One Pack To Do It All - Expert Advice

Hi,
Thank you for stopping by and trying to help out.

I need your advice and help of experts like yourself in choosing the right backpack to meet my application.

I'm looking for a 45-50 liter backpack to use in both climbing and hiking. I'm new to hiking and buying a lot of the equipment to camp outdoors but having a problem choosing the right backpack. I've tried some backpacks at REI but haven't found something comfortable enough.

What The Backpack Needs To Do:
-Hold around 30LB's, but ability to hold 40lb's if it had to.
-Be very comfortable, this is very important.
-Be as water resistant/waterproof as possible.
-Be bombproof, strong material that will last many years. This is very important and the most important.

I like Arcteryx backpacks because the materials they use are strong, but the prices are very high.

I've looked at and want to try the Golite Jam 50, Marmot Drakon 45, The North Face Prophet and Black Diamond Epic 45. They all look like good options in particular the Black Diamond Epic 45 which has the moving hipbelt but I'm not sure how bombproof is the material. The Golite Jam 50 is very light which sounds like it might be very flimsy but I hear is made out of dyneema which if is anything like the climbing slings I use made out of the same material, it might be bombproof.

As you can see, I'm a bit lost as to what to get. Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

I broke my tailbone when I was younger and always had some back pain which makes some of the backpacks that use systems that transfer all the weight to the hip very uncomfortable and painful. I think I would like something that uses all of my back and shoulder, and not the hip alone to transfer weight.

Thanks.

Take a look at the Osprey Kestrel series. If they don't work, take a look at the Deuter ACT Lite or Zero series. The Gregory Z series might be an option, but I suspect you won't like the fit of the lumbar pad (and the suspension is not adjustable.) I think REI might carry all three of these.

I have two Osprey packs and just love them. My new exos 58 sounds just right for you.

Every Arcterex item I have purchased, I cried over spending the $$ but never regretted it.

Have you thought about a "tump line"? I know few people use this nowadays, but with your back problem, maybe it would work. You would have to rig it yourself - I doubt any manufacturer sells this.

I have done years of technical backcountry climbing. There are features on specfic mountaineering packs that are useful. Some very good backpacking packs do not work as well. Particularly, you need a good way to carry a rope, ice axe, crampons. You need to read reviews written in the climbing magazines. It has been about 10 years since I was into climbing so I hesitate to recommend specific packs. My mountaineering packs are all 15 years old!

Given the weight of technical climbing gear (sometimes this is 30 pounds of gear!) I would not obsess over the actual weight of the pack. The incremental difference of a pound in pack weight is pretty insignificant. You simply are not going to get an UL tough mountaineering pack. If however you just are carrying climbing gear to base camp and the pack never is taken up the mountain (think climbing chimneys) then it may not have to be as "tough" as you think.

My "system" was my Arterex Khamsin day pack (2 pounds) lashed to my Kelty frame (2.5 pounds), with an oversized stuff sack on bottom for sleeping bag, pad and tent. I simply took off the day pack for the climb. You can simply place the day pack on the frame as if the frame were a person and then snap the sturnem strap and waist belt behind the external frame padding, and attach the sides of the day pack with the compression straps on the day pack. My Kelty had an extender bar to which I lashed the climbing rope.

I also have a protruding tail bone although it does not cause pain. You may be able to rig a hip pad that is really thick on both sides of the tailbone and leaves a gap for the tailbone. Take an old pack and duct-tape on extra padding on either side of the tailbone to see if this may work.

One Pack to rule them all,
One Pack to find them,
One Pack to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.


Sorry, not helpful.

The only Arcteryx pack I have ever used was one I carried for several years on the job - fairly heavy use, sometimes with quite heavy loads. It was insanely comfortable and useful - a really good tool. I was by the office the other day and noted that my successor is still using the same pack regularly. It is now about fifteen years old....

If the only downside is cost, swallow hard,live on beans for awhile, and come up with the dough. Every time I did that I was glad.

Four other brands you might want to look at:

Kelty
McHale
Mystery Ranch
Kifaru

The Kelty would be the cheapest option. All are known for heavy duty packs.

Check out CiloGear.

It's de facto that you'll "overbuy" for the occasional heavy load and as a result, will be toting more pack than you technically needs the rest of the time. This means more weight, but is probably unavoidable.

A concern I'd have is what your upper volume needs to be for those occasional extra loads. 40+ pounds implies lots of extra food and/or clothing, a desert camping water supply, or a bombproof winter shelter. Except perhaps for a lot of extra water, a 45-50L pack probably isn't going to handle the excess bulk, at least not inside.

Do you have all the gear you're already planning on toting? Might be worthwhile assembling it, and a supply load, to figure out the volume as well as weight.

An efficient frame-type suspension and substantial hipbelt that fits perfectly are key to lugging lots of weight. How the pack contours along your back and hugs your shoulders determines your control of the load's center of gravity--closer is better. Bigger packs generally have very complex and adjustable load control, so being fitted by an expert is quite important.

One pack I own can reasonably handle 40+ pounds--a discontinued 60L Osprey. It's not terribly heavy and has load control straps to make it smaller as food gets used--important for load control on long trips. My suspicion is you'll need to look in the 60-65L range.

Good luck!