When is a frameless pack practical?

Just for the fun of it, have you considered an inflatable frame? There are many people who are very happy with them around here.

Klymit: http://www.klymit.com/index.php/technology/air-frame-technology/airbeam-pack-frame.html

Gossamer Gear: http://gossamergear.com/packs/pack-accessories/gg-airbeam-pack-frame.html

Yeah I have seen the inflatable frames. I don't want to worry with leakage, I'd rather just throw some ccf in instead.

Does anyone know how much the stays on the HMG windrider weigh? The 20% off sale is looking pretty sweet. Damn my indecisiveness!

The stays are 2 oz.

My answer is: when the frameless pack is comfortable carrying the stuff I need for the trip I'm going on.

For me, that's less than 15 lbs total pack weight. Anything more than that and I want better weight transfer to my hips than a CCF pad can offer. Which means, given my 50* F base weight, that I want to be out for less than two days, given that I carry a minimum of 2 L of water on most trips. I don't want to be out below that with a frameless pack.

However, my shelter is relatively heavy compared to many folks here (I hammock, even though it's a fairly lightweight system for hammocking), so frameless may very well be something that works for you. You also might be more resistant to shoulder fatigue than I; many folks are. I've seen numbers as high as 25 lbs for frameless packs, but I think that might be crowding the edge of what's humanly possible without excessive fatigue.

Essentially, what it comes down to (as with so much of backpacking and other endurance activities) is that YMMV.

If your on the fence about the ArcBlast, just order one and try it. Joe will take it back if you dont like it. He sells returns on his bargain page.

The weight is nice. But its only a couple oz lighter than my Ohm which I was pretty fond of.

My #1 reason for purchasing the Arc, was I wanted a highly water resistant pack. Everything else aside, there is NO reason to not have water resistant packs today.

But after getting it,and using it:

The simple hipbelt wraps snugly around my hips and is very comfortable. Best Ive used (for the weight it can carry)
The pack carries the best of any pack Ive had. Load lifters totally unnecessary. It magically hugs the back.(right torso length is part of this)
Custom torso length is so fricking critical, and you dont get that on many other packs.
Dont need a CCF pad for back padding and to prevent feeling joint where foodbag rests on other stuff. Yay!

I always bring some CCF with a short xlite to put under my legs, but I like it outside of pack so I can sit on it during day, not inside used as backpadding or structure.