[pct-l] Old Packs and Durability

[wayneskraft at comcast.net (Wayne Kraft)]

The discussion of the fragility of ultralight packs caused me to  
rummage around in the basement and locate my old Trailwise pack.  I  
bought this pack in 1973 or 74 because it was the pack Colin Fletcher  
carried and, by crikey, if it was good enough for Colin it was good  
enough for me.  This is a capacious ,uncompartmented, top-loading  
external frame monster with a large pocket on the back and four  
smaller ones on the side.  Having already broken it in on several  
backpacking trips, I lived out of this pack for the better part of  
1976 wherein my wife and I railroaded, bussed, boated, taxied,  
hitchhiked and walked wherever in Europe the mood struck us, carrying  
a Jansport dome tent (now long gone, RIP), a Svea stove (still  
roaring) and cooking gear and two down sleeping bags (which still  
retain a modicum of loft).   This odyssey was, I think, far harder on  
the pack than ordinary hiking.  For one thing, my pack, my wife and I  
all survived a train wreck in Sweden.  The pack emerged unscathed,  
which is more than I can say for myself.  I continued to use this  
pack from time to time until 1981.  Anyway, it looks to me as though  
the Trailwise frame, shoulder straps, back netting and waist belt are  
as serviceable now as they were when the pack was new.  The sack  
shows some wear, but all the seams are intact.  The pocket zippers  
tend to jam and the flap atop the big back pocket is torn, I think,  
from an encounter with a washing machine.  Looking at this pack, I am  
thinking it is perfectly serviceable for a winter trip where heavy  
gear is needed or any other short trip where weight is not an issue.   
I don't know how much it weighs, but I am now sort of wondering if  
maybe I should remove the pockets and replace them with some net  
pockets like the ones on my G4.  The G4, by the way, would probably  
not have survived the first week on Yugoslavian and Greek passenger  
trains on the Europe trip, but I love it for backpacking.

Thanks, everyone, for reminding me about this old friend.

Wayne Kraft