Lightweight or Packable Backpacks - 10 Best Buys

This is a super lightweight pack with a lot of features. It weighs only 15 oz. and can easily be flattened to pack in your luggage. The padding on the back of the bag and the adjustable, non slip straps make it quite comfortable and it's lined in silver - so you won't lose small items in the interior blackness.

Don't expect to pack a bedroll and all your foul weather gear. But you can easily free your hands for taking pictures and carry enough supplies for a day long hike up Mount Snowdon.

Best Feature: Lots of organizational pockets inside.

The makers of this pack call it the Fort Knox of backpacks. It is slash-proof, snatch-proof and tamperproof, with a layer of steel mesh between two nylon layers making it impossible to cut open. The shoulder strap is reinforced with wire steel mesh as well. It comes with a separate, removable compartment for your laptop or papers and has outside compartments for an organizer and a bottle of water. This pack's security features make it ideal for staying hostels, camping barns and other non-secure, group accommodations.

Best Feature: A "lock and leave", removable interlocking mesh cage and cable system is like a portable room safe. It locks shut and then locks to a secure fixture - in a room or car.

Small, lightweight backpack - in a range of unisex colors - adds almost no weight to your luggage. Once you arrive, use it for day walking, short hikes, sightseeing, or carrying a bit of extra shopping.

Best Feature: Remarkably sturdy for its size and weight.

This handy pack folds down into a mini pouch that you could, virtually attach to a key chain, or a belt loop, or tuck into a handbag. Once you've collapsed the bag, it measures only 4.5 inches by 2.5 inches by 1 inch. Yet, once opened into a generously sized backpack, it's 70denier ripstop taffeta is strong enough to manage your lunch, your specs, a couple of bottles of water, a map or two and some cash. What more do you need to schlep around the museums all day?

Best Feature: So cheap (under $10) and so small you can toss it into your suitcase (or mega backpack)without a second thought.

A nice compact size - 15 x 10 x 4 inches, this backpack has tamper-proof zippers, slash-proof shoulder straps and steel wire mesh/nylon/twill sandwich construction that makes it virtually impossible to cut into. If you are a keen photographer, you can carry a couple of lenses, your money and photography accessories in it and forget about them while you snap away.

Best Feature: The main compartment is zipped and the zipper is concealed by a flap very discouraging for pickpockets at big crowd scenes - like rock festivals or Hogmanay parades.

Small and light (it only weighs a pound), this sturdy little bag has a lot of capacity. It's styled with a narrower back panel so that it's more comfortable for women, and it's full of nicely engineered and designed little organizational touches. Zippered side pockets hold a phone and an ipod or similar device. It has a special mesh pocket for water. And it looks good - comes in loads of colors.

Best Feature: An inside organizer holds your camera, pen, coins and little stuff.

A sturdy, full size backpack that packs into its own 6 x 8 inch pouch. Yet shake it open and you can pack a picnic for two, with wine, a camera, a journal and a rain jacket - and still have some room for your wallet or a few cosmetics. It's ripstop nylon and has a front zippered pocket, side mesh water bottle pocket and - amazing considering its size when folded - lightly padded straps.

Best Feature Lockable, double zippers on the main compartment.

Another of Magellan's slash proof packs, this one is a little bit bigger so you can stuff in a change of clothes if you have to. The outside is soft microfiber, concealing the steel mesh reinforcement of sides and bottom. The straps are also slash proof and strong enough to be anchored to a secure fixture in your room or car. The main compartment has a contrasting lining for visibility and several small pockets so you won't misplace your PDA, hone, MP3 player and digital camera. The front, foldover flap and the main compartment close with tamperproof zippers.

Best Feature: A headphone port allows you to listen to music or chat on the phone while you are on the move, rain or shine.

At a weighty 2 lbs empty, this is one of the heavier of this group of lightweights. But it makes up for that by being so comfortable to wear. A web waist belt helps to shift the load. So if you take your laptop, in it's own padded envelope, out into the field, your shoulders won't start aching by the afternoon. There's a two-way zipped main compartment and lots of organizer pockets inside and out.

Best Feature: The iPod pocket is microfleece lined with a headphone exit port.

Light but heavy duty, this daypack pack also comes in a rolling version. You can't really pack it in your luggage, but it makes a very generously sized carry-on bag. After you arrive, it doubles as a useful, capacious pack for longer hikes (stuff in some dry socks and a change of clothes) or serious shopping expeditions. It's made of sturdy ballistic fabric with heavy duty, black hardware and is fully lined. The main compartment is roomy and so are several exterior and interior pockets. The back and shoulder straps are padded for extra comfort.

Best Feature: I like the chunky, square-ish shape, which rests nicely on your back.