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Mountainsmith Divide EVO – The Ultimate EDC Adventure Daypack!
Oct 4, 2025
Looking for the best EDC daypack for adventure and travel? In this review, I take a deep dive into the Mountainsmith Divide EVO backpack — a versatile pack built for both everyday carry (EDC) and outdoor exploration. This video covers everything you need to know about the Mountainsmith Divide EVO, including: ✔️ Storage & organization for EDC gear and travel essentials ✔️ Comfort, fit, and carry design for long days ✔️ Durability and build quality of the materials ✔️ How it performs as a daily carry backpack and as a light adventure/travel pack Whether you’re looking for the best backpack for everyday carry, a travel daypack, or a hiking/adventure EDC pack, this breakdown will help you decide if the Divide EVO is the right choice. 👉 Have questions about the Divide EVO or other backpacks? Drop them in the comments! 👍 If you find this review helpful, please like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more EDC gear reviews, travel packs, and outdoor equipment breakdowns. #EDC #EverydayCarry #BackpackReview #TravelGear #Mountainsmith #AdventureBackpack #Daypack Mountainsmith Divide EVO: http://bit.ly/4gPTVlG Prepared Wanderer AMAZON STORE: https://bit.ly/3Jjs1iO
View Video Transcript
0:01
In today's video, we're going to be
0:02
taking a look at an awesome new EDC pack
0:05
from Mountainsmith. Stick around.
0:09
[Music]
0:26
So, this is probably a very strange
0:28
setting for most of you guys who follow
0:30
the channel to see me in. Um, I'm
0:33
sitting in my hotel room in Houston,
0:35
Texas, and um, I'm preparing for a big
0:38
trade show for the company that I work
0:40
for. And um I thought this was the
0:42
perfect opportunity to actually showcase
0:45
um a new backpack that I received from
0:48
Mountainsmith.
0:50
And I don't do a lot of EDC bag reviews.
0:54
I do a few um most of my stuff is always
0:56
bushcraft and and type survival where
0:59
I'm out in the woods. Um, but um, I love
1:02
a good backpack and finding an EDC
1:05
backpack that can actually carry the
1:08
stuff that I need every day for work has
1:10
been kind of challenging. I haven't been
1:11
able to find anything that I really
1:12
liked. I've went through shoulder bags
1:16
and, you know, laptop cases, all the
1:19
standard stuff that's out there, even
1:22
going to um one of the bigger uh you
1:25
know, laptop backpacks that was just
1:27
overly built and super heavy, too many
1:30
pockets, way way inconvenient. So, when
1:34
Mountainith came out with this backpack,
1:37
the Divide, um in the EVO line,
1:41
uh I really liked it. I it looked good
1:44
from uh first glance at a video that
1:46
they did on their YouTube channel. Um,
1:48
and so I started doing some research and
1:50
I thought this may be the solution for
1:52
me because really what I'm looking for
1:53
is I want something that is simple, um,
1:56
fairly lightweight, uh, easy to access
2:00
and doesn't have too many pockets and
2:03
too much organization because when you
2:06
start adding pockets to backpacks, uh,
2:08
they just become heavy and then you end
2:10
up subdividing all your stuff and you're
2:12
constantly looking for things like, did
2:14
I put it in this pocket or did I put it
2:15
in that pocket? I don't know. So, it
2:17
really becomes a pain in the butt. And I
2:19
wanted to find something that was just
2:20
simple, that worked, but also could hold
2:24
up to the rigors of travel and daily use
2:28
because, you know, EDC, this is truly
2:31
every day I'm using this backpack 5 days
2:34
a week or more. Um, it gets taken from
2:38
my house, thrown in my truck, I drive to
2:41
work, I take it out, I carry all my gear
2:43
in. Um, I'm going on job sites. I'm
2:46
going to meetings offsite. It's coming
2:48
with me. And now I'm traveling with it,
2:50
flying with it. And um I must say it's
2:53
performing pretty well. So this hotel
2:55
room actually makes for a pretty good
2:57
studio. Um nice natural lighting,
3:00
different table heights. I can do a lot
3:02
of stuff with this. So let's go through
3:04
this. Now, if you're uh a follower of
3:07
the channel, you've probably seen one of
3:09
my videos that I did earlier of the
3:11
Mountainsmith Evo Day lumbar pack, which
3:16
um is a fantastic hiking uh waist bag um
3:21
with an integrated shoulder system, uh
3:23
shoulder strap system, and I'm going to
3:25
actually be testing that out this fall,
3:27
probably doing some hunting with it. Um
3:29
it's really perfectly set up for that.
