Backpacks

Montane Featherlite 30 Backpack | Review

The Montane Featherlite 30 backpack is both super light and extremely usable

Some outdoor products can end up sacrificing durability or functionality in the all-consuming pursuit of lightness. Fortunately, the Featherlite 30 Backpack from Montane isn’t one of these – it’s been selected for the Outdoor 100 because it’s both super light and extremely usable at the same time.

Despite the minimalist appearance of the Featherlite, this pack actually offers all the technical features required of an overnight or all-day mountain bag. The whole thing has been engineered with the idea of keeping the weight to a minimum however, so it’s ideal for people who want to hike or climb fast in the mountains.

“Despite the minimalist appearance of the Featherlite, this pack actually offers all the technical features required of an overnight or all-day mountain bag.”

Check out the bag’s Comfort Air Bag System feature for example. It’s a well-padded, fast drying, supportive back system that has been innovatively designed in such a way that it can be stripped down to save weight (by taking out the removable foam pad).

The Featherlite’s deceptively simple seams may look basic but again, they’ve been implemented with an approach that means the bag is both durable and lightweight. Everywhere you look, whether inside or out, there’s another part of the bag that maximises effectiveness without compromising overall weight. Take the lightweight Halo lining fabric, with its 1m hydrostatic head that offers additional protection to your possessions. You’ll be amazed by how it shields your bag’s contents with so little fuss.

The bag's supportive back system has been designed so that it can be stripped down to save weight. Photo: Chris Johnson.

The lightweight Halo lining fabric, with its 1m hydrostatic head, offers additional protection to your possessions. Photo: Chris Johnson.

The Featherlite 30 can be stuffed away inside its own lid. Photo: Chris Johnson.

The perforated shoulder straps optimise ventilation and comfort. Photo: Chris Johnson.

Other features worth noting are the internal water pocket, the water tube opening with arm harness attachment point, the stowable dual walking point attachment point at the base of the bag’s back, the hip fin pockets perfect for storing and accessing items without the need to stop/remove your bag, and the perforated shoulder straps that optimise ventilation and comfort.

Without a doubt though, our favourite thing about the Featherlite 30 from Montane is the fact that the entire pack can be stuffed away inside its own lid. Ideal if you want to use the Featherlite as a secondary or summiting pack, it’s precisely the kind of ingenious feature that can elevate a product to the upper echelons of the outdoor gear world. And, in this case, it does exactly that; making a very good bag great.

Whether you want to use the Featherlite 30 as your main adventure bag, or take it on your travels inside a bigger bag, this thing has been built to suit your needs. It’s light, tough, excellent value for money, and illustrates precisely what can happen when smart gear designers think about the bigger picture as a collection of smaller details.