We recently received several products from FlowFold to test and evaluate. I reviewed their Vanguard Wallet which has been working out really well as a lightweight minimalist wallet. In this short review we are taking a look at the Optimist 10 Liter Mini Backpack.

Honestly one of the best things I like about the Optimist pack is the reduced size. Because it is only 10 liters, you are really forced to think about what you’re loading into the backpack. I just got back from a trip to Virginia Beach where I used this pack as my beach bag every day as well as carrying around town during the evenings.

The pack was extremely comfortable to carry day in day out and posed no issues. One contributing factor to that is that the packs capacity is only 10 liters, so you can’t really pack 20 liters worth of gear into this 10 liter pack. Outstanding design!

Even with no padding on the shoulder straps I had no discomfort carrying this pack for a few hours at a time with a minimal loadout. I typically only had a towel, water bottle, first aid kit and battery pack to keep my iPhone charged throughout the day.

The material and YKK taped zippers held up extremely well to the sand and salt water that were thrown at it everyday for the past week. Between the salt water and high humidity everything seems to get that sticky damp feeling, but all the contents of the pack remained dry and free from sand.

Overall I’ve been impressed so far. I intend on taking this pack out to Salt Lake City this coming week for the Outdoor Retailer conference and using it as my daily bag while there. The Optimist packs can collapse down to a very small footprint so that you can stuff it into a larger bag for use as a backup bag for all the free stuff you tend to acquire while at these conferences.

From the FlowFold website:

Small in stature yet infinitely practical, the Optimist Limited steps up where a full-size pack feels excessive. It offers a main compartment and outside stash pocket—both sealed with water repellent zippers. This mini backpack is fit for the essentials you bring on a bike ride, short hike, or early fish.

CAPACITY
10 Liters

DIMENSIONS
Main Compartment: 18″ H x 9.5″ W x 5″ D
Outer Pocket: 6.5″ x 11″

WEIGHT
9.7 oz / 275g

MATERIALS
Fabric: X-Pac™️ or Lite Skin™️: Ultra lightweight, water resistant outdoor fabric with the best strength to weight ratio on the market. Ballistic nylon webbing.
Zippers: YKK Water Repellent

MSRP
$75.00 direct from FlowFold