Both pack makers have outstanding reputations, great customer service (call or email them with questions!), and many satisfied customers. Before you order, have all your gear and the equivalent in weight/bulk of a week's food and a day's water ready so you can load up the pack as soon as it arrives and hike around the house with it for a couple of hours. A very boring hike, of course, but that will keep the pack pristine while you decide if it is a keeper or if you need to return it within the manufacturer's return period.

That being said, I don't own either one; mine is an old Six Moon Designs pack discontinued at the end of 2005. Should it ever give out, I'd probably try the ULA Circuit or Ohm. For me, they look like a better fit. I have very pressure-sensitive shoulders, so I need load lifters, and as a woman I like those S straps available with the ULA packs.

Another company I'd look at is Elemental Horizons; I'm particularly interested in their Kalais. Of course, that's only if my present pack should give out, which it shows no signs of doing.