Pack Size?

[Passionphish]

I've searched. I've looked. I read through. But on an upcoming purchase, I need to settle on what a good pack volume would be for my thru-hike. I won't have much support other than food drops and town visits. Although, I will have visitors and family contact often. What else do you need to know to help me with this question?

[dessertrat]

If your pack is going to have "strap on" points, so that you can strap on your sleeping pad, camp shoes, and maybe even your tent/tarp, then don't go over 4000, I would say. Some folks like to have 4500-5000 ci just to be safe. A lot of it depends upon the bulk of your sleeping bag, etc.

[take-a-knee]

The colder the weather you plan to hike in, the bigger your pack might need to be. More clothes, thicker sleeping bag etc. If you stay with synthetic insulation this is doubly so.

[saimyoji]

Here's the best advice I've heard on this:

Get ALL your other gear 1st. Then take it all in to an outfitter and see how much space it all takes up. Get a pack that fits you and all your gear.

[Survivor Dave]

By no means am I an expert, but 3700 cubic inches is good for me. Osprey Aether 60 holds it all.

Tent, sleeping bag, clothes, water, 4 days of food, etc. Pic below.....

The only thing that I have on the outside of the pack are Crocs. This pack is very comfortable.

The way I see it, the bigger the pack, the more room for unnecessary crap!


SD

[Nightwalker]

I can't imagine anyone needing over 50-60 liters. There are some great packs (http://www.rei.com/Search.do?cm_re=toc*brand*osprey&origin=backpacks&query=Osprey&cat=4500053&page_size=100&sortby=Price%3A+Low+-+High&page=LIST&hist=cm_re%2Ctoc*brand*osprey%5Eorigin%2Cbackpacks %5Equery%2COsprey%5Ecat%2C4500001_Backpacks%2C+Chi ld+Carriers+and+Duffels%5Estart%5Ecat%2C4500053%3A Backpacking+--+Internal+Frame) at that size.

[namehere]

i would echo saimyoji and survivor dave's remarks. get all your stuff, go to an outfitter that has a large selection of packs to get a sense of how big a pack you need, then try to get the smallest pack so you are not tempted to add more stuff. learning how to efficiently pack helps as well. more important than the size of the pack is what stuff you are choosing to bring.