Pack Size?

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NickM

Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
43
Hey guys,

I was wondering what everyone thought would be a good pack size for a couple day trip. Say two to three nights and three or four days. I'm not sure really, but I know the one I have is too big. Thanks

Nick
 
Do you think 2900 cubic inches is enough? It might be a hair too small. I have the Kelty Redwing 2900, and it is a great sack. I've only used it as luggage, however. It was my only piece on a 6 day vacation.
 
Originally posted by NickM
Hey guys,

I was wondering what everyone thought would be a good pack size for a couple day trip. Say two to three nights and three or four days. I'm not sure really, but I know the one I have is too big. Thanks

Nick
Click to expand...

Well as for me , I tend to use either my Blackhawk 3day pack or my Jansport Alaska...depending upon the plan time span of my excursion.

Day trip has the 3day pack as a minimum.
 
Komondor: The redwing was actually one of the packs I was looking at. It seems nice. I like the moraine as well, but its a little bigger. I guess the way I look at it is the less I carry the more I enjoy the trip. Its not very fun when you have a 60lb pack and have to walk all day.

Glocker: I've been looking at the blackhawks as well. I think they make very nice equipment. I was thinking about using my North Face daypack (2000 cu in.) plus blackhawks drop leg medical pouch for short trips. This way I could store the main gear in the pack and the bare essentials in the drop leg pouch.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Nick
 
I carry a small ruck (around 1700ci) for most of my overnight and extended hiking or time in the field. It carries clothing, food, poncho w/liner, pad and sleeping bag as well as water purification pump, metal cup for cooking, Khukuri and other needed items. I also wear a belt with canteens, medical, stove w/fuel and my primary bush knife. The ruck is a German military mtn. ruck. The side pockets are only side sewn so I can carry my takedown longbow and strap a quiver of arrows to the pack. I used to carry a much larger and much more expensive pack and just ended up carrying more than I really needed. By going with the smaller ruck, I easily chopped 20# off of my packs weight.

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Longbow: I know what you mean about taking too much equipment. I have the Gregory Shasta which is a 5500ci pack and it can hold a ton. I like to bring a lot of equipment when I go out to the woods, but from playing football for 10 years has damaged my body enough to the point where heavy loads are getting to be too much. Do you carry a shelter though for overnights?


Nick
 
Yes, I do carry shelter. If I'm going into an area where there are no trees, then I carry a bivy, otherwise I carry my poncho and some cordage and lash it over my sleeping pad (or hammock depending on where I am) to keep the wet and wind off. Besides the military issued poncho, I carry a cheap full sized plastic poncho and drape it the other direction offering me better protection if a summer storm blows in. The poncho liner slips into the inside pocket of the ruck that normally held the german folding sleep pad and sets against my back, offering some padding while hiking and adds warmth to my sleeping bag on cold nights. On mild nights where my bag is good to go, I fold the liner and place it between me and my thermarest ultra light pad for extra padding and protection from the ground. Total weight, not including longbow and quiver of arrows is 25# and if I add the bivy shelter, it's 28# within a few ounces.
 
Longbow: Thanks for the reply. I'm hearing more and more details that I wanted to hear. I've got a North Face Pack I used for school that is 2000ci so next time I go out on a short trip I'll use that and strap my camelbak to it to add 550ci (The Camelbak is usually used for day hikes away from base camp). Thanks for all the help.

Nick
 
I've got the old small redwing. I've used it for 3 day trips in the summer without trouble.

I'd prefer something right around 3500 ci, internal frame, top load, removable top store as a day hike fannypack. Maybe two exterior mesh pockets and a daisy chain. Can't weigh more than 4 pounds, prefer 3 or less if possible. I haven't found it yet. Watch the weight of the pack itself in my opinion. Lots of pockets and options add weight without lots more utility.
 
Phatch: I know what you mean about the weight of the pack. My shasta weighs about 7 pounds I think. It weighs a ton. I really think for my past trips my pack has weighed about 50#s with all of the crap that I carry. I have to stop buying toys. lol.

