Review: Montem Diadema 18L Hiking Pack
Trying to shed the pounds that are associated with your hiking gear? There is something to be said about the push to lighten all gear, including the backpacks that we use to carry it all. Sometimes lightweight gear isn't as good as its bulkier and heavier cousins, but sometimes lightweight is just what you needed.
Diadema 18L Daypack from Montem
In the case of the Diadema 18L Daypack, we think Montem generally found the mark for a lightweight, yet durable and comfortable daypack. We have a few quibbles, mostly related to our own personal likes, but overall, this daypack was comfortable to wear, easy to pack and helped us hike along in a lighter kind of way.
Constructed from water-resistant ripstop nylon, the pack is durable, but light at the same time. Thanks to the nylon and the lack of stiff materials, this daypack is very easily packed into other gear or luggage, something that came in very handy on some recent travels where we wanted a daypack, but we didn't want to lug around our larger and heavier daypack.
The Diadema 18L Daypack, as the name suggests, offers 18 liters of storage space in one large main area. It offers small front pocket, but no side pockets. There are padded shoulder straps, a chest strap and a waist strap.
The pack weighs just four ounces overall and measures 20 x 13.4 x 5 inches.
We used the Diadema on a number of hikes over the Fall and Winter months and found it to be comfortable and incredibly lightweight when compared to other daypacks that we have used. We would have liked to have a waist strap that was more padded, but the unpadded strap did serve its purpose and we did not find it too uncomfortable. We would have also liked to have seen pockets on the side of the pack where one could put a water bottle. While we realize the pack is designed with water bladders in mind, some of us still enjoy our bottles and it's always nice to be able to grab them without having to take the pack off and then put it back on.
We did hikes both on and off trail with the Diadema and the nylon material held up fine under both conditions. We're sure that the pack was poked and prodded by errant branches during the bushwhack and there haven't been any tears or rips to the material. We also hiked in the rain and the material was water-resistant as advertised. We'd still pack important items in waterproof bags inside, but for shedding off a light rain or snow, this material was more than water-resistant enough. Given that the pack after several months of regular use looks good beyond some dirt, we expect that this material, along with the stitching and straps will stand up for years to come.
The pack is big enough for almost any day hike we could think of throwing at it. If we had a an overnight trip planned, the pack likely would do okay for that too, though more than a night or so and the pack would probably start to feel too small.
In the end
We were really amazed when we first picked up this pack. It was that light! While not ultra-light enthusiasts, we see the benefit in reducing pounds where they aren't needed. The Diadema 18L Daypack proved to be very light, durable, water-resistant and comfortable to wear. If you are looking for a very light daypack that will meet most hiker's needs, then you should check out this daypack.
We received a free pack from Montem in exchange for review here at Adventures in the Outdoors.
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