Thats what i been wondering. At what point do you go too light on the pack.. Im too looking at a light weight pack but i want want that would carry comfortable. Just as important i don't want it to fall apart on me 2 days into the mountains. Most of the packs you need to order without trying them out first. Wish i had the money to order one of each..
Sasha
There are a bunch of REI stores in the LA area, go to there site and hit the store locator.
Then best way to find what is going to be your lightest option, and still be comfortable, is to determine what
MAXIMUM weight you will
REALISTICALLY be carrying on a trip, fully loaded including water. Also, determine how large of a pack you will
REALISTICALLY need.
Then head to REI, and try on all the packs that are in your capacity range, starting with the lightest with the same amount of weight in them(the weight you plan on carrying that we already determined in the sentence above.)
Start with the lightest packs, then work your way to the heavier ones. At the pack weight you decide, you will notice there comes a point were a heavier pack is more comfortable, but anything heavier isn't any more comfortable. Does that make sense?
For instance, like me, I decided that 35lb. is realistic for me, once I add water and fishing gear. The 3lb. packs I tried could work and were fairly comfortable, but they felt at there limit. The pack I settled on was 4lb. and made the 35lb. load feel much lighter than the other packs and was extremely comfortable. The 5-6lb. packs though, didn't ADD any comfort, at that point they were just heavier packs, you see what I'm saying? Now if I was carrying 50lb. then going to a 5lb. pack would probably make a difference.
So, say you decide on 20lb. load. The frameless packs might work, but you may find that a light 3lb. internal frame pack is just leaps and bounds more comfortable, and makes that 20lbs. feel lighter. And being that you are carrying only 20lb. a 4lb. pack won't feel any more comfortable, and will just be a heavier pack.
I hope that makes sense.
And don't be afraid once you narrow it down to like 3 packs, to try them on again back to back, and back and forth. And don't just walk around for 1minute, spend a half hour walking around with each pack.
Like someone else said, buying a pack is like buying shoes, they are VITAL to your comfort, and you can't determine how comfortable they are by putting one shoe on and taking 3 steps in it. YOu also can't make a good decision ordering online.
Now, once you make a decision after trying them on at a store, don't be afraid to order that model and size off the internet, because now you know it fits.
But, buying from a place like REI offers the ability to return your pack if you don't like it, no questions asked. I originally thought I picked the right pack after trying a lot of them on (but not all of them, my mistake, thinking I wasn't going to get a pack that weighed more than 3lb.) But on my first trip I realized it wasn't going to work. So I brought it back. I was still stubborn on trying to be a weight weenie, but after trying on the pack I have now, I was instantly converted.
:thumbup: