- Joined
- Mar 26, 2007
- Messages
- 2,798
Hey Sasha, this is an old thread from September, so no snow at that time.
As far as the pack question, I tried on just about every 60-65 liter pack that they had at REI with weights, I was trying to be a weight weenie and stayed with the ones that were around 3 pounds. I settled on the REI Flash 65, as I loved it in the store and it was the most comfortable. But, on my first trip, I noticed that the light weight plastic internal frame would get deformed by my water bladder, and the pack lost a lot of it's comfort.
I went back to REI to return it for the Gregory Z65 which was the other most comfortable pack, but I decided to try them all on again, and I tried on the Deuter which I didn't try before, as my wife has the women's version and LOVES it. WOW, it was night and day from every other pack I put on. It weighted 1lb. more than the others at 4lb. total, but it made the 35lb. load I was carrying around the store feel like 25lb. in comparrison to all the other packs, I even had to ask the employee to make sure he didn't remove any of the weight bags. I absolutely love this bag, it is supper comfortable, the frame doesn't deform when loaded to the max, and it makes 35lbs. feel so light. Sometimes when we stop for a break, I don't even take it off, 'cause it's more comfortable to leave it on than the hassle of taking a pack on and off.
Of course, everyone is different though, I always suggest trying on a pack with weights for yourself. A good example is there was a lady about the same size as my wife shopping for packs the same time she was. The other lady settled on a pack my wife didn't like, and my wife liked this pack that the other lady didn't care for. So try it on first if you can. But both my wife and I have only glowing reviews for these packs.