Backpack long enough and you’ll run into this dilemma: After a long day of hiking, you’re hunting and scrounging around in your pack for a granola bar or headlamp. But your once–well-packed bag has already become a disorderly hodgepodge of gear.
This is all the more likely to happen with ultralight packs, which tend to lack pockets and internal organization. The solution is the humble ditty bag, as backpackers call them, and brands are finding ways to innovate this seemingly basic pouch with different fabrics and designs.
Why Use Ditty Bags?
This category covers all manner of small, lightweight, zippered pouches that are vastly superior to my old technique of just using plastic bags. A ziplock pack is not going to survive a 200-mile thru-hike, and they all look the same. And of course, there are organizers and stuff sacks from brands like Sea to Summit and Eagle Creek.
However, ditty bags, typically made out of water-resistant nylon, are durable, rigid, and do a better job protecting their contents, all at a lighter weight.
These pouches help me access whatever I need in a flash. I use different colors and brands of ditty bags for different items: white for my poop kit, blue for my electronics, green for my snacks, and orange for my first-aid kit. When I need a band-aid, I can open my pack, and in an instant, spot my orange bag, get what I need, and carry on.
While I love my ultralight packs from Gossamer Gear and Six Moon Designs, they literally have no internal organization. The inside of the pack’s body is just one cavernous compartment.
Without ditty bags, I’d be sticking a phone charger here, and a power bank there, making packing my bag every morning equivalent to a really slow game of Tetris. With them, everything has its place, and I stack the bags neatly next to each other on top of larger items like my sleeping bag and pad.
And their use extends beyond just backpacking. I use them to protect my valuables in my climbing bag, for international travel, and any scenario where I’m living out of one bag for an extended period of time.
Brands to Know
LOST PONIES, a Canadian brand founded in 2025, made waves in the ultralight world recently when it released pouches made of ALUULA Graflyte, a composite material that’s waterproof, airtight, UV-resistant, and has eight times the strength-to-weight ratio of steel. These bags are translucent to make it easy to identify contents, and the largest size (1.6 L) only weighs 0.49 ounces, half as much as even the lightest big-name dry bag.
Italian outfitter Bonfus uses famously tough fabric Dyneema for its ditty bags, and the smallest size is perfect for a headlamp or power bank. It also makes larger, cinchable stuff sack versions for snacks or clothes. I use larger, compressible bags for my dirty underwear and socks on backpacking trips to contain the dirt and stink.
Ultralight stalwart Gossamer Gear makes some of the more affordable bags on the market, with the large retailing for only $14. They’re made of laminated Tyvek, the same material that builders use to protect in-progress homes. These bags are water-resistant, and the gusseted bottom means they stand up for easy access.
A couple of ditty bags deliver functionality, organization, and protection to your pack, all while only adding an ounce or two.
