All such good answers!

IMO, it kind of depends on where you're going and what you're doing, and the conditions you're likely to be doing them under.

You probably wouldn't need a full (say 30-lb) backpack to go to work. It would get old fast, and then you'd start leaving it at home, and if you did need it, that would be the time you did.

If you're just going to work a few miles from home, you could take a basic PSK. It's not likely you would need a lot of firemaking materials or a signal mirror or separate shelter other than what you're wearing.

If you commute thirty miles through forest or mostly unpopulated country, you might carry a smaller backpack that was relatively lightweight for warmer seasons, and possibly more stuff in a larger pack for colder seasons.

If you do a lot of traveling throughout your state, or fly your own plane, etc, you'd probably want to keep quite a bit more stuff in a backback that would leave your hands free.

Plan for what you're doing and where you're going.

If you can't lift the pack off the ground, you've got too much stuff in it.

Sue