70 – 87 CM
Large	50 – 52 CM	88 – 100 CM
Extra large	>53 CM	> 101 CM

Other thing to consider before buying from any of these categories backpacks:

>> Choose a right volume

Even if you want to buy trekking or traveling backpack for 2-3 days trekking volume of your things will decide whether all things will fit in the bag or not so make sure you first choose the right volume and then consider buying 45-55L and even larger.

But as this modern world-changing with technology humans have made a lighter tent, lighter sleeping bags, stoves, and other essentials.

>> Hip belt

Hip belts support approximately 80% weight of the traveling backpack so make sure that your chosen traveling or trekking backpack has a hip belt. Day pack for daily use may not include a hip belt else it’s only supported by shoulder straps.

>> Hip belt position

To support 80% of weight it’s important that a hip belt exists in the center above the hip bone.

>> Shoulder Straps

For day pack it’s most important to have durable and premium quality shoulder straps otherwise in one-two years it’s going to break from its Sewing.

>> Compartments

Make sure that it has at least 3-4 compartments for trekking/traveling backpack and 1-2 for daypack and laptop backpack because compartments are the things where you are going to fit your all the things whether it has small pockets in front.

In short, compartments are also important to see before buying a backpack.

For day pack it’s most important to have durable and premium quality shoulder straps otherwise in one-two years it’s going to break from its sewing.

3) Types of Backpack Materials

Before buying a backpack materials of the backpack needed to be considered whether you are buying a laptop backpack or trekking backpack knowing materials of backpacks needed to be done.

As there are many types of materials available in backpacks. Quality may differ in terms of materials. Determine which materials do you need there are many these types of materials that exist:

• Leather
• Cotton Canvas
• Polyester
• Nylon
• Cordura
• Denim
• Neoprene
• Vegan Leather

1. Leather

Leather is one of the most famous materials for backpacks from many centuries humans are involved with leather items. Backpacks with leather are believed to be one of the most used materials for not only backpacks but also for handbags.

>> Pros and cons of leather backpack

2. Cotton Canvas

Cotton canvas is known for its strength and varsity. It is a woven fabric that is typically made out of pure cotton. To make water-resistance manufacturers blend cotton with synthetic fibers.

>> Pros and cons of Cotton Canvas backpack

3. Polyester

Polyester is one of the most used backpack materials because many of the backpacks made of polyester material. Polyester is made using polyester yarns and fibers. Polyester is generally known as man mad polymer.

>> Pros and cons of Cotton Canvas backpack

4. Nylon

Nylon is a synthetic plastic material that made from polyamides of high molecular weight.

>> Pros and cons of nylon backpack

5. Cordura

Backpacks that are made with Cordura material are very durable. It was originally created by DuPont for its own line of products including bags.

>> Pros and cons of cordura material backpack

6. Denim

Denim backpacks are durable and trendy since it’s made from the same material as denim jeans and jackets. It’s one of the best backpack materials for casual styling.

>> Pros and cons of denim backpack

7. Neoprene

Neoprene is a family of synthetics rubbers. And it has been a trendy backpack for many years because of its breathable fabric and sporty aesthetic appeal.

>> Pros and Cons of Neoprene backpack

8. Vegan Leather

Vegan leather as it’s name suggest it is animal free and synthetic type of material backpack.

>> Pros and Cons of Neoprene backpack

So these is one of the best ultimate guide for your question how to choose a backpack?