The Gregory Paragon 60 is the value comfort pick, and CleverHiker's editor's-choice award winner for the most comfortable pack in their lineup. It pairs a plush, highly adjustable suspension with a sensible 3 lb 8 oz weight and a 50 lb max load, making it a do-everything 60L pack that carries heavy loads comfortably without the bulk of a true expedition pack. It is not as airy as the Osprey Atmos and not ultralight, but its blend of comfort, capacity, weight, and price is hard to beat.
Full review
An adjustable torso and a hip belt that pivots
Fit is the Paragon's argument. The torso length adjusts over a wide range without tools, so one pack covers hikers of quite different proportions, and the hip belt rotates with your stride instead of fighting it. CleverHiker gave it their editor's choice for comfort, over a field that included the Osprey Atmos, and scored it 4.8 out of 5. OutdoorGearLab, at 80 out of 100, singles out the same two things: the adjustability, and the padding on the shoulder straps and belt.
Rated to 50 pounds and comfortable near it
The load rating is 50 pounds and the suspension earns it. SectionHiker's testing found the hip belt genuinely comfortable rather than merely tolerable, which is the difference that shows up on day three rather than day one. The range most people will actually use is the mid-thirties into the low forties, covering heavy desert water carries, a full week of food or a shoulder-season kit with extra insulation, and the Paragon stays composed there where lighter packs start to sag.
Side-zip access and a shoulder pocket for an InReach
Organisation is thought through rather than piled on. A side zip opens the main compartment so you can pull something from the bottom without unpacking from the top, which saves repeated repacking at trailside stops. There is an included raincover, a hydration sleeve, hip-belt pockets, dual front storage, and a stretch-mesh pocket on the left shoulder strap sized for a satellite messenger. At this price that feature list is usually shorter.
3 pounds 8 ounces is light for its class, not light
At 3 pounds 8 ounces the Paragon is light for a comfort pack and heavy next to a real ultralight one. The adjustable suspension that makes it fit so well is part of that weight and part of the complexity, since it is one more mechanism than a fixed-frame pack has. Anyone counting grams will find the Osprey Exos 58 or the Granite Gear Crown3 60 lighter, and will give up load-carrying composure to get there.
Ventilation trails Osprey's suspended mesh
The back panel sits closer to your body than Osprey's floating Anti-Gravity mesh, so in real heat the Paragon breathes less freely. It is good rather than class-leading, and it is the clearest reason to choose the Atmos AG 50 instead. Sixty litres is also more volume than a weekend needs, which quietly encourages overpacking. Those are the trade-offs of a do-everything pack rather than faults, and they are why the choice against the Atmos usually comes down to ventilation against weight.
Strengths
- +Adjustable torso and a rotating hip belt tune the fit precisely; CleverHiker's editor's choice for comfort
- +Rated to 50 pounds and stays composed well into the high thirties and low forties
- +3 pounds 8 ounces is light for a fully padded 60L pack
- +Side-zip access to the main compartment saves unpacking from the top at every stop
- +Included raincover, hip-belt pockets and a shoulder pocket sized for a satellite messenger
Watch-outs
- −Heavier than dedicated ultralight packs despite being light for its comfort class
- −Not as well-ventilated as Osprey's suspended-mesh Anti-Gravity design
- −Adjustable suspension adds some complexity and a few ounces
- −60L can encourage overpacking on shorter trips
How it compares
The value comfort counterpart to the Osprey Atmos AG 50: nearly as plush but lighter and often cheaper, though it does not ventilate as well as the Atmos AG 50. It is heavier and more supportive than the ultralight Osprey Exos 58 and Granite Gear Crown3 60, and it carries heavier loads more comfortably than either, while weighing less than the gear-hauling Deuter Aircontact Core 50+10.
Rating sources
“earned CleverHiker's editor's choice award for being the most comfortable pack in their lineup”
“a great pack particularly for its adjustability and overall comfort, with well-padded shoulder straps and hip belt cushioning and an adjustable torso”
“The hip belt is wonderfully comfortable, and the shoulder straps continued the good news.”
Our 4.4 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
