Beginner backpack for a beginner backpacker

Terrence,

Pack choice should be entirely dependent upon the rest of your kit. It's hard to recommend specific models for you to look at without knowing what will be going in to the pack.

How much volume and weight each pack can carry varies quite a bit so knowing that would help us make a more informed suggestion.

Having said that, you should look at ULA Equipment, GoLite, Six Moon Designs, Mountain Laurel Designs, and Gossamer Gear. Backpacking Light also has a pack coming out soon (I believe it's currently in production).

The Virga is an excellent starter pack. Used ones go cheap in the for sale section.

From my experience you should get a pack last. I chose a dowm bag from Montbell. Western Mountaineering gets a good read here as well. Try to determine the coldest weather you expect first. After much research I chose a Tarptent Sublite for solo and am looking to replace our 8 lb SD 3 person tent with another Tarptent. I find packs to be very personal. I have tried about 8 packs in the last year. Frameless, internal and external. I have finally ended up with a Aarn Marathon Magic 33 pack. For me comfort is more important than weight. I liked the Osprey Exos 34 also. You will need a pack big enough to carry your assembled equipment and comfortable at what that weight is. This was hard for me to do before I purchased the other equipment and my first pack was far to large, a Montbell 50L which had to soft a hipbelt for my liking. I did not like frameless packs, I tried SMD and Gossamer Gear as they also have great reads here. I may not have done a good job packing them though. You can buy and sell here which can be a great way to try equipment out.

+1 to what Christ said about knowing the size of the rest of your kit before settling for good on a pack. Like you, I discovered BPL shortly after I got back into backpacking a couple years ago, and after I had bought a lot of new gear.

At the time, I would completely fill a 60 liter pack for a 2 night trip in the summer in the Sierras. 2 years later, I’m going to be using a 46 liter pack to hold my gear with room to spare for a 4 night trip in October.

You have a son, so you’ll probably be carrying gear for him, which has to figure in.

I really like the idea of a removable frame pack like the Gossamer Gear Gorilla, or Mariposa Plus or the Six Moon Designs Starlite. I own the Gorilla for my three season outing and the Starlite for my winter trips. Neither is as light as a fully frameless pack, or carries weight as well as a traditional framed pack, but, being modular, I can tune them to the lightest weight for a pretty broad set of conditions.

ULA makes nice packs as well. The Ohm, at 57 liters probably covers all packing scenarios outside of winter, and in my experience trying one out before I got the Gorilla, might carry weight just a little bit better.

I am thinking backwards. Thanks for straightening me out. It makes no sense to get a UL appropriate bag until I truly have an assembled (at least mostly) UL load to pack. Dropping 2 pounds down in the actual pack won't make as much difference until I can get UL versions of my current heavy gear.

Also, since I have pretty much spent my allotted initial budget I am pretty much stuck with what I have for about 6 months, so I need to make some lemonade from these lemons and make UL choices from here out.

BPL the site and the book are tremendous resources, so I am confident I can make smart purchases come Spring. Thanks for the pointers.

Buy a small pack, and only take what fits.

To really go light, being on a budget helps. You're going to the Daks – stay in lean-tos. Buy a 5×8 tarp for 10oz and $45 if you're worried about finding the lean-tos full AND having it rain. Skip the stove, bring no-cook meals. Buy a $1.50 rain poncho just in case, and skip the heavy/expensive shell jacket.

Sleping pads are $6 at Wal-Mart and only 12oz. What else do you really need? Not much! Sell the pack and bag while they are still new and get a Virga or Jam or the like, use the $6 pad for a frame, and spend the rest of the money on a sleeping bag.

Some solid tips there as well. I have a bad habit of spending my way in to a new pursuit. Have to think this through.

If you can, I recommend getting both the Gossamer Gear Gorilla and the ULA Ohm. Be sure you understand both return policies, and return the one you don't want. I'm of course oversimplifying a bit, but you should be very happy with at least one of these packs. I didn't follow my own advice and got the Gorilla.

