[at-l] Have I made a pack purchase mistake?

[rafe.bustin@verizon.net (rafe.bustin@verizon.net)]

On 8 Apr 2002 at 10:59, Mara Factor wrote:

> If at all possible, borrow a pack (maybe even your friend's Shasta) and try 
> it out on a backpack (or three) before deciding.  I usually advocate buying 
> the pack last if at all possible.  Until you know what you are going to be 
> putting into the pack, how do you know how big a pack you need, or how 
> rugged a material, or how supportive the frame?



The flip side is that your pack is one of the most "intimate" items you 
will need and use on a long backpacking trip, and perhaps the most 
critical choice you can make, in terms of gear (up there with the boots 
or shoes you will wear.)

I just can't see leaving that decision for late in the game, or heading out 
on a thru hike with a backback that I'm not absolutely 100% in tune with.

FWIW, I did my "big" hike with a $45 Camp Trails external frame pack, 
and it served me pretty well.  I had bought it a year or two earlier, well 
before the idea of a through-hike had taken hold of me.  By the time I 
hit Springer, that pack was an old friend and had already logged dozens 
of miles.

You can see the pack up on Wayah Bald, at this URL:

<http://www.channel1.com/users/rafeb/log_fence_near_wayah_bald.html>

Years later I bought some fancy MountainSmith internal-frame pack, for 
$250 or so, and it's been a major disappointment.  It gathers dust, while 
that old Camp Trails pack keeps on truckin'.

I'm one who prefers the organizational advantages of an external 
frame pack -- gotta have those pockets and compartments...


rafe b.
aka terrapin