Does 500g of backpack weight really make such a huge difference?

Purchase Advice

I'm thinking about the Camino de Santiago, a distance of approximately 280 km(Portuguese route). I want to buy a suitable backpack. My gear is generally lightweight because I travel on bike as light as possible. In the discussions of the Camino de Santiago people say the ideal backpack is 30-35L. Living in a hot country, I always get a wet back from my backpack in the summer, and I really don't like it, so I started looking at backpacks with mesh. Of the options I looked at, I liked the Osprey Exos 38 and Decathlon MH500 38L. In the ultralight range, I like the Zpacks Arc Haul 40 and Grossamer Kumo 36L (but it doesn't have mesh).

I have the money and am ready to buy a good equipment, but I also found a ton of good reviews about the Decathlon backpack, and it only costs €70 in Europe. It weighs approximately 1150g, which is about twice as much as the ultralight backpack on my list. I'm trying to figure out if the 500g weight difference is worth the five-fold price difference between the Zpacks Arc Haul 40 and MH500? Please help me decide.

Posted Jun 3, 2026, 1:12 PM UTC

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