[at-l] Kelty Flight 4500 reviews?

[thornel@attglobal.net (W F Thorneloe)]

I have the Kelty Flight 60, now called 4500. It is the Large. I have 
wrapped a Thermorest Guidelight 3/4 around the stays and used the mat 
folded alone (sort of like a firmer rucksack).

The thing about the Flight is the need and necessity to spend some time 
packing, bending the stays, repacking, stopping, and resorting things until 
you get the stays bent just right. When that happens, you have a 
terrifically comfortable, stable and light pack. I'd get the medium from 
your description, but the way the shoulder straps have a pretty fixed 
location, you really have to depend on the curvature of the stays to make 
things comfy.

That said, the pack should be the _last_ thing you purchase. You want to 
have the rest of your gear and assure you can get it into the pack of your 
dreams. The Flight still has the available hazard of several expansion 
bags, and we all know that gear and weight will fill up available space. If 
you get the gear first and have to work to get it into your bag, you are 
less likely to need a TNF Beheamoth Pack, with side airbags, coffee grinder 
and cappuccino maker, with auxiliary solar cell phone battery chargers.

OrangeBug

At 02:36 PM 1/8/2002 -0800, Kajsa van Overbeek wrote:
>What are your opinions on the Flight?
>I am trying to go more lightweight, that's why, plus I
>don't like my old pack...
>Is it possible to use your pad as padding? And should
>that be a Z-rest or would a 3/4 Thermarest do too?
>
>Also, I am in doubt about the size. It comes in S,M
>and L, the Large being out of the question for me, but
>I had a friend of mine measure the length of my back
>according to their instructions and wouldn't you know,
>it is 16.5 inches. Now Small goes from 13-16 inches
>and Medium is 16-19 inches. Which one, if any, should
>it be?