Choosing a Multipitch Climbing Pack: Criteria, 31 Current Models from 20 Brands, and a Fitting Checklist

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The crag pack from the previous article stays on the ground at the base. A multipitch pack climbs with you and spends the whole day on the wall. A pack that carries well on the trail can get in the way everywhere once you climb. You look up at the next pitch and your helmet hits the top of the pack. You reach for a quickdraw and the hipbelt is sitting on your gear loop. You open a zip at a hanging belay and your jacket nearly falls out.

This article is for people planning a multipitch trip abroad and buying their first climbing pack. The first half covers six criteria. The second half compares 31 current models from 20 climbing and mountaineering brands, then gives a two-person day plan, an in-store fitting checklist, and a note on using the pack as cabin baggage. By the end you should be able to try a pack on with your harness and helmet and decide whether it can go on the wall.

How it differs from a crag pack

A crag pack carries the rope, the full rack, and lunch for two to the base of the wall. It is large, and its suspension is designed for walking. A multipitch pack holds only what you need while climbing: water, jackets, food, headlamps, and sometimes approach shoes. Climbing's 2026 pack roundup puts these packs at 25 L or less, with a low profile that sits snug against the back and few external pockets and straps, because extra straps snag on rock. The hipbelt is usually a simple webbing strap that stabilizes the pack rather than carrying load.

Switchback Travel's roundup calls these "follower packs": the leader climbs light and the follower carries the pack. The two-person plan below starts from that.

Whether you bring one rope or two, and how long, is covered in the rope section of the gear list by destination. This article is only about the pack.

Six criteria

flowchart TD
  A[Pack water jackets food for two] --> B{Carrying approach shoes too}
  B -->|Return to base no| C[Look at 15–22 L]
  B -->|Walk off yes| D[Look at 24–30 L or clip shoes outside]
  C --> E[Try it on with harness and helmet]
  D --> E
  E --> F{Look up raise arms reach gear loops freely}
  F -->|Blocked| G[Try another back length or shape]
  F -->|Free| H{One-handed opening and a hang point at the belay}
  H -->|No| G
  H -->|Yes| I[Then compare durability and price]

1. Narrow and tall, so turning and reaching stay free

The wider the pack, the more your arms and shoulders brush its sides when you reach back or twist. Switchback describes the BD Rock Blitz 15 as shaped like a bullet that "rides high on the back, close against the body, and out of the way of a harness." Look at the front width first. Between two packs of the same volume, pick the narrower, taller one.

2. Helmet and harness clearance

A pack that is too long causes trouble at both ends. The top edge hits the back of your helmet, so looking up at the next pitch pushes your neck forward. The bottom edge sits on your harness waistbelt and rear gear loops, so you can't reach your gear. Back length matters more than volume; if a model comes in two sizes, try both. Choosing the harness itself is covered in Choosing Your First Climbing Harness.

A removable hipbelt helps. Buckle it on the approach, then remove or stow it before you climb so it doesn't stack on top of your harness. The webbing belt on the Wadi 15 and the belt on the Petzl BUG both come off, as do the belts on larger packs such as the Rab Latok 28 and Hyperlite Summit 30.

3. Water and jackets you can reach at the belay

A belay ledge often has room for two feet and nowhere to set a pack down. A top opening is safer. Gripped's 2026 review of the BUG praises its top-mounted main opening because nothing falls out when you open it at a hanging belay. The same review warns that the front pocket's vertical zip needs care. A full U-shaped zip is handy on the ground and risky on the wall.

There are two ways to carry water. A bladder lets you drink while climbing, but route the hose along the shoulder strap so it doesn't hang near your harness gear. Bottles are easier to manage, but you have to open the pack to reach them. Pack the jacket on top so it's the first thing you grab when the wind picks up.

