Who Still Uses External Frame Packs Besides Me
Well...?
My father still has an external frame, but he has a 50 year old combination lock on his workshop too, once he has it, if it isn't broke (and he can't fix it) it will stay with him. He's never had a problem with his pack so until it falls apart that's what he'll have. I imagine many people are like this, me being one of them but just with t-shirts and jeans! YEA!!! MISFITS T-Shirt and LEVIS SILVERTABS.
He also doesn't understand how one might go on a backpacking trip with less than 40 lbs. ( I don't understand under 20)
I have a Kelty Super Tioga 5500 external. It was the only thing I could find that fit and carried the weight properly. I often hike with children and need the extra capacity. When hiking alone I total around 35 lbs. When hiking with the kids, my pack is around 65 lbs (They can't carry food and gear, just their personal stuff - sleeping mat, sleeping bag, clothes, snacks). The only internal frame pack I found to tackle the loads is one of the Osprey styles, but it weighs just as much as my external. No point in spending the money on a pack that doesn't save me any weight...
external backpack
i haven't checked out packs for a couple years,(new tech) but i have always used a external pack. they are designed to stay off your back so you don't sweat into them.and air flows between you and the pack. the load rides higher and carries better. the best part is all the external pockets for your gear. you can pack and unpack alot faster in and out of camp too,i would say thats my opionion but i can rememember all the times people with internal packs told me that as they watched me pack up. they weigh more on avg. but they are also half the price on avg.Originally Posted by JumpInTheLake
theres a million ways to hike and almost as many packs to choose from. to each his/her own...
I probably would if they offered lighter weight frame packs. They are more comfortable, but at 5 lbs, the pack itself would be about 1/4 of my load! That isn't acceptable.
The pack manufacturers quit doing any research or innovation on external frame packs in the mid-eighties. It was the manufacturers that chose to kill the external frame pack.
The one exception on the market today is GROSSLY overpriced.
I still use my fathers old Jansport that is about 35 years old. Just got back from a one nite trip with it and I think it may need to be replaced, the padding on the shoulder straps/hip belt is just worn out. But it is external. I will probably replace it with a new external frame. That Jansport will carry a lot of weight. Hopefully my new one will.
-clicker
My Kelta Tioga, circa 1979, still serves me just fine. Unfortunately it doesn't have all that many miles on it.
TWS
So, what do you use??
My pack weighs 8 pounds empty but I got no problem with it(internal). It's totally acceptable. No innovation? You should check out the limited production of Kelty's 50th Anniversary pack if you want to see some recent innovation. Which overpriced pack are you talking about? And how about Mystery Ranch's NICE frame and Overkill NICE? Brand new, researched and innovative.
I still hike with mine from 1980. It started the trail with me and it will finish with me even if I have to eventually duct tape it. I have 422 miles to go. Although huge, I wouldn't trade it for anything, and I am obsessed with reducing weight. I weighs less than 5 pounds. I don't know how that weight compares to the newest internal packs, but when comparing please add in all the extra attachments that people add to store things such as camera cases. It's feestanding. I don't have to drag it into shelter area. It has compartments and I know where everything is located. My bread can have it's very own compartment. It's also based on my hips instead of burdening my shoulders. It is my friend.
Tipi Walter,
I have no desire to carry 100 lbs - that is what the Overkill NICE is designed for. I have no desire to carry 50 lbs on a regular basis. I want to carry 20 - 25 lbs normally, 30 - 35 lbs max during winter. I would appreciate an external frame pack designed for these loads so that I could continue to enjoy many of the attributes of an external frame (ventilation, easy packing, etc.)
The Kelty might warrant some attention (tho it is still 4 lbs), but on 6 sites I checked it is unavailable from the manufacturer. Not backordered or temporaritly out of stock, but unavailable. It does no good to design a pack if you aren't going to manufacture it.
The overpriced pack I was referring to was the LuxuryLite - $385.00
I like external packs for many reasons, a lot of the ones mentioned above.
I kept my crimson skull and Danzig tshirts until I saw a high school hipster wearing one. I gave up the battle and let my wife throw them out.
It's a Kelty Trekker 3500 I think. I bought it in the early nineties. It's still doing well.
Who Still Uses External Frame Packs Besides Me
I started the AT with a external frame pack. I looked like a junk man. I had stuff lashed to it every which way. Nothing fit the way it was supposed to. I bought a 3500 CI Osprey internal frame pack and my load of junk got organized and my extra stuff was sent home. That worked fine for the rest of the AT. Since then I replaced my gear with smaller, lighter stuff and now it all fits easily into my external frame pack. Now I have a light, compact load with air flow on my back. I carried a G 4 pack for a while but it was like wearing a furnace on my back plus I don't need that kind of room any more. Adapt an over come.
Still using California-made Kelty Tioga as modified by A-16 in the early 80's. Wish they still made 'em!
My wife has a Kelty 2900 ext frame for her one time a year trip with me. I use a MysteryRanch 6400 because most of the time I'm gone for several weeks, so what I take is all I have with water being the exception.
I have a Kelty Trekker 3900 that is bulletproof. I cut out the divider between the main compartment and the sleeping bag area. I like to use that in the summertime. You can throw that sucker off a cliff and it wouldn't bother it at all.
I also have a Kelty Super Cirque external frame, but I have not been able to find out any information on that pack. It is considerably larger, pobably over 5,000 ci. Would make a good winter pack when you are going out into really cold weather for extended hikes. I haven't used that one yet.
I just got a used Kelty 2900 Redwing which I will use this fall. It isn't an external pack, but should be just right for a fall hike. Kind of heavy but pretty bulletproof. It is a frontloader rather than a top loader. Has 2 front pockets as well, one is perfect for the tarp and the other could be used for snacks/lunch and stuff you don't want to get wet.
I bought a Kelty Tioga in '74 and it still looks good and serves its purpose. I used it for years section hiking so it's been in and out of car trunks. With that said, I still have the pack but the more expensive cars...I don't know where they are. They should have been built as well.
I still use a Gregory evolution from the late 80s.
I wanted to try an internal, but with an actual load the external felt more comfortable, to me.
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