Mike
need one for:
hiking, camping, canoe camping, for a maximum of 3 days, mostly 1-2 days, though.
i don't do any of that camping where you drive your car to the camp site, so i would need a backpack that can haul all my gear.
i live in Florida and don't go out of state much.
prefer something with a hydration bladder and no more than $150, prefer $50-$100.
i know High Sierra and The North Face are good but what else and what models would be best for me?
Answer
If you're using your backpack just for backpacking for 3 days, or mostly weekends, I wouldn't buy anything with more than 50 or 60L. The model number of the backpack (ie. North Face Terra 60) is close to the number of Litres it contains.
If you buy bigger (70L, 80L), you can use it for expeditions, or for international travel with lots of souvenirs lol
If you buy it too small,you'll end up strapping your tent and sleeping bag on the outside... this is NOT preferable as they can get wet if it rains, or they can get caught on trees, shrubs, rocks, or the envrionment you're travelling by. Personally I like a backpack that has a zipper compartment for the sleeping bag in the bottom, and has zippers on the side for easy side access (so you don't have to unpack your whole bag to get at things, or stuff something in).
I'd definately go to a store and try one on, and make sure to put 30 or 40lbs in it... at the end of the day, what makes a good pack is how it fits you when you throw your weight around wearing a weighted pack. An empty pack is quite different than a full one with how it feels. This is the most important thing to remember. Also packs vary in size by a litre or two bit depending on whether you buy a large, medium or small frame. Each brand and pack is different, so make sure you try them on, as a medium frame for one pack is often a large frame for another. For backpacking you want the weight to be transfered to your hips, so it shouldn't all be resting on your shoulders... this is why choosing the correct frame size for the model of pack you choose is important.
I've had lots of packs over the past few years. Right now I'm using a Black Diamond 50L pack, and I love it, but it's more designed for Mountaineering.
Arc'teryx makes some super cool dry backpacks, that are designed for being completely waterproof... they're very expensive, but pretty interesting if you're canoeing or sea kayaking.
Some of the brands I've had... all of which are good in their own way were:
Black Diamond
North Face
Serratus
Osprey
Arc'teryx
and a Mountain Equipment Co-op bag (the best one, but it's Canadian)
The key point here to remember is the fit, not the brand name, is what makes a good pack vs. one that you regret buying and hurts your back.
Does anyone hike/backpack/camp with their kids?
riversmom3
I have a 1 year old and I think by next fall she'll either be too big or too wiggly to be carried in the backpack carrier (Kelty Kids). Does anyone take thier toddlers hiking? Camping? Any suggestions? We go in the mountains of PA.
Answer
I took my son on his first hike at six months old, in a Snugli carrier, with a daypack on my back. A month later we went on our only backpacking trip using the same carrier. By the time he was 9 months old we'd switched to a Kelty Meadow KIDS carrier, which we used for two years for day hiking, but as my wife is too weak to carry the kid, we never were able to figure out how to go backpacking, unless I carried over 50 lbs, including the kid, which is too much for the Kelty Meadow.
We used the Kelty until he was 2 years & 5 months old when we tried to experiment to see how far he could walk, which was about 33% of the time, with 66% of the time riding on my shoulders, which wasn't very comfortable. So we purchased a Sherpani Rhumba UL carrier for our vacation to Hawaii, at age 2 1/2, weight 30 lbs, and he rode in that about 66% of the time on several day hikes. (I don't recommend that carrier because the stitching came out and we had to return it, but we did get a full refund.)
At around 2 years, 10 months he hiked about 75% of the way on a seven mile hike around Muir Woods NM, the rest on my shoulders. I don't plan to put him in a carrier any more, but if we hadn't had it in Hawaii our hikes would've been impossible.
We never had a problem with wiggliness. You are kind of torturing them if you keep them in there a long time, so we never did extremely long hikes, and always stopped and let him rest and play as much as possible, moving no more than 1 MPH over a whole day, their experience of the woods just as important as mine. He'd usually fall asleep in the carrier in the afternoon for an hour or two. We never felt the need to bring toys along to keep him quiet.
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