3:30
So, go back and check that video out.
3:32
Um, it's just a it's a fantastic bag.
3:34
And in that video, I talk a little bit
3:36
more about the EVO line.
3:39
Um, but if you're not familiar with this
3:41
line, Mountainsmith came out with a line
3:43
called EVO. And I believe it's really
3:45
just short for evolution because what
3:47
they're doing is they're taking um some
3:50
of their tried andrue bags like the
3:52
Divide um like the tour, like the day
3:55
and they're upgrading them um adding
3:58
some new features, making them a little
4:00
bit more um geared towards uh the
4:04
backcountry hunter um a little bit more
4:07
tactical um in appearance. Uh, but the
4:12
quality on these things and the uh the
4:15
thought they put into these bags is just
4:17
phenomenal. I'm really impressed with
4:19
the EVO line. So, this is my second EVO
4:21
bag and it's fantastic. So, taking a
4:24
look at it, we have um a Velcro field.
4:28
Comes with this Mountain patch that is
4:30
removable. We have a large zipper pocket
4:34
on the front that goes down about 3/4.
4:38
And in here, I've just got a case that
4:41
holds all my cords and and all that good
4:44
stuff. And it does have a keyeper. And
4:48
this is where I put my truck keys. So,
4:50
I'm traveling today. My truck is in
4:53
long-term parking. So, I keep that there
4:55
so I know where to find my keys and
4:56
they're out of the way.
4:59
Outside, we have a stretchy
5:02
side bottle pocket and it fits a variety
5:06
of water bottles. So, this is my circle.
5:10
Fits in there very well. And the cord
5:12
tightener
5:14
for adjusting that water bottle pocket
5:17
is in the back. So, that kind it's kind
5:19
of hangs out of the way. Doesn't get
5:21
caught on things. I haven't had any
5:23
issues with it. I've got it cinched down
5:25
pretty good. Of course, it will fit, you
5:28
know, your standard
5:30
water bottle easily. I actually had two
5:32
water bottles in it this morning. It
5:34
will fit a 32 oz Nene, no problem. So, a
5:37
lot of uh room and um I like the the one
5:42
cord adjustment. I think that's
5:44
fantastic.
5:46
On this side, we have this. I I'm using
5:50
this for a phone pocket, but um it's
5:52
deep enough and big enough you can put a
5:55
lot of different things in here. So,
5:58
my work phone
6:01
goes in here,
6:03
and you could put a couple of phones in
6:05
there.
6:07
Uh only thing that um so far I haven't
6:10
liked about this pocket is I wish the
6:12
Velcro was a little bit uh wider to keep
6:15
that flap down. Now the flap has never
6:17
come open on me at all. But as you can
6:20
see since there's no Velcro here, these
6:22
edges kind of curl up and they kind of
6:24
stick out. I would like to see that
6:26
flatter if possible. So what I do is I
6:30
just try to put pull this down as far as
6:32
possible and catch some of that Velcro.
6:34
But I feel like there should be probably
6:36
more Velcro on this so it's more
6:38
adjustable for different size items. And
6:40
as you can see, it has this very nice
6:43
bright orange interior. And when we open
6:46
up this bag, we're going to see more of
6:48
that.
6:50
On the bottom of the bag, we have two
6:53
rows of PAL's webbing for Molly pouches.
6:58
Moving to the back of the bag, you can
6:59
see that um there is ample padding back
7:03
here with a very nice deep air channel.
7:06
Uh this is probably one of the better uh
7:09
more well done padding uh setups I've
7:12
seen on a backpack. Most of them don't
7:15
do anything. They they look good, but
7:16
they don't really do much. This really
7:18
actually has a a deep channel and this
7:22
wider or or deeper thicker padding right
7:25
here is probably I don't know it's a
7:29
good 1/4 in or deeper um that this
7:33
sticks out. So they get some good
7:34
airflow back here and it's just the
7:36
construction of it's really well done. I
7:38
mean you can see the stitching is very
7:39
nicely done.
7:42
There is tabs right here on the side
7:44
which I think that you would add um a
7:47
waist belt. I don't know if that's an
7:48
option. I haven't really looked into it
7:50
yet. There may be an option. If not,
7:51
maybe you can fashion your own waist
7:53
belt if you feel you need one. Um but
7:56
it's certainly not necessary with this
7:57
size of backpack. And then the straps,
8:00
as you can tell, very ergonomic. Once
8:04
again, nice padding. I like the curve to
8:07
these. They fit my shoulders very well.
