Hey everyone! Alright, so I'm basically a newbie at camping and backpacking. I'm planning a trip this Summer (Hiking S. Kaibab to Bright Angel (no worries, I have plenty of people helping me to prep! I will be safe)).

Anyways...I figured I should start with the backpack! I have no idea what I'm doing. While I was at Barnes and Noble finishing some college homework....I saw a magazine about backpacking. I snatched it up, and discovered the Fjällräven company. They have some backpacks...and to ME anyways they look good. But what do I know?

I couldn't find any information on this site about them...or even a link to them. So I was wondering if anyone had used their packs and had any opinions? All other advice is welcome as well!
Thanks all.

As it happens, your pack is probably the last item you should be thinking about right now, because until you know what you are putting into it you probably don't know what size pack you will actually need, and buying a huge pack 'just to be sure' will only ensure that 1) you'll put too much into it, or 2) if you only half fill it, the load won't distribute properly.

As long as you are here, you might want to poke around a bit and see what kind of questions are being asked by backpacking beginners that have recently been answered. If you had, you would probably already know you've just put your foot squarely into the same bucket that almost every beginner steps into, which is to think they should buy a pack before anything else. We see that a lot.

Anyway, welcome to the forum. Have fun!

No experience with Fjallrave gear but their adds are attractive. Aimless nailed it, get all your gear first, well at least your bag/quilt, sleeping pad, shelter. Then you'll have a better idea of the size you'll need. Most important is fit, you need to go to an outfitter like rei and try on a bunch of packs with weight in them, Walk around the store for a while then decide.

Camping gear, IMHO, is not something you buy based on advertising. Since you admit knowing nothing, this leads me to believe you do not know what you need or what choices are out there. Spend some time reading books on camping and hiking and then start asking questions and reading forums like this one. Read the articles on this site, other than in the forum area, that cover gear and clothing choices. Ask your friends what they use.

While I saw some interesting stuff on the Fjallraven website, much of it is pretty expensive, which is an issue for some people, but more importantly, this brand is not well-established in the US, so customer service would concern me. Their retailers, at least in the LA area, look like trendy clothing stores, not serious outdoor stores, although their website shows a few dedicated stores in other parts of the country.

The trip you are planning is pretty serious hiking. I would be looking for the lightest gear possible and this site can help with that.

I've seen their packs in ads, and they seem OK, but just as others have said- figure out what you need on the hike first. Are you going up Bright Angel, or were you referring to the Bright Angel campground? If you're going back up the S. Kaibab in summer the issue is water, water, then water. I'd be looking at a pack with a good hydration system or the ability to carry two bottles in holders on your hip or shoulder straps,besides another large container in the pack . When the Park Service stresses bringing water- listen- dehydration sucks!!!!! This also applies to going up the Bright Angel trail, but there's water at Indian Garden and the rest houses in the summer, unless the NPS says no. I went up it 2 weeks ago, and there was no water at the rest houses. It never got over 45 degrees, but I still used about 2 qts. of water. I'm in pretty good shape and have been backpacking for decades. The Fjallraven stuff seems a little heavier than you can find in other very good packs like the Osprey, Deuter, Granite Gear, and the ultralight stuff like z-packs. As others have said- TRY ONE ON AND GET FIT FOR YOU! Always keeping safety first, try to go as light as you can. Don't think the downhill is easy, either. Most peoples leg muscles aren't use to going downhill for that length of time. If you are in great shape and have good balance, you can skip using trekking poles, but they'll help taking some of the strain and feeling safe on the exposed parts of the trail. It's a very ambitious hike for your first- but the prep work will be worth it. It's beyond amazing.

If a large backpack has compression straps, couldn't you "compress" the backpack, such that the load will distribute evenly?

I have a no-name backpack, bought about 10 years ago, about 40 liters, that has a sling at the bottom on the back. With an additional bungee around the top of the bag, I can carry a whole separate bag behind the main 40 liter cylinder. I've used it to carry extra food, because the capacity of the 40 liters wasn't big enough. I've also used it to carry a 4 man tent, to get to a point where I met others in NYC, and split the tent among the others. Has anyone seen slings on other backpacks?

Anyway, I just think a big capacity backpack can be useful. If it has compression straps, to reduce the diameter of the main cylinder compartment, then it can be the only backpack you need, rather than needing different backpacks depending on the size of your load.