Hi All-

New to the board and a newbie to hiking/backpacking. I have always enjoyed the great outdoors through kayaking, fishing and camping and am looking to expand into the world of hiking. My experience level of hiking would be none. My plan is to start off with a series of day hikes with a local hiking group and see where that leads me. So far I have been reading through the informational articles on backpacking.net and ordered the recommended books "Backpacking One Step at a Time" and "Mountaineering First Aid".

Just to get started, I would appreciate it if you could recommend to me some specific backpacks to look into for day trips that would not break the bank. Also what size would you suggest? My torso measurement is 19".

Many Thanks
John