Caribee Trail Backpack Review

On a glorious winters day during the lull between Christmas and New Year, we headed outdoors for a walk around Tittesworth water in Staffordshire, to make the most of the sunshine and to try out my new Caribee Trail Daypack.

As a keen amateur photographer and nature nut, I always end up taking a daft number of things out on walks with me. Thankfully, my new Caribee Daypack had arrived a few days before Christmas and this was the ideal opportunity to try it out.

On first inspection, the Trail looked pleasingly well made, and came in an inoffensive, gender-neutral sage green and grey colour. Daypacks are generally ideal for walking and day-long hikes when you don't need to carry an awful lot with you, but need sufficient space for things like food, drinks, maps, camera and so on.

When it comes to pockets and compartments, the Caribee Trail Daypack delivers, making it easy to sort out and pack whatever you need to carry with you.

I rarely travel or do anything 'light' and walking is no exception, so I always look for a good capacity, and at 30 litres, there was plenty of space for my DSLR, 2 large lenses, 3 pocket nature guide books, a map, a bottle of water, my purse, GPS tracker as well as gloves, tissues and lip balm. Despite all that, there was still ample space left in the bag - in the summer, a lightweight fleece or rain jacket would fit on top of all of that with no problem.

I was a little wary as once I'd packed it did feel quite heavy, so I was keen to see how it would feel once on.

I loosened off all the straps to put it on and then adjusted all the straps for a snug fit. The shoulder straps are pleasingly wide and padded, and meet at the front of the chest with an additional chest clip, which I always find makes a rucksack much more comfortable during use, providing a secure fit.

Once adjusted and done up around my waist the pack fitted perfectly and was very comfortable to wear thanks to the lumbar support, so much so, I didn't grumble or need to adjust the pack once during our walk.

We stopped frequently so I could take photographs, so I was constantly in and out of my bag. And when we finally reached the dam wall at the far end of the reservoir, we stopped for a bit of a breather, and to admire the scenery.

The full walk was just over 5 miles, and the backpack felt comfortable throughout, thanks to the special Bio-form harness system, and utility belt and lumbar support. Whilst this does add a little bit of bulk, don't let that put you off, it's well worth it.

During use, I particularly liked the two side mesh pockets, each large enough to fit a water bottle inside, providing easy access without having to take the pack off and rummage around inside for a quick drink whilst on the move.

I usually find similar sized daypacks either rub, pull down on my shoulders when loaded, or flap around, banging against my lower back when walking at pace. The Caribee Trail however performed superbly and is more ergonomic than my Dakine Heli Pro backpack that I use primarily for snowboarding but also out on longer walks too.

The Heli Pro has a smaller 18 litre capacity, so can't cope with my camera equipment, and at a similar price point and comparable quality, the Caribee Trail wins on comfort and practicality. The convenient internal rain cover is good and I also liked the clever little external zipped pouch on the waist, ideal for storing money, tickets etc.

The only little niggle I found was the clip at the front across the chest. I found it a little difficult to open on a couple of occasions, though this stiffness may improve with more use.

Whilst our walk this time was a relatively short, I have used it since on a hill walk and I'm looking forward to using it on a much longer full day fell walk we have planned for the Spring.

For me, it's not big enough to use as an overnight or weekend bag, though it might be large enough for some. That would certainly provide added versatility.