For a cheap foam pad, get at least a Ridgerest size medium or whatever the 47" size is. The cheap foam pads are not comfortable to sleep on. Of course, if you don't mind building a 12" deep pile of leaves or pine needles, you don't even need a pad. :)

I hope you're not going to wait for Spring to get out on the trail. Once you get a pack, just get out there with the gear you have.

Terrence,

I know you've read over and over about all these UL packs and how light they are. In my opinion I find them uncomfortable, because not enough weight is distributed to the hipbelt, due to their thin flimsy belts. I find to much of the weight to be on my shoulders.

Carl Becker mentioned above the Osprey Exos series packs. Sure they weigh 2.5 lbs, but WOW can they distribute the load properly. I've been hiking for 35 years and am also fairly new to UL back packing, but comfort is way more important to me and it's well worth the extra pound of pack weight…..IMO.

You do need to know the size and weight of your kit before getting an optimal pack. Much of the gear recommenced here is aimed at solo hiking and you have a five year old, which means you will be carrying 90% of the gear for both.

To give you a straight answer, for solo use, the GoLite Jam is a great all-round pack. I personally use a GoLite Peak, which is a little smaller and can be compressed to work for day hikes as well.

If you haven't used the gear you bought, I would be surprised if you couldn't return/exchange it. It looks like EMS has a good return policy: http://www.ems.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=returns&subdisplay=policy

If you can't return it, there's no reason you can't use the Osprey pack for your first season. In fact, if hauling gear for two, it might not be a bad choice at all and you could have done a lot worse— that's a nice pack. Most UL packs don't work well over 30 pounds and work best at lower weights. I don't know what sleeping bags you bought, so I can't give any advice there.

You can still apply UL principles to the rest of your kit and keep things within reason. Just because you have a 3 pound pack and a 3 pound sleeping bag doesn't mean you will end up with a 50 pound kit. You can still go UL on shelter, cook kit, sleeping pads, hygiene, clothing, lighting and all those little things that add the pounds.

If I were going out with a 5 year old, I would aim for a short-ish hike to a lake and just have a simple overnighter. We started our kids with car camping and day hikes, so overnight trips were just a natural extension of that. Lots of rest stops and treats help things go well. Kids have different clothing needs than adults, so watch for shivering, etc, if the weather gets bad. I wouldn't expect the child to carry much more than a little water, treats, a clothing layer (like a fleece), a rain jacket, and a small toy. A whistle on a nice neck lanyard goes with instructions on what to do if lost/separated (sit down and whistle).

I have a bad habit of spending my way in to a new pursuit.

If you've spent any time on Gear Swap, you can see that your problem is not ucommon to the rest of us.

It's so exhilirating to first realize that you could be walking around with 20lbs on your back vs 40 lbs that it's easy to jump at the first thing you see, and then next week see something better. I went Big Agnes SL2, Tarptent Rainbow, Oware Catentary tarp, Tarptent Rainbow, to cuben tarp for now. I bought a Western Mountaineering Summerlite and a Monbtell UL Spiral Down#3 before picking up a Jacks R Better quilt on Gear Swap to give quilting a try. 3 weeks after that I logged in at exactly the right moment to buy a Nunatak quilt at a nice discount. I sold the other three bags despite liking them alot.

I'm currently trying to decided if I want to keep my removable frame Gorilla or trade it in for a much lighter frameless cuben pack. Or even go for a fixed frame pack like the Ohm, now that the hip belt issue is apparently resolved.

Either way, I know that on Gear Swap I'll be able to use an old piece of gear to fund the purchase of another, which makes it easier to try new things.

That 65L Atmos is probably just fine for what you have now, and will make a nice winter pack when you extend your camping to all seasons.

Just for reference, the frame on the Ohm can be removed.

make sure it fits you !!!

the lightest pack in the world is useless if it doesn't fit you … or if it's uncomfortable

1. try on a pack if possible before buying … walk around it with roughly the same weight as you would be packing … walk for hours in the store with that pack on if you have the time … most stores will have weights and allow you to do this

2. if you buy online make sure you buy somewhere with a good return policy … youll probably lose on shipping but thats the risk of buying online

don't let others tell you what to buy … buy what fits you and feels good … then worry about if its light enough

I have 20 days until my trip to the Adirondacks and I don't want to make any rush decisions on top of the rush decisions I have already made, so I better sit tight with what I have for now and lighten up on clothes and the little things I can apply MYOG principles to.