8:10
uh they're wide enough so they don't
8:11
pinch. And then we do have a removable
8:15
sternum strap and then adjustment on the
8:18
straps right there. And then they do
8:20
have strap keepers so you don't have a
8:22
lot of dangling strap material hanging
8:25
off. So very well made uh very well
8:28
designed. Nice job. And then
8:31
the final outside feature which um I
8:34
think is kind of sometimes underrated on
8:36
backpacks is we have a really nice um
8:39
grab handle that has a piece of cordura
8:41
material sewn over it. So that helps it
8:45
kind of retain its shape and you're able
8:46
to grab this very quickly and easily um
8:49
and not be searching for it. So you know
8:51
when you're getting on and off planes in
8:53
and out of taxis and Ubers you know
8:56
being able to grab your bag quickly I
8:58
think is essential. You want to be able
9:00
to get to this stuff uh fast and not be
9:02
fumbling around trying to pick this bag
9:04
up.
9:06
Now, there is one more feature on this
9:08
bag that I haven't shown yet, and this
9:10
is uh kind of interesting. There is a
9:13
pocket on the bottom of this bag. And
9:16
the um idea behind it is that this is a
9:19
place to uh put a concealed carry
9:23
pistol.
9:27
And it actually has a tab in here. And I
9:30
don't know if I can get this out and
9:31
show you. So hopefully you can see that
9:33
right there.
9:34
So that um would be a way of securing a
9:38
holster like clipping into that somehow
9:42
and then keeping your firearm down here.
9:45
Now, I'm not sure um if I would ever do
9:48
that. I One thing is that this is not
9:50
padded. So, your gun, if you do put a
9:53
gun back here and you set this thing
9:54
down, it's going to be clanking and it's
9:56
going to be rubbing and hitting your
9:57
gun. I don't particularly care for that.
10:00
This would probably be a better
10:01
application for a hidden uh passport
10:05
wallet, uh some kind of items that you
10:09
want to keep secure. And then you could
10:11
tether into that tab in here and then
10:14
keep this below and hidden. And that way
10:16
this is not easily accessible for
10:18
pickpockets um and thieves if you're
10:22
traveling in the United States or
10:24
abroad. I know that's a big problem in
10:26
Europe. Um so having some kind of hidden
10:29
pocket where you can put things I think
10:31
is a great idea. Now it does not lock.
10:33
There is no security to any of these
10:36
zippers on this bag. That may have been
10:38
a great feature to add, but you do have
10:41
the hidden pocket on the bottom and you
10:42
can really use that however you want.
10:51
So, the zippers come down as far as the
10:53
pockets. This zipper goes down a little
10:55
bit further because this pocket's lower,
10:57
and this one doesn't go down quite as
10:59
far because of the water bottle pocket.
11:02
But, as you can see, when you open this
11:05
thing up,
11:08
take this pouch out.
11:11
So, when you open this thing up, look at
11:13
all that orange material. This thing is
11:15
super bright. It screams at you. And I
11:18
love that because
11:21
uh it it really allows you to find
11:23
things very easily and quickly. And you
11:26
probably can't see too well in the
11:28
video, but the there's an imprint of
11:31
like a topographic map um on this
11:33
material. So, pretty cool. Nice little
11:35
attention to detail. Now, the big pocket
11:38
in the back here is deep enough to hold
11:41
a fulls size clipboard and a manila
11:43
envelope, which um I think is fantastic
11:48
because if you're truly, you know, using
11:50
this for travel and business, you're
11:52
going to have full-size items like
11:54
magazines, envelopes, stuff like that.
11:57
Um so, I've got a variety of items in
12:00
here, and it's very deep, and it it hits
12:03
all those very well, fits them very
12:04
well. And then we got a pocket here. We
12:07
got a small pen pocket that'll fit a
12:08
couple of pens. Don't need a lot. And
12:10
then a mesh pocket here, which I've just
12:12
got my my earbuds. And then this thing
12:16
goes down
12:18
pretty deep.
12:20
So, another feature on the inside of
12:22
this bag is this pocket right here. And
12:25
it's kind of interesting. So, this is a
12:27
mesh pocket with a zipper. And what I've
12:31
done is I keep my business cards in
12:34
here, right? But below that, it is
12:37
padded. There's a padded pocket that is
12:40
fleece line. And this is where I put my
12:42
reading glasses. Um, so it's a great
12:45
place for reading glasses, sunglasses,
12:48
whatever. It's a nice protective pocket.
