Thru-hike: What size pack would you reccomend?

[tomandcolin]

Hi my name is tom gale, me and a friend of mine are planning a thru-hike next year for a UK cancer charity and i have been given all sorts of different advice on what size Pack to take.
im 6ft7 so have the extra torso length for an 85 litre but most stores in the UK advise against going anything over a 65 litre?
as i havent ever met anyone in england who has attempted anything like this i was hoping someone who has spent some hard time on the trail might be able to offer me some of their precious nuggets of advice?
if any of you could share you wisdom it would be gratefully recieved!
also if anyone has any other information that they wish to unload that might help it would make me very happy!

thanks. Tom

[KG4FAM]

I carry a 55 liter, but just take all of your crap to an outfitter and try and pack it in a bag and see what it fits in.

[Marta]

Welcome to Whiteblaze, Tom.

The usual recommendation is the get all your gear first, then get the lightest, smallest pack that will hold it all.

One possibility for your friend would be to allow an extra week in the US to outfit himself, and do it at Mountain Crossings, in Georgia. They have a lot of gear not found in normal stores, that is especially well suited to long-distance hiking along the East Coast of the US.

Besides that, there are some articles here on Whiteblaze that go into gear options, and many, many threads devoted to gear lists, and specific pieces of gear. At the top of this page there's a search function that can direct you to some of those threads.

[Rift Zone]

Mine is a 35 liter.

My advice is to go as super-ultra light as possible... Or you can do what many do: find your chosen gear to be unsatisfactory for long distance and change up to more efficient gear along the way. A good portion of the population out there will have their shelter, pack and sleeping bag weigh less than that 85 liter pack. I, however, tend to prefer a greater level of comfort than ultra-light packing can afford. The key here is to find your bare minimum requirements for comfort and meet them with the lightest possible gear. I personally require a solid shelter -from bugs and weather. -Not all do. I personally like having a pack with a decent suspension system, not all do. My pack weighs 2x ~ 3x what others do but you will sacrifice comfort somewhere. You can carry nothing and be light and free on the trail... only to be really miserable at camp. You can pack that 85 liter with the best amenities and gear you can buy... You will live like a king in camp, if you actually make it there. The trick is to find your own personal sweet spot with your gear... That place where your comfort while hiking and while in camp are equivalent. Do that in within 15kilos and you are gonna have a happy hike indeed. Enjoy finding that sweet spot.

[Baby Blue]

Mpst people will find 35 L to be WAY too small, especially after a resupply with 4-5 days of food and a days worth of water. I have just the right amount of space with a 50 L Osprey, though, most people I encountered had slightly larger packs. It's all about what works for you and your gear, but a 35 L pack is VERY hard to make work for most new LD hikers.

[slowandlow]

The smallest one that will hold all of your gear.