I bought the Montbell Utility Daypack 20. The list price was 14,800 yen, but I was able to use some reward points I had saved up and got it for about 12,000 yen. When I put it side by side with the Gregory daypack “Mission Day,” which I had been using until now, the overall footprint is about the same, but the Montbell pack is noticeably slimmer. Even when I didn’t carry much inside, the Gregory always felt fairly heavy on my back. In contrast, the Montbell genuinely feels light. The actual weight difference is about 700 g versus 1.1 kg — roughly a 400 g gap — but it feels like an even bigger difference in practice. On crowded trains, when I used to hold the Gregory backpack in front of me, it almost felt like I was carrying a small child because of its bulk. This one, however, is much thinner, so it feels far less cumbersome in tight spaces like trains. It also has plenty of pockets and compartments, and overall it seems very user-friendly. There are two points I’m slightly concerned about.
The second issue is the lack of side pockets, which the Gregory had. Those side pockets were extremely useful in summer for carrying a parasol and a water bottle. In fact, the next model up, the Utility Daypack 25, does have side pockets. I hesitated between the two when purchasing, but ultimately chose this one for its size and slimmer profile. To be honest, I can’t yet say whether I’ll regret that decision, so I’d like to report back on how practical it is once summer comes.