Well, for my latest pack purchase it again came down to two famous competitors, Granite Gear (the Vapor Ki), or Golite (the Pinnacle).
This time, for a large winter pack for my GF; my requirements were about 1kg or less, about 60 liters in volume, and a 15" torso option. Expected loads are 7kg or less of winter gear, including low density foam, down, dried foods, fleece, etc..
I own a frameless Golite Dawn, and love it, but for this application I went with the GG Vapor Ki for it's internal frame and high comfort level. Three season backpacking loads are about 1/2 of winter loads, so an internal frame is not so important; a frameless pack would be fine.
For winter loads though, I feel (rather my shoulders feel) the need for a rigid internal frame to transfer weight to the hips. The user of this recent pack purchase tends to feel the same; so we went with the Ki. Incidently, the fact that it was available at REI (with it's lifetime warrantee) and the Pinnacle was not also influenced the decision.
This will be the third GG pack I have purchased, and while some manufacturers have caught up to GG in terms of comfort, they can't do it at a comparable weight/volume ratio, IMO. The GG is 400 grams heavier, but those 400grams, and 80% of the rest of the total pack weight, should be carried on the hips, not on the shoulders.
Im all for light weight, especially when carrying my Dawn in the warmest 3-seasons; but there is really no such thing as SUL in alpine/winter conditions.
Anyone else recently been through this analysis and come to a similar or different conclusion? Ben, how about your grocery sack with straps? (z-pack?) ;)
