Tricked-Out & Affordable Ultralight Backpack: Outdoor Vitals Shadowlight 60 Review

Pushing the last backpacking trip of the year to late fall in Colorado’s high peaks comes with a near guarantee of bad weather — but outlandish beauty in exchange. And pure solitude if you get deep enough. I hoofed it deep into Colorado’s Gore Range just past the peak of the fall colors. Cold, wet, and worth it.

Outdoor Vitals’ overhauled Shadowlight 60 ($275) carried the load. It’s an ultralight adventure-ready backpack at a competitive price point that proved a solid companion in the shoulder season. The 60L pack has the volume for my 0-degree down bag, my huge puffy jacket, and more.

Big, external pockets kept my rain gear immediately at hand when the sky opened up. Just shy of 2 pounds, it kept my base weight low. But best of all, it was surprisingly comfortable for the ultralight category.

Nearly every feature felt dialed — the bottle access, weight transfer, and pocket layout. It feels as though the designers obsessed over every detail and seam. That makes this pack feel closer to a work of craftsmanship than something mass-produced. As I cracked open my favorite small-batch pale ale at a soggy campsite, it struck me — the Shadowlight 60 is the craft beer of backpacks. (And yes, a beer or two is always worth the weight.)

In short: Outdoor Vitals’ overhauled Shadowlight 60 backpack is characterized by big, accessible pockets peppering the outside for more efficient access to necessities and less trailside pack explosion. It is one of the few sub–2-pound ~60 L packs under $300. The Shadowlight 60 carries the load on carbon stays that move weight comfortably to the hips. This pack was made for thru-hikers, fast packers, and distance backpackers.

Compare the Outdoor Vitals Shadowlight 60L Backpack to those on GearJunkie’s guide to the Best Ultralight Backpacks.

Outdoor Vitals Shadowlight 60 Review

The Shadowlight 60 is a value-oriented sub–2-pound backpack. It’s an overhaul of the original, which launched in 2020, rather than being new from the ground up. Outdoor Vitals put in the work figuring out how to upgrade the original Shadowlight.

The brand improved on nearly everything while retaining the original silhouette — suspension system, back panel, mesh pocket fabric, waist belt, pocket closure systems, and lashing loops sprinkled about. But in true ultralight backpacker fashion, they managed to do it without increasing the weight.

Carry System

The Shadowlight 60 was unusually comfortable on the trail despite the ultralight pedigree. It’s the highlight of this backpack. Big, padded hip straps give cushy support to the load that didn’t bruise my hips over time. They’re the type of hip cushion that you typically find on much heavier packs from brands like Osprey. It’s the kind of pack that’s easy to forget you’re wearing when you get into a hiking groove.

Some of that fit can be attributed to sizing. Outdoor Vitals offers the Shadowlight 60 in three torso sizes and five hip belt sizes. In total, there are 15 different sizing combinations available. Regular/Medium mapped almost perfectly onto my 6’1”, 195-pound body.

Pack structure is handled by two vertical carbon stays within the back panel that allow the pack’s weight to transfer to the hip belt. It wasn’t subtle. The Shadowlight 60 carries medium weights surprisingly well for its lightweight build, thanks to the effective load adjustment straps positioned above the shoulder straps. Outdoor Vitals recommends a maximum carry weight of 40 pounds.

The pack stays light and affordable without skimping on comfort by utilizing a simple foam back panel with cutouts for breathability. It’s an effective setup. The foam was plenty thick to keep my back comfortable, even if the breathability was nothing to write home about.

The one small tradeoff of such a lightweight, nonrigid back panel is that the pack can deform when you overstuff it. It morphs into the shape of your favorite beer keg. At one point, I had my stove poking into my middle back in a way that got annoying over time.

It was easy to adjust when I packed more consciously. I ended up overstuffing more heavily in the side-to-side rather than front-to-back axis to keep the pack’s shape comfortable. It’s not as rock-solid as packs with heavier frames, though.

Pockets and Storage

The Shadowlight 60 had plenty of packing volume for shoulder-season backpacking. Yes, 60 L is even overkill for summertime, but I love that you can roll down the top of the 49L main compartment if you’re not using the full volume of the pack.

But fall in the Rockies called for my warmer sleeping bag and a few extra layers to keep the chill at bay. So, with my lightweight (but not outrageously minimalist) kit, I didn’t have a problem maxing out the internal capacity.

