Exos 48 or 58 for woman?

I tried the 58 on for the first time yesterday.

I was very impressed. Most air-pad packs hit your tailbone really bad where everything comes together on the bottom of the pack.
The Exos is very comfortable around the entire waist.
The padding in the shoulders is ample as well.

As far as carrying 30 pounds?
Maybe someone else can answer that.

There's some good conversation going on right now with the new Exos line.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=80186&disable_pagination=1

I have never had luck with my osprey packs, including two Exos (the 46 and the 58). And when I tried to sell them to other women, they had the same complaints I did. Now, that doesn't mean that no one likes them – obviously some people do, including women. But I've heard a lot of negatives about them from most of my female hiking friends.

Personally, I really like the way ULA does their S straps for women. Check out the ULA circuit with S straps. That would be my recommendation – with the HUGE caveat that pack fit is like shoe fit: it is SOOOOOO personal no one can tell your daughter what pack will work for her.

But I'd certainly add that one to the list.

I've had great luck with Osprey. I have a unisex 28L that fits great. and I have the Women's Xena 85L that fits great as well.

as an REI camp employee, i have had great success fitting women in the talon line of packs, specifically the talon 44 when they are looking for a lighter weight option. i outfitted one girl who needed a new pack to complete her PCT thru hike, she came in with her pack falling apart and said i need something now! anyways, we kept in contact and she did the rest of the PCT from norcal to canada wearing that talon and was extremely happy with it.