My wife and I are about to head out on a PCT thru hike. My wife currently has a Gregory Jade 60 which she doesn't love. The shoulder straps are a little to narrow at the neck for her, and the hipbelt pockets are too small for her liking. Additionally, and, most importantly, even when we strip the pack of its lid it still weighs 3 pounds 11 ounces.
As such we have been searching for a replacement pack. We had settled on the Exped Women's Lightning 60 since she really liked the suspension of the Lightning packs and the women's version is 1 pound 4 ounces lighter than the Jade 60 and can still haul heavy loads comfortably.
She tried the unisex version of the Lightning 60 and the shoulder straps and hipbelt were too large, hence the move to the Women's specific version, which addresses both of these issues.
Unfortunately, all of the Women's Exped Lightning 60 packs are stuck in the port of LA due to the dock worker's strikes, and nobody will have them in stock until late April (after we are already gone on our hike).
So can anyone think of any alternatives?
The pack needs the following characteristics:
-Must be able to comfortably carry 40 lbs of weight (i.e. transfer the weight to the hips)
-Must be under 3 pounds, preferably around 2.5 lbs
-Must, must, must, have a scooped out back panel (where nothing actually hits your spine mid back). My wife's spine curves out slightly under her shoulder blades and rubs painfully against any pack that has a full back panel. This is a HUGE problem in finding packs for her.
-Must have large hip belt pockets
-Must be 50-60 liters
-Preferably has an adjustable torso length
The Exped Women's Lightning 60 was the only pack on the market that I found that could meet all of these requirements.
Can anyone else think of one?
