pack ideas for a bony lady!

My suggestion would have been a external frame pack, but as you've already thought of that… :)

If you're looking for a more minimal setup, and you can get the loads light enough, you could just go entirely beltless. I've just tried beltless this summer, and I've really enjoyed it. Of course, that'd be pretty difficult with a bear can.

Have you considered vest style packs? Something like a SMD Fusion 30 or 40 might work, but I'm completely unaware of how well they'll carry a can.

Look at Granite Gear packs. IMHO, the have tended to make very cushy hip belts and suspensions in general.

I am having good luck with my Exos 48. The more I think about it its kinda like an external/internal hybrid. They don't get much skinnier than me and I wont buy a pack without a good bit of comfort at the waist because I don't like taking the weight on my shoulders. I may roll the dice with something lighter and less support one day but for now its working for me. I do wish the weight of the pack was lighter but I get twisted up between rolling the dice on a UL pack and already having one that carries well for me.

FWIW I could not find an Osprey pack that fit or was near as comfortable before the Exos came out.

best of luck, jimmyb

+1 on the Granite Gear WOMENS models.
In my wife's opinion, they set the standard for a comfortable fit.

Agreed, they aren't UL, but your wife will learn a lot (hopefully) about how a good fit feels. Then, if desired, try something like a ULA Circuit or Ohm to see if a "generic" hip belt is in the cards. Chris at ULA will ship several (charge you, and then refund on return) so she could try the models, the belt and the sizing. (Ask for a return shipping label up front.)

thanks all for your thoughts!

jonathan, do you have any make or models of external packs in mind?

i've only jumped back into backpacking post ultralight craze (i use a circuit now), so my knowledge of external packs is limited and it seems like it's own ecosystem. what's a company known for comfortable, cushy, not-cool external framed packs? :)
would a used 90s/00's pack be a bad idea?

and it would still be great to hear from anyone that might have had a similar experience with hip belts flaring out in back and dropping load to the lower back, if you are out there. :)

Ben
Have a look at the Vargo Ti Arc too. One of the lightest externals out there.

I think external frame packs are good if you must cross the lightweight category when hauling lots of water, "family" loads, scientic gear or photographic gear, but I've never thought of one as cushy or comfortable. They can be rather stiff— and noisy too.

My wife uses an Osprey Ariel, which is hardly UL, but after trying on many packs that was her choice. Fill a pack like that with UL gear and it feels like nothing. Ive said that any gear list can survive ONE less than UL item.

I think someone has to buy the whole UL program to appeciate UL packs and if they aren't True Believers, good luck convincing them otherwise. You certainly want to get and UL pack after all the other base weight items have been reduced.

hey dale

we are modestly light – copper spur ul2, enlightened equipment two person quilt, two prolite plus pads… and i use a circuit.

even with total weight in an ohm around 16-20 lbs, she's having these problems with the hipbelt.
so it's not necessarily a weight thing, it's a body thing, and finding a pack that actually works for hers!

thanks again all, very appreciated

The real question with external frame packs is can live with most of their monstrous sizes. There isn't a lot of smaller volume external frame packs unless you're short and thin enough to fit into child sizes (I'm much too tall for them).

Ignoring the size quirk, Alps Mountaineering, Kelty, Vargo, and Alite all have external frame packs (in the traditional sense of external frame packs, ignoring something like a zpacks bag). Luxurylite has their recently renamed StackPack, which might be an option as well, and you can find a bunch of random external framed packs from brands less often mentioned on sites like BPL. High Sierra still makes some I believe, and the house Bass Pro Shop brand (Ascend, I think) carries one.

Also, there's nothing wrong with an older pack. Often times they are built of a burlier stock than modern packs, but that's not necessarily a problem. However, a lot of nylon from yesterday, if used considerably, can start to rot (if that's the right word..) due to UV damage. I'm no expert in the degradation of nylon, but from mere anecdotal experience, a decade or two old pack is probably okay. Most of the packs I've seen in real bad shape were from the 70s and 80s.

No matter what though, if you want to try an external frame pack, buy one from a retailer with a decent return policy for unused/still-tagged products (assuming you don't get a cheapo one second-hand), and walk around the house a bit with some weight in it. External frame packs are a different experience than internal ones. They can be squeeky, and if fit correctly, are a little bit more slack the shoulders than with most internal-framed ones.

I'd certainly give these a look as well. I'm SUPER impressed with the hip belt on these packs…they are super soft, contour perfectly, and are a very different shape than I'm used to.

the 55L is bear can compatible…..

As a formerly bony lady, I HATED the ospreys. They hurt my hips and shoulders like nobody's business. but that's ME.

thanks for the idea jennifer!
they look cool too :)

While my wife is a retired bony person, she was always rather content with an old Arc Teryx Bora (65L). The Bora series have a very stable hip belt and nice/cushy shoulder straps.

In today's standards, it's heavy. But she still swears by it.

Now our bony 15 year old prefers mom's Bora over many other packs.

I will also suggest trying an Arc Blast if one is floating around. Technically, it's an external frame, and throws the pack weight directly onto the hip belt quite well.

hey matt

thanks for the idea. arc'teryx new women's pack seems to be the altra. don't know how similar it is to the bora, but we probably wouldn't buy a used pack we couldn't return, at least not one as expensive as arcteryx packs!

but the altra does seem quite padded and burly. that said i found a review at outdoor gear lab that says some more "petite" or "smaller framed" women found it uncomfortable.

doesn't mean anything of course, but all i've got to go on right now are words :)

an arc blast is an interesting idea though their turnaround is quite long at the moment.
she did try my old exos on, which has a similar (at least similar looking) mesh back, and didn't feel comfortable with it.

thanks again for your ideas.

One other thought for someone with bony hips:

make sure the hip belt on her is actually at her WAIST, not her hip bones. This way it will settle on top of the hips and not over them (and thus compressing the sensitive skin on those bony prominences). Older packs with those huge hip belts seem to need to wrap AROUND the hips, but the newer, lighter ones (such as the Ohm) should do quite well as a waist belt (not a hip belt…) and then can rest on top of her hips.

hey all just thought i'd update you on the solution for us. we just got back from a week in the sierra's with my wife's new pack: a ula circuit (medium torso, small belt). she loves it. i was already a convert, and after a week with it, we both agree that there's something about the circuit that just "makes sense." it's a beautiful and simple and intelligently designed object. (at least for our bodies and needs.) i also wanted to mention ula's absurd support. chris @ ula is unbelievable. he practices a level of institutional support i can't fathom. he seemingly replies to emails before you've sent them, asks for photos and information, and happily modded the stay on the circuit to bend backwards at the bottom to keep it off my wife's tailbone – which worked *perfectly*. i shouldn't, and won't, expect this kind of support and dedication from anyone (chris, etc should have a life offline like anyone else!), but i can't say it didn't make a difference in where we ended up.