I have my wife, Sarah, to thank for a lot of things, like supporting my volatile writing career and loving me unconditionally. She鈥檚 also the person who introduced me to the , which launched 35 years ago. She first used one of these fanny packs on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters when she was 15 years old. Nineteen years later, Sarah still uses it almost every weekend, and I often steal it for my own adventures.
Fanny packs get a bad rap鈥攖hey get 鈥渦gly鈥 and 鈥渄orky鈥 thrown at them a lot. But here鈥檚 the thing: They are fantastically useful. A friend鈥檚 mom uses one because she has shoulder problems and can no longer hike with a regular daypack. Some parents I know use them as outdoorsy diaper bags. Photographers use them to stash spare lenses. Nowadays, the old-school packs come with modern niceties, like a tablet sleeve, phone pocket on the belt, and a headphone port, making them even more versatile.
Sarah and I primarily use ours for day hikes. Rather than schlep around a heavy, hot backpack, we opt for the lightweight Tour. It鈥檚 small enough to stay out of the way, but, at nine liters, it鈥檚 big enough to be genuinely useful. 鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 committing to a backpack鈥攜ou鈥檙e committing to a belt,鈥 Sarah says. There鈥檚 enough room inside for a day鈥檚 worth of calories and water, plus an extra layer.
As with all fanny packs, we like being able to turn the Tour around to access whatever鈥檚 inside. And thanks to the shoulder strap, it can also be worn like a messenger bag. (The new version has a tuck-away waist belt so it isn鈥檛 in your way when you鈥檙e wearing the bag messenger-style.) Sarah鈥檚 a fan of the wide, padded belt: Unlike some other fanny packs, which are hard to cinch down, the Tour鈥檚 belt has enough heft to ride comfortably on her lower back and never sag.
The packs are made from tough Cordura fabric; as a result, ours has never torn or even shown any major signs of wear, despite nearly two decades of use.
Really the Tour鈥檚 only downside that I can think of is its zippers, which can be finicky. I know a photographer who鈥檚 had to replace the main zipper a couple times because he yanked on it while chasing action, and it broke off. That said, the zipper hasn鈥檛 caused him to ditch the pack.
There are trendier fanny packs, like the . Or you could go the fluorescent route, or As for us, we鈥檙e sticking with the Tour. For Sarah, who grew up in Indiana, this pack was her first piece of outdoor gear, and she loved the rugged, mountain aesthetic. Nowadays, we live in Ashland, Oregon, a recreational mecca, and the pack fits in perfectly anytime we wear it out.