• Storage and Organization 90% 90%
  • Comfort 90% 90%
  • Durability 70% 70%

Price: $65

Dimensions: 18x10x9”

Weight: 1lbs

What We Like: Versatile for urban or backcountry uses

What We Don’t: May not be great as an “office” EDC pack

Osprey has upgraded an already great pack. The Daylite Plus is perfect for just about any day trip, whether that’s into the city or for a long hike. The organization is excellent, and the stuff pocket on the front of the pack is great for those days where you aren’t sure if you’ll need a coat or not. The Daylite is also compatible with several of Osprey’s larger travel packs and would be an excellent carry-on bag while exploring the planet. At $90, there are very few reasons why you shouldn’t buy the Daylite just to see where in your life you need a great little backpack.
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What would a backpack list be without an Osprey on it? The Daylite Plus is a revamped edition of the old Daylite. Osprey originally created the Daylite Series as more of a travel companion to their other larger travel bags. You could attach the Daylite onto a large pack like the Aether/Ariel, Volt/Viva, or Farpoint travel backpacks (to name a few). Having a smaller backpack while traveling has great benefits—especially so that when you reach a city, you do not need to haul around your larger pack while exploring the local streets. Now the Daylite Plus can still work as a great add on to a larger Osprey pack, but it is now a very capable stand-alone EDC backpack as well.
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Storage and Organization

Though small, this pack is mighty when it comes to organization. As it only holds 20l of gear, the Osprey Daylite Plus has great storage compartments. Inside the main compartment, there is a padded laptop sleeve that is made secure with a buckle. Behind the main compartment, there is also a hydration bladder pocket, which is great for using this pack as a small hiking daypack as well. If you would like a more detailed list of our preferred hiking daypacks, check out our Best Hiking Daypacks of 2021 article.

Best Everyday Carry Backpacks: Osprey Daylite Plus Backpack - Gear Hacker
Along the outside of the backpack are dual water bottle pockets—large enough for a Nalgene, though it may be tight. Near the top of the pack, there is a zippered pocket that is great for holding small valuables and keeping them organized outside of the main compartment. This is a superb location for snacks and candy…but that’s just us.
Best Everyday Carry Backpacks: Osprey Daylite Plus Backpack - Gear Hacker

There is also a great stretch stuff pocket, perfect for storing an extra layer of clothing. It even has a drain hole at the bottom in case you run into any less than perfect weather. On the outside of the stuff pocket is a small zippered pocket, which is a great spot for a phone or wallet. We think that the Osprey Daylite Plus is a perfect mix of hiking and commuting, and though the look is definitely more outdoorsy, the organization is excellent for either pursuit.

Comfort

Do we even need to get into comfort? It’s an Osprey pack after all. It would have been hard to build a massive backpacking company without knowing how to make your backpacks so that they keep people happy on the go.
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The Daylite is built very practically. It uses a stretch mesh over slotted foam for that signature backpanel ventilation. The shoulder straps are Spacermesh, meaning they can breathe to reduce sweaty shoulders. The pack does include a thin hipbelt, which is fine for the size of the backpack, but it is hard to get a super heavy bag with only 20l of storage. The hipbelt is a great addition in case the backpack does find itself on the trails or out on a long day exploring a new city.

Material and Durability

The Osprey Daylite Plus is made using a 210D Double Diamond Ripstop Nylon, which is solid stuff. Nothing will quite compare to the 1000D Cordura that the GoRuck GR1 uses, but you do not really need to. The pack itself only weighs 1lbs, compared to the 3.2 of the GoRuck, so it is already lighter and has better organization in our opinion. At the end of the day, each pack serves different markets in the EDC world, so let’s not compare apples and oranges.

Any Double Diamond Ripstop Nylon will be more than capable of handling 20l of gear as well as the wear and tear of travel or hiking. So do not worry about your pack breaking mid trip and spilling your worldly possessions onto the streets of Kathmandu.
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The Bottom Line

As an everyday carry in the urban jungle, the Osprey Daylite Plus may stick out a bit. The backpack comes in five great color options, but the colors are all outdoorsy in style and look. We at Gear Hacker have no problem with that, but our workspaces may be a bit different than yours.

The storage and organization on the backpack is great, and having a hydration sleeve is an even better addition. If you find that you like to be able to do a multitude of activities with one backpack, the Daylite Plus could very well be the multi-use pack you have been looking for—especially at the very reasonable price of $90. Are you serious, Osprey?! $90 for such a great little backpack? It is hard to believe. At that price, you should just get one for the fun of it because you will find a use for this pack.

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We participate in affiliate programs to help us fund Gear Hacker. Some of the links in this website are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase a product using our link, we will earn a small commission. Don’t worry! This comes at no additional cost to you, and we will never base our reviews on whether or not we earn a commission off of a product. With that said, if you find our review helpful and decide to purchase an item we review, we would be very appreciative if you use our links to do so. It will help us bring you more awesome content in the future!