Before making a suggestion, what exactly goes in your pack? Or more importantly, what is your total pack weight? Reason I ask is that my friend recently made the mistake of buying a lightweight pack that was larger, thinking it would just fit all his gear, while his stuff was really not light at all, so he ended up with a bad situation on his hands. (He actually packed a regular down pillow from his bed! jeeze.) Don't end up with a UL pack meant for UL gear if it isn't what you want. Now, assuming you are going lightweight or lighter, would a 44L pack work for you? I recently had a few amazing hikes with the osprey talon 44. Its not the kind of UL pack people here would normally use, but you might find it great. I like its breathable back panel, the full water bottle pockets, the actually stretchy back panel pocket that works when the pack is full, and most of all, the fact that it is much closer to a minimalist pack than most other osprey packs. my load is just between 27-31 lbs with food and water, not UL, but it works beautifully in this pack. I would not break that load though, if you pack over 35 lbs do not use this pack. But I found it great where the exos failed in terms of comfort, look at the reviews about this pack, what they say about it breaking down around the frame and poking into your hips can be very true. The kestrel was also more comfortable in the straps where the atmos lost out, more supportive than true UL packs for my load, mostly because I use a neo air rather than a mat that can be used as a back pad/support in the pack, and my gear doesn't fit together that well in an unstructured pack. I also recommend the new gossamer gear 2012 gorilla pack (much more true to UL ethos, has breathable back panel, but your pad gets sweat on) and the Hyperlite Mountain gear packs (less support in some circumstances, more expensive, and no breathable back panels, but so nice!) Best of luck in pack selection, it can be a long search sometimes.