4. Which point to hang it from, which to haul from: check the manual

Clipping the pack to the anchor at a belay lets you get things out without wearing it. The rope strap on the Wadi 15 doubles as a tether with a 2 kN carabiner. That carabiner is for hanging the pack and is not for protecting people. The Osprey Mutant 22 has a three-point haul system, the Edelrid Rubi has haul loops, and according to Gripped's review and Climbing's roundup, the BUG and the Patagonia Ascensionist 35L have them too.

When you need to haul the pack through a hard section, use only a loop the brand says is for hauling. An ordinary grab handle is made for lifting by hand; if the brand doesn't say it can be hauled, treat it as a hand-carry handle only. Climbing's roundup also says the Wadi is fine for occasional hauling through cruxes, but they wouldn't use it as a daily haulbag. If you plan to haul the whole route, get a haulbag; for the gear and technique, see Hauling on Multi-Pitch Routes.

5. Fabric that stands up to abrasion

A multipitch pack gets dragged across rock, and chimneys are worse. Fabric denier (D) is a rough guide: higher usually means thicker. Switchback says the 840D Rock Blitz holds up in chimneys, and the Wadi 15 uses even heavier fabric. Lightweight packs often use thinner fabric to save weight, like the BD Blitz 20. Choose heavy fabric for granite crack routes. For limestone face routes or alpine days with unsettled weather, a light, waterproof pack is worth considering, such as the X-Pac Grivel Spartan X.

6. Size it from water and clothing: 15–30 L

Put the real items in: water for two (about 1 kg per liter), two wind shells, an insulating layer if needed, food, headlamps, the topo, and a first-aid kit. If you rappel or walk back to the base and can leave your shoes there, 15–22 L is usually enough. If you walk off the other side and both pairs of approach shoes come with you, look at 24–30 L or clip the shoes outside.

Shoes clipped outside swing and snag on rock, so check whether the route allows it. A bigger pack invites stuffing; when it's half full, the compression straps should cinch it tight so it doesn't sway.

31 current models from 20 brands

Prices are list prices on each brand's official store on 2026-10-19, in the store's currency, not converted; where the brand lists no price, a retail price is noted. Weights are the brands' empty weights; where the brand lists none, the retailer figure is marked. The "Review" column lists only third-party reviews from 2020 onward, with personal blogs marked; "—" means none. Models from the same brand are grouped together. Check the official page for haul loop and hipbelt details before you buy.

15–20 L: the core follower packs

22–25 L: more room for layers

27–30 L: carrying approach shoes or going alpine (plus one 35 L)

How to narrow it down: for rock-only days in good weather, pick from the Rock Blitz 15, Wadi 15, and Rubi; on the tightest budget, look at the Simond Alpinism 22. If the same pack should also be your city bag and cabin bag, look at the BUG. For lots of layers or mixed rock and ice, look at the Mutant 22, Trad Zero 24, or Speed 22. If you often climb where it rains, look at the Trad 22 Dry or the Alpha FL packs. For walk-offs with shoes, look at the 28–30 L group.

How two climbers split a day

Say two people climb a route of about eight pitches and walk off the other side, so both pairs of approach shoes come along. The leader climbs light with only the rack on the harness; the follower carries the pack.

If you swap leads, the pack changes hands at every belay, so the straps need to adjust quickly and the hang point needs to be easy to find. If one person leads all day, the other carries the pack all day, and comfort matters more than handover speed.

If water, jackets, and two pairs of shoes already fill a 15 L pack, you have two options: go up to 24–30 L, or clip one pair of shoes outside. Don't leave a necessary warm layer behind just to fit the pack you like.

In-store fitting checklist

Bring your own harness, helmet, water bottle or bladder, a jacket, and if possible your approach shoes.

1. Load the pack, with water filled to what you'd actually carry. An empty pack tells you very little.
2. Put on the harness and helmet, then the pack, and adjust the shoulder and sternum straps.
3. Look up at the ceiling: does the back of your helmet hit the top of the pack?
4. Raise both arms and twist left and right: do the pack's sides catch your arms or shoulders?
5. Reach for the front and rear gear loops with each hand: does the bottom of the pack cover the rear loops?
6. High-step with one foot, then squat: does the pack swing to one side?
7. Remove or stow the hipbelt: is the pack still stable, and are the leftover straps tidy?
8. Find the brand's hang point, hang the pack from a hook, and get the jacket out one-handed through the main opening.
9. Confirm the haul loop (if any) and the ordinary grab handle are two different things.

