This is why most of us recommend buying the rest of your gear, boxing it up and taking it to the store when shopping for a pack. If you're ordering a pack online, you can take a box, pack in your gear plus the equivalent in bulk of a week's food, level off the top as much as you can and multiply length x width x height to get the approximate cubic inches. (For liters, divide cubic inches by 60 which is close enough. Most listed pack capacity is not 100% accurate.)

Since you bought the pack at REI, you can easily return it. Do, however, follow the recommendations listed above when shopping for a replacement.

You might want to allow for the possibilities of going solo and/or going out in colder weather with more insulation, when calculating needed pack volume.

My pack for solo trips is 40 liters plus the outside pockets (which contain tent, snacks and water). Even for a 10-day trip I don't fill it up all the way.


Edited by OregonMouse (05/06/12 03:51 PM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey