Re: [Philmont]: Backpack size

Call me one of the dumb ones. But... some additional observations:

1) Internal frame backpacks will almost always feel better on you versus
an external frame backpack IN THE STORE. And for trips lasting less
than around 5 days, ditto. However, if you are a person that sweats a
lot, you may (emphasize "may", not "will") find that the contact zone on
your back starts to get pretty raw, to the point where you are really
hurting carrying the pack after about 10 days. I am such a person, and
have met plenty of other similars. This will never be obvious to
weekend warriors for whom a three day weekend is the max high adventure,
and I rarely (if ever) hear it from salesmen in camping stores. An
external frame pack generally has a mesh backing, and a air gap between
the pack and your back. For me, and plenty of others, this is a must
have for any trek lasting more than about 5 days.

2) Packing an internal frame backpack is a bit of an art form, and
requires some significant experience before you can do it correctly and
quickly. In general, everything has to go inside, plus there are
various concerns about weight distribution and rigidity that are not
intuitively obvious (you will all recall my post about "walking on a
tilt" - and it is routine to see internal frame backpackers
significantly tilted because of poor packing).

3) Internal frame packs take considerably longer to properly pack. It
is routine on my high adventure treks to have our external frame Scouts
be packed up in 10 minutes, but still be waiting for our "infernal
flamers" to finish 30 minutes later. I would say that between two
equally experienced Scouts, the external framer will be packed in half
the time as the internal framer - and generally packed better, too. In
addition, an external frame pack also usually has multiple external
pockets and internal compartments, and so is considerably easier for
Scouts and beginner adults to keep organized, and to use as a bureau on
the trail. This is the primary reason why they pack up so well and so
quickly relative to internal frame packs.

4) Finally, external frame packs are by and large considerably less
expensive than internal frame packs. The downside is that there is
really only one external frame backpacking company now - Kelty. And not
much of a selection even there. Everyone else (Jansport, Camptrails,
etc.) is down to just two or three models now. This is one of the
reasons why I recommend looking on ebay - still quite a variety of
external frame backpacks there, and even the top end models are
(usually) going used for less than $75. For example, I picked up a
lightly used CampTrails Omega (probably the biggest external frame pack
they ever made) for $60 about 2 months ago, and a huge Jansport external
frame (6,000 ci), moderately used, for $40 a month before that.

Off to the salt mines.

- Dr. Bob

Steve Mac wrote:
> Philmont asks for 4000 on external packs, 4300 on internal packs. From
> both trips to Philmont and on 1 trip on a part of the AT, it seems the
> smart people use internal packs and the rest of us use external packs.
> Just a observation of mine.
>

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Received on Thu Jun 24 05:53:57 2004