I'm looking for a women's hiking backpack, but have had trouble finding one that fits me. My torso length is 20", which puts me at a medium or large depending on the brand, but my waist size is a xs or small. I've tried Gregory packs since you can get the smaller waist belt, but the pack still keeps riding up. Has anyone here found the perfect pack for a woman with a long torso and a super skinny waist?

My wife does pretty well with the Kelty 4500 Women specific pack. It is a large pack because we do not do any speed trekking (afraid that we will miss something).It is about a 75 liter pack and holds every thing that she carries quite nicely without over stuffing the pack. I think at an average, she carries around 22-25 lbs. She carries all her stuff and half of the tent which is the poles and the stakes. Other than that she is pretty much self-sufficient. She has a go-lite pack also but we usually are gone more than a few days or so, so she usually carries the Kelty...Hope that helps...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!!

Welcome to the forum!

I have the EXACT opposite problem. My torso is barely 14 inches and my waist is, um, well-padded. Yeh, it's well-padded. I've been doing well with a Kelty Red Cloud Short Torso, but it's a heavy pack pushing six pounds. But I like it.

This, of course, is of no use to you except to welcome you and let you know that you are not alone in your search for pack bliss!

The folks here will do everything they can to help you out; they always do!

You may want to talk with Brian at ULA. He can custom fit any of his packs for your particular body type. Give him a try.
www.ula-equipment.com
Oz

If you need a custom fit, your best bet may be Six Moon Designs. I'd recommend the Starlite. The shoulder harness can be adjusted very easily on this pack so you get a great torso fit, and Ron Moak, the owner, can give you a hip belt that fits.

In general any of the smaller gear manufacturers will go out of their way to help you. You might also look at Gossamer Gear packs or Cold Cold World. All of these guys sew.

Earlylite
http://sectionhiker.com

The Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone lets you swap out the hip belt and the shoulder straps to get a more custom fit. This particular model doesn't come in a "women's" style, but you can get a women's small hipbelt with the medium or large pack, and the trim shoulder harness if you need it.

+1 on the Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone. I had to get a different size hipbelt as well, and the added bonus of being able to adjust placement of the shoulder strap attachment to the frame turned out to be icing on a very good cake. I like that I can carry up to 40 lbs and the long extension lets me add extra gear in winter. My back is 18" which is right between small and medium - some packs I needed medium, some I needed small, and sometimes it wasn't so easy to figure out what "small" really meant in inches. I suspect I could have made do with a medium and cinched up the adjustment on the straps, but the small works great and the medium hipbelt has exactly the padding and angle that I need.

Also - If you look at where the pack bag attaches to the hip belt, you'll notice on Granite Gear packs the bag is attached differently. I think that has something to do with the comfort level on this brand. Totally different feel. Check the GG website - see where the pack bag attaches compared to Gregory or Osprey. It may not be totally obvious, but the bag actually hangs from the frame, not the hip belt sleeve. The others appear to be sewn to the bottom of the hipbelt sleeve and the pack weight pulls from there instead of settling down on the hipbelt itself. The Osprey I had seemed to want to pull me over backward unless I actively balanced myself; I don't have the problem with the Granite Gear pack.

If you want something that will fit perfectly and last a very long time, then you should look into a McHale Pack. Dan will work with you as much as is needed to get the pack perfectly fitted. His packs are comfortable.