One pack vs quiver (revisited 2020)

Oh yeah, just to add:

#5// US carry-on measurements.

(did a search and the last time this was debated was around 2013 on BPL as far as I could find)

I had the same thought and landed on a Topo Klettersack. Weighs 26 oz as modified.  Feels cool. Looks cool. Fits my stuff. Bombproof. So much for UL. Fits a bit more than my last SWD 25 pack and weighs 11 oz more than that one. Turns out I love top pockets.

Thanks.  Didn’t consider a design like the Klettersack.  Looks like they have one in a grid ripstop too, though the 1000 wt is something to consider.

HK,
I’m working on an all purpose pack for both day hiking and backpacking, so thought I’d respond to your post.

The biggest issue has been reducing not just the weight; but also the volume of the BP kit, so it will fit into a smaller pack. As any long distance hiker knows, this means going through every item in the kit and either getting rid of it, or substituting something much lighter, and in this case, less voluminous. Just one example: Getting rid of the Polartec fleece top, and substituting a grid fleece one, like the ones from Patagonia, that compact to around half the size. This, and not the pack design and construction, may be the most time consuming and challenging part.

The next step was to design the pack so that it is narrow, around 12″ to 14″, top to bottom, and using stuffsacks that completely fill that width, no more and especially no less. The narrow width will also fit better on a bicycle, but that was not my purpose. The depth of the pack must also be reduced to fit snugly over the stuffsacks, which are stacked horizontally, on top of each other from the bottom to top of the pack, with just enough space at the top for a hanging zip bag that holds small items, like headlamp, PLB, mini-camera, sunglasses, etc.

Next, did not want to have to go rummaging for things, so made the pack a panel loader from top at least half way to bottom. This is controversial, but found it works with #5 WP YKK zips, plus flaps like the older packs had over their leaky zips. The fabric is WP, and the bottom half of the pack is sealed, so no water is going to get in if crossing a waist high stream, and the top half of the pack protects against rain and other precip. If there may be falls creating full immersion of the pack, quick recovery, along with WP stuff sacks, will prevent water penetrating the upper zipper and soaking the contents. If the pack could be totally immersed for some time, as when on a trip that includes kayaking, I just store the pack in a dry bag in the kayak. But I don’t want to carry all that extra weight when hiking, and store the kayak, portage wheels and drybag before the hiking portion of the trip. Sometimes even in the woods, if there is no better option to be found.

To keep the pack from acquiring food odors, and having a place to secure items for short periods, there is a shelf on top of the pack with criss-cross stout bungee cords. The food is stored in an ursack lined with an odor proof inner sack. Because I prepare, pack and seal the food in small plastic bags trimmed to remove excess, the size of the food pack for 7 days is much smaller than what I’ve seen other hikers use, and there is still space to stick soft items like a wind shirt under the top bungees.

Since there is a zippered drop flap, there can be a couple flat zipped pockets on the inside of the drop flap that can be quickly accessed. Flat items, like folded rain gear, maps, and a notebook go into these pockets. The one exception is the pack wallet, sealed in a small WP bag, that goes into a small pocket with a horizontal zipper just above where the top of the shoulder straps connect on the back of the pack (and below where the lift straps connect). The wallet is not used for long periods, so it occupies its own place out of the way from everything else.

There are also two horizontal straps that buckle across the drop panel and are used to secure items like my fold-up camp chair, socks to be dried, or whatever.

Having a top shelf held up by the pack’s frame has been an enormous convenience. Besides providing a separate place for the food, it holds up the top of the panel loader for easier zipping and access, and holds up the hanging storage bag inside for small items. I’d never be without it.

Since I want a full suspended mesh backband to separate the pack from my back, the frame is either butterfly or perimeter shaped, like an Osprey pack for example. When such a backband is properly designed and tensioned, it does not create a lot of empty space between the back and the pack that moves the center of gravity further back. Users of the old pack frames have known this, but some still believe otherwise, possibly because some of the Osprey bands have been way too stiff, not to mention the frames themselves.

To minimize weight, the heavy tubing of the old pack frames had to be replaced by smaller diameter tube less than half the weight. Roger Caffin did this with a conventional ladder frame, and this is what I’m working on now, but in a butterfly or hourglass shape to use less tubing, and bend at the top to create the shelf support.

The small outer dimensions of the pack will also make for a great daypack, easily stuffed, and cinched even tighter toward the back by just the couple of straps mentioned above. No need for those fancy side lacings that are sometimes seen. Protective clothing and rain gear then go in the bottom of the pack instead of the sleeping gear and clothing needed for a longer trek. And the shelf can be left mostly unused. The cinch straps can also hold such items as snowshoes. Has anyone tried the foam ones? My brother thinks they are nuts, and refused to give me a set for Xmas.

Hope this provides some food for thought, and will do an OP when the project is completed and tested.

An analogy:  In shooting circles, there’s a saying, “Beware the man with one gun”, the idea being that he’s very good with that weapon since it’s the only one he practices with.  I have some sense of that with my packs – when I’ve taken sequential trips (or a really long trip) with a single pack, I get very practiced with where to best store everything, how to pack it for the day’s travels, how to best keep things dry, etc.  I think the idea applies even more to stoves.  Not so much canister stoves as they are so easy to use, but I see Manfred measure out exactly the right amount of alcohol for his Caldera Cone setup, and come back 8.37 minutes later as it burns down leaving just simmering water and I see efficiencies of time and fuel that come with practice and expertise.  Or in the 1970s when I only used a Svea 123R and could prime it in one shot, in a wide variety of conditions, and rarely singe my eyebrows off.

Pre-2000, I’d have one pack per decade by which time I’d kind of worn it out.  And one go-to summer tent.  And the stove, after the Svea, was always an MSR just with different sized fuel bottles.  There was a simplicity to packing when there wasn’t a quiver of choices in so many realms.