Backpack Help

Hey bud, I snatched this from another thread: Most of our scouts used the Osprey Exos 58 with states a gear capacity of 3500 cubic inches and a weight of 2 lbs and 8 oz. We could have gone with smaller backpacks, but for our preparation hikes in Yosemite we needed the ability to carry bear canisters in our packs.

It came from here: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=59012

And one more thing….just looked at Andrew Skurka's new book and he suggests something along the lines of a 50L frameless pack i.e. GoLite Jam 50. I'm not super familiar with what Philmont requires, but this seems logical.

70L is quite a big pack for a trip less than 2 weeks IMO, unless you're carrying for two people, that is.

If you want a mainstream mfg, try GoLite for their Pinnacle. It comes in various sizes. You could also look at their Jam, which is slightly smaller. I bought a new Jam online from Uncle Dan's for $69.99 a few weeks ago. Shop around, there are a lot of good deals right now.

Also, for UL or SUL, try the myriad of cottage industries guys out there making super nice packs, but of course you'll pay more.

In the mean time, just a suggestion, you might look at how to get your gear lighter/smaller, so you don't need a 70 L pack.
good luck!

Hey,

I was at Philmont 2 years ago and last year I was at Northern Tier.

Unless your entire crew is going heavyweight (I DO NOT recommend this), you do not need a 70L pack. I used my Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus, wich after cutting off all of the ridiculously long straps I was able to get down to less than 17 oz.

I highly recommend it. Also, if you take the "Trail Valley Trail" out of Ponil, I helped build that. Treat it well!

Hi Zach,

The price point for the High Sierra Appalachian 75L is tempting, but you would put immediately 6 lbs on your back without even having any gear in there. Don’t do it!
Read Doug Prosser’s excellent article and work with your whole crew to go lightweight. A packpack that would be in your price range would be the Osprey Exos 46 if you buy it with one of the 20% coupons members at REI get. That would keep right a way 3.5 lbs off your back. If you have the skill to go frameless and are careful with a Cuben pack, you could even look into a ZPacks Blast which would keep over 5 lbs off your back. Going frameless requires a little more skill when packing your pack, but it would save you even more weight.

But this whole discussion is sort of backwards. Without knowing what gear you are bringing, it is hard to recommend a backpack. Your gear has to fit into the backpack. And if you are bringing a bulky synthetic sleeping bag you won’t be able to use the Osprey 46 or the Jam 50 or the Blast or …
So it would be best if you first put your gear list together (follow the advice in Doug’s article) and then see how much volume you really need. Try to keep your baseweight below 15 lbs and you will have lots of fun at Philmont. Last summer I saw many scouts with baseweights of over 50 lbs at Philmont and they certainly didn’t have a lot of fun out there.

Enjoy Philmont!

Manfred

In addition to Doug Prosser's there's also a two part series recently published on this site about beginning backpacking. It's aimed towards the parents of scouts in what to buy for their scout, but the techniques/philosophy discussed should also work for you.

Part 1:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/what_a_scout_needs_for_backpacking_part_1.html

Part 2:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/what_a_scout_needs_for_backpacking_part_2.html