Comfort/Fit

The Deuter Speed Lite 12 is a comfortable, mid-weight half-day pack. The 3D-AirMesh back panel is lightweight and comfortable. It kept its shape well during testing with and without a bladder. The Deuter Lite System is a thin metal frame that runs around the outside of the bag to provide some suspension. It holds its shape and helps the bag move with you. We didn’t find it as responsive to testers’ movement as packs with a solid panel but it was much better than packs with no suspension at all.

The main bag is narrow and slightly v-shaped, which kept it out of the way of testers arms. We found the bottom a bit narrow where the shoulder straps attached as it rubbed on our hips. This didn’t create any problems on five mile hikes but it can cause issues on longer hikes or users with wider hips.

The shoulder straps on the Speed Lite 12 are basic with a small amount of the 3D-AirMesh backing to them. They provided little padding and were uncomfortable with loads around 15 pounds. With lighter loads or shorter periods of time, the straps felt ok.

The sternum strap is 1-inch webbing with a short elastic section. Testers appreciated the increased comfort from the elastic section. It was also helpful when securing the end of the hydration hose. There is no hip belt on this model and caused the pack to be less stable. It’s small enough to not cause significant issues for on-trail or easy hiking but for log scrambling, faster  hikes or using for other sports, testers prefered models with hip belts.

The 3D-AirMesh was comfortable but did not allow much ventilation. On mild days around 60F it was comfortable but got warm in warmer temperatures and when running.

Carrying Capacity

One main compartment makes up most of the storage on the Speed Lite 12. A tall stretch compartment next to the back panel is designed to hold the bladder. The main zipper was easy to use and didn’t snag on anything. Although just for looks, the two-tone zipper was an interesting feature.

A small stash pocket accessed from the top of the pack hangs inside the main compartment. We used it for our wallet, keys, phone and a couple bars. Unique to the Speed Lite 12 over any other bag in this test was an SOS label on the side of the stash pocket. It was visible in the main compartment when opened and listed out important information to know in an emergency outdoors.

Two stretch pockets on the sides have tight elastics and are deep enough to hold a very small tripod or a few large bars.

Features

The Speed Lite 12 is simple but has a few useful features that make it a good travel or half-day pack.

The SOS label inside the main pocket can be helpful in an emergency. It shows arm movements to signal to rescuers from the air as well as the alpine distress signal pattern for use with whistles, mirrors or lights.

On the back near the bottom is a clip for a safety light for riding or running at night. On either side at the top and bottom are small webbing loops for attaching other gear. Testers used their own clips or cord to tie the gear on.

The fabric on the pack is a high density polyamide with a tight weave and a water-resistant polyurethane coating on it. During testing it felt durable and we had no issues with it.

The price of $59.95 is a little bit higher than some of the other options but is still much lower than the most expensive options.

Hydration System

The hydration systems starts in the main compartment with a stretch pocket against the back panel to hold the bladder. The pocket is internal and is not as easy to access as an external pocket but was effective at holding the bladder. Testers had to remove some gear from the main compartment to be able to remove the bladder. The pocket is larger than average and is big enough to hold water bladders up to three liters.

A small hook and loop tab holds up the bladder. It worked well at holding up the bladder in testing and fit through the thinnest of bladder handles.

The hose port is on the left side near the top. There is not a hose port on the right hand side of the pack. Testers preferred to see ports on both sides or in the center so the hose could be routed down either shoulder.

There is only one strap on the left shoulder strap to hold the hose. Some testers hooked the end of the hose in the elastic loop in the sternum strap to prevent it from swinging.

Versatility

For activities that don’t require a lot of ventilation or a hip belt, the Speed Lite 12 is a versatile pack. Above 75 degrees F it was nice to have better ventilation when moving. When running, no matter what the temperature was, testers appreciated better ventilation.

The pack didn’t run as well as some of the others because it doesn’t have a hip belt. For short hikes it didn’t matter much to most testers.

The thin shoulder straps limit the weight we wanted to carry in it. Our test load of 15 pounds got uncomfortable on short hikes wearing a t-shirt. This limited loads when walking around town or travelling. A 13-inch laptop or tablet does fit inside the hydration bladder pocket. Because of the narrow bottom of the back, the corners of the laptop were pushed outside the edges of the back, leaving them exposed with little padding.