For now I plan on car camping, perhaps a very short hike in to a lakeside site as suggested with my son, so I'm not basing any UL decisions on that. We'll keep the two man tent for that stuff and I'll subject myself to a new UL shelter and sleep system at some point.

If I use my first real trip as a gear test I can easily see my anxiety getting the better of me and worrying too much. I can complain about carrying an extra 10-15 pounds for 20 minutes once I reach the summit and be done with it. Worrying for 8+ hours getting to the camp site whether I will pitch the tarp right, be warm enough, have enough bug protection, etc. That already has me thinking more about what I won't like versus the joy I should be expecting from climbing my first mountain (albeit a small one) and sleeping in the true wild for the first time in my life.

I TRULY appreciate all of the ideas, tips, and advice people are giving. I feel right at home here with such helpful people.

I'm going to be the opposite voice here (unless I didn't notice someone with my same opinion.)

Your kid is only 5 years old. If he decides he likes backpacking and you like it too, you may be carrying a lot of his gear for a few years. Your big pack may actually be a good choice for you for a long time. Three pounds really is not that bad when you have a pack that can carry a heavier load more comfortably than one of the ultralight models. When I hiked the PCT in the desert and was carrying a lot of water, I switched from a one-pound to a three-pound pack and it actually felt lighter on my back.

Not that you have to carry 65lbs or anything. But if you're carrying your kid's stuff, you might be approaching or exceeding the maximum weight for comfort for a lot of the ultralight packs.

You can still go ultralight on the rest of your gear and get an ultralight pack for when you are not carrying anyone else's gear.

Also, don't forget that a lot of going light is about NOT bringing stuff and also can be about making or scavenging stuff. So it's not always about spending your way in.

Ignore this post if you have thought of this already but the key to lightweight backpacking is not the gear, its the mindset. You mentioned you are just getting into camping so I would not go out and buy super light and expensive gear if you haven't gone out into the wild and experienced a few nights in the rain and cold, especially with your son. Replace gear as your comfort level with less of it increases as gear is only a means to an end, not the end all of enjoying your backcountry experience. So much depends on what you encounter in the wild, e.i., I live and backpack in interior Alaska so because of the weather and bugs tarp camping is almost a silly concept to me whereas to many others they can save 2lbs in this category. Then again, without the responsibility of watching out for your son, suffering a little (getting bitten, cold, and wet) can be quite enlightening!

Eric makes a great point: the most important thing is how comfortable the pack is. It it fits you and allows you to carry your gear comfortably, then keep it. The pack is a weird item. To those who make a list, it counts as part of their "skin out" weight. But unlike the rest of the gear, it's job is to make the backpacking process comfortable. In other words, if you carry a lighter sleeping bag, it may be less comfortable in camp, but will always be nicer when you are carrying your backpack. On the other hand, a lighter backpack may be less comfortable than a heavier one (or vice-versa). If so, then saving a few ounces in a pack doesn't make sense.

Personally, I like to look for efficiency in a backpack. How, exactly, does a pack get to be so light? If they skimped on support, or have a wimpy hip belt, then I probably won't like it very much (although, to be fair, I have been impressed with some of the frameless packs — they are more comfortable than I expected). If, on the other hand, the pack has good support, a nice hip belt, few zippers and light material, then I think it will be a very good pack. I think the Granite Gear Vapor Trail fits this description fairly well (although even it could be improved).

Because you'll have to carry most of the load for your son for quite a few years yet, I advise that you keep the Osprey Atmos. That assumes, of course, that it is comfortable for you! It's not as though you bought a 6-7 lb. bomber pack as so many do! Your Osprey weighs only half a pound more than the Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone or ULA Catalyst, both of which are considered lightweight packs. Even once you get all your lighter gear, you'll still need the carrying capacity of the Atmos or a similar pack for going out with your son. Somewhere around age 12 (depending on his growth, of course) he may be able to carry his full share, but until then, Dad will be acting as a sherpa.

