I used to hike every weekend. Not serious mountaineering — I'm a 36-year-old IT consultant from Cardiff, not an alpinist — but proper hill days in the Brecon Beacons, the Gower, occasionally up to Snowdonia for something more demanding. It was the thing I did for myself. The thing that reset my head after a week of screens and meetings and the particular low-grade stress of a job that never fully switches off.
Then life got complicated. A house move, a promotion that came with more responsibility than I'd anticipated, a relationship that took up the time and energy that hiking used to occupy. Three years passed. I still thought of myself as someone who hiked. I just hadn't done it.
The Excuse I Kept Making
When I finally decided to get back out, I ran into a problem I hadn't expected: my old pack. It was a 30-litre rucksack I'd bought years ago for multi-day trips, heavy even when empty, with a frame and a hip belt and all the infrastructure of a serious expedition pack. Putting it on for a day walk felt absurd. It was like driving a lorry to the corner shop.
I kept telling myself I'd sort out a proper daypack before going out. That became the excuse. Weeks passed. The hills stayed unvisited.
Eventually I recognised what I was doing and just bought the pack.
Why I Chose the Salomon Trailblazer 10
I knew I wanted something small, light, and from a brand I trusted. Salomon has been making trail running and hiking gear for decades — their kit is used by serious athletes and serious hikers, which means the performance credentials are genuine rather than marketing. The Salomon Trailblazer 10 kept coming up in the forums and reviews I was reading, consistently praised for the same things: how light it feels on the back, how well the ergonomic harness system eliminates bounce, and how the 10-litre capacity is the sweet spot for a day out without carrying unnecessary weight.
Ten litres sounds small, but for a day hike it's exactly right. Water, a layer, some food, a first aid kit, a map, a phone. Everything you actually need, nothing you don't. The minimalist approach forces you to pack properly rather than throwing things in and carrying the consequences up a hill.
The clean, modern aesthetic was also a factor. I wanted something that worked as well in the city — commuting, day trips, the occasional overnight train journey — as it did on a trail. The Trailblazer 10 looks like a considered piece of kit rather than a piece of outdoor equipment that announces itself loudly in an urban context.
The First Walk Back
I drove up to the Brecon Beacons on a Saturday morning in October — the first proper hill day in three years. Pen y Fan, the straightforward route up from the Storey Arms, nothing technical. I wanted to ease back in rather than overreach and put myself off.
The pack was on my back and essentially forgotten within ten minutes of starting. That's the best thing I can say about a daypack: you stop noticing it. The ergonomic harness sits close to the back without any of the shifting or bouncing that cheaper packs produce on uneven ground. The weight — what little there was — was distributed evenly. I didn't adjust the straps once during the four-hour round trip.
Standing on the summit of Pen y Fan for the first time in three years, I felt something I'd forgotten I was missing. The particular quality of silence at altitude. The physical satisfaction of having earned the view. The reset that only comes from being properly outside, properly away from everything, for a sustained period of time.
Since That First Walk
I've been out every weekend since, with one exception when work genuinely couldn't be avoided. The Trailblazer 10 has been on every one of those walks. I've used it in rain, in wind, on rocky scrambles and long ridge walks. The durable materials have handled everything without any sign of wear. The zips run smoothly, the fabric hasn't scuffed or abraded, the harness system is as comfortable on walk twenty as it was on walk one.
I've also started using it for trail running — shorter distances, nothing serious, but the bounce-free fit that makes it good for hiking makes it equally good for running. It's become the bag I reach for whenever I'm going anywhere that involves moving under my own power.
What Getting Back Out Has Done for Me
I'm sleeping better. I'm less reactive at work. The low-grade background stress that had become my normal operating state has reduced to something more manageable. I knew, intellectually, that regular time outdoors was good for me — I'd experienced it for years before I stopped. But you forget, when you're in the middle of a busy period, how much you're relying on the coping mechanisms you've let slip.
The Salomon Trailblazer 10 didn't do any of that. I did. But removing the excuse — the wrong pack, the friction of getting started — was what made it possible. Sometimes the thing standing between you and the habit you want to have is smaller than you think.
My Verdict
If you're looking for a lightweight daypack that disappears on your back, handles everything a full day on the hills requires, and looks good enough to use as an everyday bag too, the Salomon Trailblazer 10 is the one I'd recommend without hesitation. It's the pack that got me back on the hills. I don't think I'll be stopping again.
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Rhys Cavendish is an IT consultant and recovering workaholic based in Cardiff. He now hikes every weekend without exception and is planning a three-day traverse of the Brecon Beacons that his colleagues have been told will "definitely not affect his availability on Monday."
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