12:50
What's cool about it is it's on the lid
12:54
as you open it and it's right at the top
12:56
so you can access this thing very
12:57
quickly and it also keeps it up out of
13:01
the storage area so it's not going to
13:03
get squished. It's not going to be hard
13:06
to get at. You're going to be able to
13:07
get to this very quickly, very easily.
13:09
And it's just um it's a great option how
13:12
they did that. I really like that design
13:14
feature. It works perfectly in this
13:16
configuration and it really doesn't
13:19
impede my ability to get inside the bag.
13:23
And what's interesting about this bag is
13:26
this is the main pocket. This is not a
13:28
separate admin pocket. This is it. This
13:30
is where everything goes. And you can
13:32
tell how deep that is,
13:36
right? Very deep.
13:39
So, you're wondering where does the
13:41
laptop go? because obviously you're
13:43
going to need that if this is a true EDC
13:46
bag. Well, the laptop compartment is on
13:49
the outside of the bag down the side
13:53
lined with the orange material. Once
13:55
again, this fits a 15-in laptop
13:58
perfectly easily. I love that it is
14:01
outside of the bag because I can get to
14:05
it quickly when I'm in meetings. I don't
14:07
have to fumble around going into the
14:09
interior of the bag to to find my
14:10
laptop. It is right there. And the
14:13
padding on this is fantastic. There's
14:17
actually a stiffener panel. I would say
14:20
it's probably some type of HDP or
14:23
plastic of some sort in there along with
14:25
padding so your laptop is protected, but
14:28
it's also uh protecting your back from
14:30
the laptop. So, a nice um nice container
14:35
in here to hold your laptop and keep it
14:38
nice and safe. Now, one thing about this
14:41
bag, um there really isn't any uh
14:46
ability to run a hydration bladder. So,
14:49
if you're going to use this backpack as
14:51
double duty,
14:53
um it it would be difficult because
14:55
there is no um ports or holes up here
14:59
for a hose. And I mean, you could
15:01
probably put a hydration bladder back in
15:05
here and then just run that out the top.
15:07
Uh these zippers stay where they they're
15:10
supposed to. They do not come down. So
15:12
you could probably run a tube right
15:14
there. But my not mistaken there is no
15:18
hanger for a bladder. So it's really not
15:20
designed for that. But what I like about
15:22
this backpack is
15:25
um you easily
15:28
can use this as a travel bag. um where
15:32
you are going from, you know, traveling
15:36
with your electronics and your laptop
15:38
and stuff like that, getting to your
15:39
hotel, taking those things out, and then
15:42
adding in some hiking stuff, and then
15:44
going hitting the trail or doing some
15:45
sightseeing. I think it's a good bag
15:47
that you're going to be able to do both
15:49
those things easily.
16:28
All right, I hope you found this video
16:30
useful. Please check out the uh link
16:33
down below to Mountainsmith and the EVO
16:35
line. They are really coming out with
16:37
some cool stuff. Um, you know, the
16:39
construction and material on this thing
16:41
is uh far superior than most things I'm
16:44
seeing on the market. It's a Cordura
16:45
build. Uh, the attention to detail is
16:48
very nice. They've really thought this
16:49
thing out. And Mountain Smmith is a US
16:51
company. Um, I've talked to uh their
16:54
team members and they put a lot of
16:56
thought into this this stuff that they
16:59
make and um, you know, I think the EVO
17:02
line has some very cool options uh, for
17:07
you know, hunting, but also for travel
17:10
and EDC. And they even have some really
17:12
coolers that they've come out with some
17:14
softsided coolers. And of course, the
17:15
day lumbar pack and the tour lumbar pack
17:18
are fantastic. I'm going to be testing
17:20
those out more this year, but I've done
17:22
a video on that. So, uh, you know,
17:25
Mountain Smmith is one of those brands
17:28
that has been around for a very long
17:30
time and, uh, has, you know, keeps
17:33
developing, evolving, and that's what
17:35
EVO line is all about is that evolution
17:37
of that brand and they've done a
17:39
fantastic job. So, I love this pack.
17:41
This is my new EDC work pack. Um, I
17:45
don't see any reason to change this
17:48
thing. It hauls everything I need to.
17:51
And as always, thank you so much for
17:53
watching. If you like this kind of
17:55
content, please subscribe, like, share,
17:58
hit that bell notification, all that
18:00
good stuff that you're supposed to do.
18:02
Leave a comment down below. Tell me what
18:03
you think about this. And we will see
18:05
you next time on the Prepared Wanderer.