Once you've acquired the rest of your gear, you can look for a lighter pack for going solo–and for when your son reaches his teens. In the meantime, you won't have to wait to go backpacking because the Osprey will support the heavier gear you have already acquired.

Thanks again everyone. You are all so helpful.

Great points on keeping the bigger pack for when I go out with my son. Five year olds can be pretty wimpy when it comes lugging their own gear! :-) I also forgot that for the Adirondacks camping I'll do in the High Peaks region, a bear can is required, so I'll need the extra room to lug that sucker.

I'm going to stick with everything I have now and focus on making UL choices as I go forward, especially for all the little things that are less expensive to replace.

In the end, I am after the experience of the wilderness, escaping my daily city/suburb life, seeing the stars and sharing some good bourbon with my brother. Making my soul ultra lightweight doesn't cost any more than the sweat to get me out there.

as long as the osprey fits and is comfortable ….

osprey has one of the best warranties in the business …

"Osprey will repair for any reason, free of charge, any damage or defect in our product – whether it was purchased in 1974 or yesterday. If we are unable to perform a functional repair on your pack, we will happily replace it. We proudly stand behind this guarantee, so much so that it bears the signature of company founder and head designer, Mike Pfotenhauer."

Eek–I've always associated bear canisters with the Sierra. I forgot that the Adirondacks are the home of the famous (infamous?) bear that knows how to get into the Bear Vault! Do make sure your bear canister will fit into your Atmos 65 before deciding to keep this pack. It might be that you'll have to get a slightly bigger size.

@Terrence I think that makes the most sense. Some folks would disagree with me, but a 3.5 lb pack is worth it if the fit works well for you- *especially* if you are a newbie. Put a five year old kid into the equation and you will almost certainly need the volume and will appreciate the comfort of such a pack. The high number of BPLers which carry 3 lb ULA, McHale, and Granite Gear packs is a testament to idea that weight isn't *everything*.

From the posts I've read around here, it's a common trap for people to fall into- deciding what gear to get based on what has been declared UL by experienced BPLers. There's no reason a newbie can't put together a setup that is lightweight, but it's easy to focus on the wrong factors.

I'd keep the Atmos.

For shoulder-season and winter backpacking trips with my 2.5-year-old (yes, these are short trips – he happily hikes about 3 miles in then starts getting grumpier), I use an Osprey Aether 85, which weighs in excess of 4.5 lbs.

I try to keep my young son carrying no more than 10% of his weight (he insists on his own backpack). Which means he can haul all of 2 lbs. His usual load is usually a juice cup, a sliced apple, and a compass…

In turn, that means you need to carry an additional sleeping pad and sleeping bag or quilt, at minimum. Not that heavy, but space intensive, so a bigger bag can make sense.

In the future, you can always use it on winter trips – it'd be a good pack for winter trips in the High Peaks or Pemi.

Just a friendly reminder that the name of the website is Backpacking LIGHT not Ultra Light, or even Super Ultra Light.

Being a beginner is rough because you have no practical experience to compare anything with. Such as an Osprey pack versus a ULA or GoLite. Many people buy the wrong packs whether heavy or light, go on their first few trips and are miserable because the pack doesn't fit correctly, or, it's the wrong pack for the load and purpose.

For starting out, there isn't anything wrong at all with the Osprey Atmos 65. This pack will allow you the versatility between a "light" and a "heavy" load if needed, with some comfort.

As others have mentioned, a lightweight load is a mindset. It takes awhile to acquire it and get used to it. Especially when you are new to backpacking. Let's face it, every single person on this board has been at this step at one point in their lives. I accepted heavy ridiculous loads until 3 years ago, and even now, I learn new ways of doing things differently with each trip. So much so that my 50 liter pack has too much extra room leftover on my solo trips.

Buy the the lightest gear you can afford, but do so with common sense and get the biggest bang for your buck. Trust me when I say, if this new found bug bites you hard enough, your gear spending will be a never ending endeavor! :)