Nick
 
They look like great systems, although a bit pricey for my taste. If you happen to pick one up, do a review and post it here for us to check out. I enjoy reading about others gear and just never know when I might have a little extra cash around to upgrade.
 
Depends on what you are planning to carry and how 'comfortable' you want to be.
Do a Google search on ultralight camping and you will get a lot of good ideas.

I always aquire stuff to fill my pack no matter how big it is. But then you have to decide what is worth taking and has it gotten just too heavy.

My first real trip out west I took a 3D cell mag light and a whole first aid kit and a lot of other stuff I found out was useless. In fact betweeen the four of us we all had first aid kits and a lot of the same stuff we only needed one or two of between us. I now can go pretty light.

Gadget54
 
For a three day trip, I have found that a pack of about 2200-2500 cubic inch day pack works just fine. Packs in this range include the Jansport Big Student (a bargain for about $30 on ebay) to the excellent heavy duty Eagle A-III (www.lightfighter.com). The military utilizes this size pack for what they classify an "Assault Pack." At any rate you can carry everything you need in a pack of this size for three days.
 
My main pack is something like 7000 cu in. In the summer it weighs about 25 lbs and is made very narrow with its compression straps. If I were to take it out now, I would be carrying probably 40 lbs and near volumetric capacity with my pile and down clothes.

The nice thing about a big pack is that you only need one. There are other ways around the need for extra space - lashing on stuff sacks, buying add-on pockets - but I like to keep everything in one well protected and easily balanced packaged.

The shelter you use, the kinds of clothes you wear, your sleeping bag all make a huge amount of difference as to how much room you need.

You can estimate volume by stuffing your gear in pillow cases or laundry bags and calculating the volume. Just make sure the stuff is good and squashed down with the ends of the sacks flat. The formula for the volume "v" of a cylinder of diameter "d" and length (or height) "l" is:

v = pi * d * d / 4 * l

or, simplified:

v = 0.79 * d * d * l

Scott
 
I'm a big fan of "3-day" or "assault packs". I have an Eagle A-III and it can be a daypack, airline carryon bag, and a hiking/backpacking pack. If you're going for 4 or 5 days, add a compression sack or the side pouches. If you need more customization, check out Lightfighter's RAID . Ruthlessly pare your list and pack efficiently, and you'll go far on an assault pack.
 
Saw a Kelty Arrowhead 2500 today. Anone familiar with this model?

How does it hold up??

Has hydration, and looks like plenty of room.
 
For my weekend/BOB packs I like panel loaders because I like my stuff organized and accessible. Started out years ago with a Gregory Day-and-a-half pack (2035 ci). Nice pack but, too small for all the gear I eventually accumulated.
Went next to a Blackhawk Phoenix pack (2756 ci). This is a good quality heavy duty pack but, again, was too small and uncomfortable on the trail. I have a long torso length so most of the pack weight carried on my shoulders instead of my hips. Very uncomfortable after a few hours on the trail.
Currently use a large Kelty Redwing (2900 ci). Though not as heavy duty as the Blackhawk Phoenix pack it is nonetheless working out well and certainly alot more comfortable on my back. Still consider it a tad on the small side but, REI had them on sale for only $69.95 recently and I couldn't pass that up.
 
I've rigged a Spec Ops T.H.E. pack for multiple day outings. The nice thing is it's an assault pack size, but big enough to carry a lot of gear and has attachment points for adding pouches. If I'm going to travel far in my truck, I load it up with mag pouches and my standard BOB stuff. For around here, I take off the mags and use them as water bottle holders. The Knife on the bottom is the RTAK.
 

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I see that most everyone goes over the 2000ci size of pack. I decided to stay with the smaller pack so that my gear wasn't all in one place. Just in case my pack and I get seperated, I'd still have a good supply of gear to keep me going. I've since added a small butt pack to my belt that contains a small tarp and another poncho as well as extra cordage. It added less than 3# to my gear list and will sure come in handy when one of the mtn. thunderstorms opens up and I've already ditched my pack so I could start hunting.

It's great to see the variety of methods folks use to get their gear from point A to point B.
 
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