[at-l] Kelty Packs

I have a number of Kelty Packs, in several sizes.  I have found that I can
fit into my wife's no 2 frame and save some ounces.

First I strip all that heavy paint off and leave the raw aluminum.

The heavy padded hip belt of a medium size is plenty big enough for me and
I'm a big guy around the middle.  I hiked for many years
With a belt that had no padding at all and was quite happy.  I'm thinking of
taking the padding out of my present belt.
The padding is enough for the hips only and is not needed in the
front....saves several ounces.

The straps of the webbing are at lease 6 inches too long.  In fact all the
straps on a Kelty are way too long.  I cut off about
8 ounces of straps, including the sternum strap.  I hate that feeling of
having a sternum strap constricting my big lungs as I hike.
Heavy breathing is a must...for all things heavenly.  If your straps are
connected to the best place for your body then sternum straps are useless.

And lastly I take the cross bar off across the top and put a little cap on
the open hole.
The new Kelty's have a cross bar across the bottom which makes it impossible
to lean your pack against a tree or wall.  The pack slips
Down and spills all your stuff.  So take a pipe cutter and cut that off, but
leave room for the belt connector.  Put crutch tips on the ends of the
stubs.
Get rid of every ounce of junk and you will have a great organized pack that
will be lighter than any internal frame pack of similar/equal volume.
I'm thinking of taking that piece of aluminium out of the pack too, the one
that holds the mouth of the pack open at the top....who needs that?

The cotter pens do sometimes work out, but you can put a tiny slice of duct
tape on each one to keep it in place.  One extra pen of each size is about
all you need for insurance.

I think Kelty could design a much better (meaning lighter) external frame
pack for through-hikers, using lighter nylon and lighter frame materials.


* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================
To:            monadnockdee@juno.com
Cc:            at-l@backcountry.net