The Best Backpacks for Work and Play

Before heading out on your next hike or other outdoor adventure, make sure to grab the Ozark Trail 14 Liter Hydration Hiking Backpack. This 14L pack is designed for maximum versatility so you can focus on the great outdoors. It features two main compartments for maximum storage and organization, as well as a shove pocket with a clean, gusseted design for carrying extra items.

Shoulder straps are lightweight mesh-lined with very little padding. Trent Marsh has worked on both side of the outdoor industry for more than a decade. An avid, life-long outdoorsman, Trent has worked as a marketing professional, as well as a writer, covering a wide variety of products and topics.

I use this pack on a daily basis to carry my office clothes while I ride my bike to work and to carry light loads while out Geocaching. I priced other internal frame daypacks before my trip and this was by far the cheapest. I took this pack on a 5-day mountain bike ride from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Washington, D.C., and it performed very well. Estimated shipping time is approximately 3-5 business days from the time your order is placed and is subject to change. The coolers remained in the same location for the duration of the 6 day test, only being opened to snap daily progress pictures.

If you have a boat and bring kids or friends on the water, you know that once you leave the dock the requests for drinks start rolling in fast and furious. Sure, you can load a cooler out each morning packed with fresh ice, but it is just so much easier to cut down all that work with a cooler than can keep ice for days on end. Our sister site Alloutdoor.com recently reviewed a hiking backpack sold by Ozark Trail that had an overall stellar performance and it triggered a question among our staff. Is Walmart’s Ozark Trail brand a true sleeper, putting out products that deserve much more attention among outdoorsmen? With that question being floated, we decided to travel down the path of discovery and start to take a closer look at Ozark Trail and some of their products.

It used to be that if an executive walked in with a backpack, it was, shall we say, frowned upon. You’ll find many CEO these days using a backpack simply because it is the easiest and best way to carry a bunch of stuff and still have use of your hands. Like the Ozark Trail 45 Qt Rolling Thermocooler, the Pelican 45QW Elite Wheeled Cooler includes a lid with inch notches and also includes centimeters for those outside of the United States.

However, some sources may run dry during extended periods of drought. Plan accordingly and carry or cache water in case you are not able to find a source close by. Always treat any water for drinking and cooking along the trail.

ozark trail backpack

The Vertx Gamut employs a print-proof scabbard that is perfect for protecting electronics, and for giving you a location to carry a handgun that is all but undetectable. That’s just as usual in the backcountry as it is on main street. The Gamut 2.0 is a great choice for those who carry, but even if you don’t the rigid scabbard offers a level of protection for your other items that no soft pack can offer. Perhaps the most versatile pack on the list, the Colma from Marmot will be just as at home on a 10-mile hike as it will getting your laptop to work on the train. Marmot is one of the premier names in pack design, so you don’t have to worry about the little things not being right, they’ve already worked that out.

Specific water sources are indicated on Ozark Trail online and printed maps. Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive ozark trail canopy content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. Try out unlimited access with 7 days of Outside+ for free.

The 26-mile route follows Blair Creek south as it carves down a valley through oak-hickory-pine forest before merging with the emerald waters of the Current River. Here the 30-mile Current River section picks up, following the river for two miles before veering south toward Stegall Mountain. Enjoy views of the Ozark landscape as you gain 500 feet of elevation up 2.5 miles to the top of Stegall Mountain. Camp out at the top overnight, catching a glimpse of a full sky of stars if it’s clear.