In 1977, in San Diego, a young pack designer named Wayne Gregory who had been building backpacks since his teens opened Gregory Mountain Products with a radical premise: a backpack should be fitted like a pair of boots, in multiple sizes, molded to the body. In an era of one-size-fits-all rucksacks, Gregory treated load carriage as a serious engineering discipline. The big-pack world still runs on that idea.
The short version: Gregory, founded 1977 and owned by Samsonite, makes some of the best-carrying backpacking packs in the world, especially at heavier loads. Buy it for multi-day and expedition backpacking, where its suspension shines. For ultralight fast-and-light trips, the featherweight specialists go lighter; Gregory’s genius is carrying weight comfortably, not eliminating it.
Where Gregory came from
Wayne Gregory was to packs what a bootfitter is to feet: obsessed with the interface between load and body. The brand pioneered multiple torso sizes and genuinely adjustable suspensions. Ownership now sits with luggage giant Samsonite, which has largely left the mountain product alone, and the Baltoro (men’s) and Deva/Katmai (women’s) remain reference-standard haulers.
What they actually make well
Big backpacking and expedition packs, the heartland: the Baltoro and Deva carry heavy loads better than almost anything. Strong daypacks and travel packs round it out. Where Osprey is the default all-rounder, Gregory is the specialist you want when the load gets serious.
Built to last?
Build quality is excellent and warranty support solid; these are packs that outlast the trips you bought them for. Sustainability progress (recycled fabrics, bluesign materials) tracks the industry without leading it, and there is no marquee repair program on the level of the brands that headline this series on that front.
The causes they actually fund
Gregory’s giving is quieter and less branded than the activist leaders in this series, oriented to trail and outdoor-access support. Honesty requires saying the cause story here is thinner than the product story, which is exceptional.
Where this gear comes from, and where it earns its place
Born in San Diego, proven wherever the itinerary is measured in nights, not hours: the long approaches and high camps of the Colorado Plateau backcountry and any multi-day line on the Trail Atlas.
The honest take
Gregory packs are not the lightest, and if counting grams is your religion, look elsewhere. But if you are carrying a heavy load for days and want your hips and shoulders intact at the end, few brands carry weight as gracefully. Buy Gregory for the hard, heavy trips.
Backpacks fitted like boots, an idea from 1977 that still holds the summit. More makers in Brands We Love. Last verified July 2026.