The pack’s design lends itself to packing the main compartment and leaving it closed until you hit camp. Everything that may or may not need to be accessible during the hike can be stowed in external pockets. The Shadowlight 60 is absolutely covered in them. Outdoor Vitals claims that the six external pockets add over 15 L to the pack’s volume, which is nothing to sneeze at.

The defining characteristic of the Shadowlight 60 is the pair of tall, vertical, tube-shaped UltraStretch pockets on the outside of the pack whose fabric is both tough and stretchy. Those external pockets are split by an 18-inch vertical zipper that opens directly into the main pack body, so you can access a good portion of the pack’s contents rather than pulling them out from the top. It’s a unique feature for backpacks like this one.

The tradeoff is that instead of one big outside pocket, you’ve got two smaller, more slender tube-style pockets. They’re useful, though, even if they aren’t the easiest shape to pack. I tended to stuff my rain jacket in one and a grid fleece in the other. Between those two pockets and the two upper side pockets, the Shadowlight 60 was all about easy access to stuff.

The two lower side pockets were clearly designed for large water bottles (Nalgenes and the like). Most importantly, it was easy to grab and replace bottles while wearing the pack with one hand. And when the bottles were holstered, they stayed put even when I bent down. You’d think it’s a low bar, but it’s worth mentioning just the same.

Inside the main cavity hangs a detachable water bladder pocket. I tend to rely on water bottles, especially because they’re so easy to access on the Shadowlight, so I removed it pretty quickly. But water tube enthusiasts will be glad to hear it’s an option.

The sheer number of pockets borders on overkill. I didn’t have enough stuff to fill all those external pockets and still need easy access to the interior. Still, it made organization easier, and it was great avoiding a full gear explosion at camp. Backpackers accustomed to packs with lids (aka brains) for all the odds and ends will appreciate the compartments.

Value vs. Tradeoffs

The Shadowlight 60 is one of the few packs in this weight (Ultralight Backpacks guide meet that criteria. Even fewer are as fully featured and comfortable.

The tinkerers at Outdoor Vitals figured out how to pack in the value at an approachable price point. They even managed to weave in a proprietary blend of UHMWPE and Robic fibers to keep the whole thing light and tough. It’s not fully UHMWPE like some higher-end packs. However, it’s also more than 30% cheaper than a competitor from Hyperlight.

The rolltop may have you thinking otherwise, but this pack isn’t waterproof like some higher-end models. That won’t matter to many users, but it could be a dealbreaker for trekkers in wet climates. It wore on me this fall. But for a lot of folks, the lack of waterproofing is an acceptable tradeoff when paired with a rain cover, considering the pack’s price and weight.

Qualms

The Shadowlight 60 has a lot going on: lots of features, lots of pockets, and lots of protrusions. Its design language may be polarizing to a small number of users, especially those who prefer a simpler, more tube-style pack like the brand’s own CS40. But given that it’s primarily an aesthetic preference, I’m leaving it out of the “cons” column.

Other than the aforementioned barreling back panel, my other qualm with the Shadowlight 60 is its refusal to sit upright on the ground. This is a tradeoff of the “self-compressing curved bottom” design, which ostensibly funnels gear toward the wearer’s back.

Since my sleeping bag is always stuffed in the bottom, I’m not sure that I appreciated the design. The curved bottom panel means that when you set the pack down on the ground, it falls down almost aggressively. It’s annoying.

Outdoor Vitals Shadowlight 60 Backpack: Conclusion

The Outdoor Vitals Shadowlight 60 is a comfortable ultralight backpack at a great price. It’s one of those rare pieces of gear that makes you think, “Why would I need something more than this?”

Sure, some ultralight packs are lighter. Some add more structure, and some are fully waterproof. And man, do I miss packs that sit upright on their own.

But the Shadowlight 60 does a lot for $275. It’s comfortable even with decently heavy (30+ pounds) backpacking loads. It’s got more external pockets than I know what to do with. In true thru-hiking fashion, you can strap just about anything to the outside using the lash points peppering the exterior. The storage options are flexible and seemingly unlimited, to say the least.

The Shadowlight 60’s handmade feel is like my favorite pale ale. Just right in so many ways, as if an artisan tinkered with the straps, structure, and pockets over time without undermining the recipe, where each batch is just a slightly better iteration.

With a price that competes fiercely with the backpack “macro-breweries,” the Shadowlight 60 is worth a look for lightweight backpackers and thru-hikers across the experience spectrum who want solid value without many tradeoffs.