Why doesn’t this “unisex fit” backpack fit right?

For many manufacturers, “unisex” means the backpack was designed for larger adult men. They may work acceptably well for some average-sized or larger women, but smaller women are out of luck.

The following brands are the worst offenders:

  1. MEC (unfortunately, true for all of their current hiking and travel backpack models, even the models with low capacity)
  2. Gregory
  3. Fjällräven
  4. The North Face (fortunately, they offer women’s-fit equivalents of most of their school/office backpacks)
  5. Most other brands

The following brands can be trusted to provide a true unisex fit:

  1. MEC (specifically their current generation school/office backpacks, the Campus and Hippocampus have well-designed shoulder harnesses and back panels for a very wide range of body shapes and sizes)
  2. Osprey
  3. Patagonia

Sometimes, the opposite problem occurs, as some men have such long torsos (especially those taller than 180cm / 6’ and those with torso lengths greater than 55cm / 21”) that the shortest unisex backpacks will have unusable waist straps or hipbelts. The legendary MEC Pika Pack basically never had a usable waist strap for nearly any person throughout its multi-decadal history simply because the bag itself isn’t long enough. Most people with longer torso should remove the waist straps from any day hiking, school, or office backpack with a detachable option, such as the previous-generation Gregory Nano 16 or the Osprey Daylite 13.

Manufacturers that are normally out of range for very small women can sometimes accidentally make a comfortable model by virtue of the backpack itself being physically very small, such as the Gregory Nano 16 or the Fjällräven Skule 20. By this logic, an Osprey Daylite 13 will fit better on the physically smallest adults better than the Osprey Daylite Plus 20, and likewise with the Osprey Hikelite 18 versus the Hikelite 26.

Men with very long torsos are probably going to have to a much better time wearing men’s specific fit backpacks, such as the Osprey Talon (sorry about the price).