If it fails item 3 or 5, change size or model. Don't try to fix it by adjusting the straps.

When you fly, it often doubles as the cabin bag

On a multipitch trip abroad, the climbing pack is usually also the carry-on. Shoes, harness, helmet, and jacket travel in it, so you can still climb if your checked bag is lost. In a January 2023 Mountain Project thread, one user said he uses his 15 L multipitch pack as his personal item and his crag pack with the gear as his carry-on. Gripped's review also calls the BUG a brilliant little carry-on for travel.

Personal-item limits are much smaller than cabin-bag limits (EVA Air allows only 10 cm of depth), so measure your pack when it's full. For each airline's cabin and personal-item sizes and how the climbing pack fits with your checked bag and crag pack, see Checked Bags and Cabin Bags. For which hardware security may stop, see Flying with Climbing Gear.

This is the last article in the Climbing Travel Gear series. Go back to the series overview to revisit the reading paths by trip type.

Update log

• 2026-10-24: Linked the hauling paragraph to Hauling on Multi-Pitch Routes.
• 2026-10-19: Expanded the comparison tables from 16 models across 14 brands to 30 models across 20 brands, adding brands such as Grivel, La Sportiva, C.A.M.P., Simond and Wild Country, plus the BD Speed packs, Rab Latok 20, Blue Ice Warthog 30, Ortovox Trad 22 Dry and Arc'teryx Alpha FL 20. Models from the same brand are now grouped, the Patagonia Ascensionist 35L moved into the 28–30 L table, and links to the new official pages and reviews were added. Checked specs against brand data and fixed 4 items, and added the Rab Ascendor 27L to the 28–30 L table, for 31 models.

References

• Climbing: The Best Climbing Backpacks of 2026 (updated 2026-04)
• Switchback Travel: Best Climbing Backpacks of 2026 (2026-06-23)
• Gripped: The Petzl Bug Multi-Pitch Pack: A Review (2026-03-31)
• Climbing: Gear Guide 2020: Deuter Guide Lite 24 Review (2020-04-14)
• Mountain Project: Travel bags to fly to climbing destination (2023-01)
• EVA Air: Carry-on baggage (in Chinese)
• Black Diamond: Rock Blitz 15
• Black Diamond: Blitz 20
• Blue Ice: Wadi 15
• Blue Ice: Dragonfly 18
• Mammut: Trion 15
• Petzl: BUG
• Edelrid: Rubi
• Osprey: Mutant 22
• Millet: Prolighter 22
• Ortovox: Trad Zero 24
• Deuter: Guide Lite 24
• Salewa: Ortles Climb 25
• Rab: Latok 28
• Gregory: Alpinisto LT 28
• Arc'teryx: Alpha FL 30
• Hyperlite Mountain Gear: Summit 30
• Patagonia: Ascensionist 35L
• Advnture: Black Diamond Speed 30 review (2023-05)
• Rock Van Life: Blue Ice Warthog 30 review (2026-08)
• Olympus Mountaineering: Simond Alpinism 22 long-term review (2020-07-25)
• C.A.M.P.: M20
• C.A.M.P.: M20 technical specifications (PDF)
• Planetmountain: C.A.M.P. M20 press release
• Black Diamond: Speed 22
• Black Diamond: Speed 30
• Blue Ice: Warthog 30
• Grivel: Spartan X 20
• Grivel: Spartan X 30
• Rab: Latok 20
• Rab: Ascendor 27L
• Arc'teryx: Alpha FL 20
• Ortovox: Trad 22 Dry
• La Sportiva: Granite 22
• Simond: Alpinism 22
• Wild Country: Syncro
• Wild Country: Progress 25L