Sierra Designs Garnet 20 Day Pack

I got this pack to use for day hiking on Oahu, Hawaii and to have an extra bag on the way home for gifts/items. I wanted something that was going to carry comfortably and actually fit me correctly. It turns out I used this pack for much more than just day-hiking and absolutely loved it for the 10 days I was in Hawaii. I look forward to using it on hikes in and around the mountains of Colorado this spring when I put some all day hikes on it.

First thing first--I'm 6'4" with a 18.5-19" torso. One of my biggest pet peeves for day packs are ones that come equipped with a "hip belt." To me this is a joke because most day packs are designed to be short and wide, so the "hip belt" is really just a bulky and uncomfortable sternum strap unless you are 4'10". That isn't the case on the Garnet. The pack is only 20 liters, which isn't small but not big either, but it actually fit me like my backpacking pack does. I was actually able to wear the hip belt on my hips and carry the load on my hips. That's amazing when it comes to day packs!

As I had said, my original plan was to use this for day hiking and getting stuff back home. As it turns out, I carried this pack every single day for a variety of reasons. The grocery store was about a 1.5 mile walk from our condo, so I used it to haul groceries and beer back to the condo. With the weight and odd shapes of groceries, the pack still carried really well. The fact that is has a plastic back panel (padded so you won't notice the plastic framing) kept the sharp points of food (think Pineapple) and boxes from poking into me. The second thing I used it for was hauling snorkeling gear. I managed to forget to bring a mesh duffel, so I had to use the Garnet. I was able to get my dive booties, two masks, two snorkels, a dive camera housing, and other smaller items in the pack with no issue (most everything for myself and wife). The straps on the side would allow me to hook my fins up to it and carry it. Even with this weight, the pack was super comfortable--even with the weight of the fins pulling backwards. Keep in mind that this pack isn't really designed for water sports so when the pack got wet, there weren't drain holes at the bottom but I didn't expect their to be either. This use was way outside of what the designer ever intended, I think; however, it worked none the less. When back at the condo, I would just have to empty the pack entirely and open it up to dry out, which it did with no problem every night.

Finally, the last feature that turned out to be super handy were the two pockets on the hip belt. Since the hip belt actually functioned as a true hip belt and was on my hips, the pockets were used for my camera while on the islands and worked perfectly for my iPod on the flight back. It was a nice handy spot for anything small that I wanted quick access to.

Overall, I don't think I've ever been this excited over a day pack. Being a big, tall guy I had somewhat resigned myself to ill fitting day packs for the rest of my travel and hiking needs. Not anymore, I'll be using this Garnet until it falls apart I think. Thank you Sierra Designs for thinking of us folks who are of above-average height.