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This feature article was snagged from The three most important
considerations when buying a backpack are the type of frame,
the size and the fit. After that come the features. Generally
it’s a mistake to get too wound up over the features of a pack
until the main issues are taken care of. Internal or External
Frame The first issue is whether to buy
an internal or external frame pack. External frame packs have
been woefully out of favor for many years, but unfairly so,
and are staging a little comeback. A well-built, good fitting
external frame pack is an excellent choice if you are a
backpacker who sticks mostly to well-maintained trails on
reasonably flat terrain and usually gets to them in the car.
External frame packs are durable, organize your gear well, are
easy to tie massive amounts of gear onto, carry heavy loads,
and are cooler to carry than internal frame packs. They also
have lousy clearance, poor balance, limited flexibility and
don’t fly worth a damn. If an external frame pack suits your
needs, buy it, and don’t pay any attention to what the geeks
say. (Just smile sweetly as you cruise past, with your wading
shoes, tent fly, rain jacket and whatever else that was wet
this morning drying nicely on your pack, while his stuff is
molding in that trash bag in his internal frame pack.)
If you are a mountaineer or
climber, hike in steep, difficult, brushy or closed in terrain
or fly to your destinations, an internal frame pack is a
better choice. There are scads of choices from the major
manufacturers, all of them well-built and durable. Choose
based on size, fit, and finally, features. Size and Weight Most reasonably fit women can carry
about 45 lbs. comfortably, more or less depending on size and
strength, of course. An old guideline for backpackers is to
carry 1/4 to 1/3 your weight. Mountaineers typically hump
ridiculous loads, but it’s a strong woman who can carry 60
lbs. (not an atypical expedition load) comfortably, especially
on steep terrain. So buy the lightest gear you can, and be
very wary of buying a pack that will tempt you into Sherpadom.
Apart from the weight of the gear, think about the weight of
the pack. Packs can vary in weight from under 4 to over 7 lbs.
The weight of the pack starts to matter if you are carrying
heavy loads on steep terrain. A pack in the range of 3,000-4,000
cubic inches is a good overnighter or weekender if it’s warm
and you’re not a gear and food hog. 4,000-5,000 is about right
for trips up to a week. 5,000 to 6,000 cubic inches is for
long trips and expeditions and will get real heavy real fast
if you’re not careful. Moreover, a pack with that much volume
can simply overwhelm a woman with a slight build. Unless you
are a guide, a masochist, or going to Denali or the Himalaya,
don’t even consider a pack larger than 6,000 cubic inches. You
can’t carry that much and have any fun. Bottom line is buy as
small a pack as you can get away with, and if you are a
mountaineer consider the weight of the pack in addition to the
weight of your gear. Fit There is no mystique to fitting a
pack. Start with your torso size, which will determine whether
you want a small, medium or large pack. You can measure this
by using a flexible tape measure run from an imaginary line
around your hips at the level of the widest part of the
hipbone (sort of the top of your butt) up to the first
noticeable bump at your neck. Generally, 16 to 18 inches is
small, 18 to 20 is medium, and 20 to 22 is large. But if you
try on a bunch of packs, you’ll get a sense for the size,
which is all you need because that’s just the starting point.
Most major manufacturers make Small or even Extra Small packs
that either come with, or can be equipped with, women's hip
belts (curvier) and shoulder harnesses (narrower). These
"women's" components work well for many women but not all. In
fact, the pronounced curve of some women's hipbelts is too
much for many women and a man's belt works better. So don't be
afraid to try the man's hipbelt if the women's isn't working.
Packs especially made for women tend to have a narrower bag
with a lower center of gravity. These often wear very well for
petite women. Always fit the pack with weight in
it, preferably the weight you will typically carry. Put on the
hip belt so that it goes right over your hipbones, not above
or below. Cinch the belt tight. Pull the straps that control
the shoulder harness so that the pack is hugging your back and
you can feel the pack on your shoulders, but the shoulder
straps are not bearing the weight. Fasten the sternum strap an
inch or two below your collarbone. Then pull in all the load
tightening straps–typically running from the top of the pack
to the shoulder straps and from the back of the pack to the
hip belt. Now check the fit. If the padding
on the belt comes close to hitting in the front, the belt’s
too big. (You’ll lose weight on long trips.) If it doesn’t
cover your hipbones, it’s too small. If the shoulder straps
don’t feel right as they curve around your neck and armpit,
they don’t fit. Look carefully at the back of the pack. The
shoulder straps should curve smoothly from where they are
attached to the back of the pack all the way over your
shoulders, without any gaps. The pack should feel right. If it
doesn’t, it isn’t. If you’re in the right basic pack
size, most of the high quality packs have a range of fine
tuning adjustments, from adjusting the place that the hip belt
velcros onto the pack to adjusting where the shoulder harness
sits on the back of the pack. Hip belts and shoulder harnesses
can also be purchased in different sizes. Sometimes it takes
some trial and error. Patience wins. If you are mail ordering
a pack, leave yourself time to return it or order different
replacement components. This is not an "overnight delivery
because I’m leaving tomorrow" item unless you love risk or
know exactly what will fit. Features Most packs are loaded with gizmos
and features, some of which actually make a difference. For
example, there are top loaders, panel loaders, and
combinations. Top loaders stuff from the top. These are great
for just cramming things in and give you the most
"stuffability". If you have a top loader, the thing you want
is invariably on the bottom. You learn to pack smart if you
have a top loading pack. Panel loaders load from the side or
open up like a suitcase. These are convenient and make great
travel packs, but are difficult to cram a lot of gear into
because you can’t get the zipper closed. Some packs combine
top loading with a panel access zipper. This allows you to
stuff your gear in from the top, but then access what’s at the
bottom using the panel zipper. The zipper is one more thing to
break, but they rarely do unless you mistreat them. More
importantly, every zipper adds weight to the pack. Some packs have big outer pockets
for organizing gear; others are clean and spare on the
outside. Generally a mountaineering pack will have fewer
outside pockets, but will have gear loops and daisy chains for
rock and ice pro. For camping, it’s nice to have an outer mesh
pocket on the side to stick the bottoms of your tent poles in,
but for mountaineering you may not want to risk the poles on
the outside of the pack since the consequences of losing them
could be ugly. Ski mountaineers need shovel and ski pockets.
Shovel pockets also work well for ropes and wet tent flies.
Manufacturers tend to make a big deal about pockets for
hydration systems or built-in systems. Most packs will carry a
hydration system in the top pocket in any event. One consideration that often gets
overlooked is how the pack will travel. If you fly, and
especially if you fly on foreign airlines, it’s important to
be able to protect your pack from evil baggage handling forces
that it was never designed to withstand. Many women put the
pack in a duffle bag to protect it, although a pack with the
shoulder straps and hip belt off flies just fine on most major
U.S. airlines if you tuck in all the straps and cords. If you
put your pack in a duffle, sometimes it’s easier to partially
load the pack, put it in the duffle, and then finish loading
inside and around the pack. Many hip belts velcro out easily.
A few of the highly constructed, padded hip belts are harder
to remove and require a screwdriver, which means that when you
get to your destination you will have to reattach the belt.
Practice this at home, it’s trickier than it looks sometimes,
especially in poor light. More questions? question@mountainwoman.com Go to Packs
.
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