Backpacks - Is Bigger better?

Haze240

Haze240

Joined
Jan 1, 2011
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953
Hey guys, so Spring is just around the corner, and I'm hoping to head out to the trails a bit more than I have in the past seasons. Currently I've just been using an UnderArmour backpack for day-hikes and overnighters. It's not huge, but it holds everything i need, and the quality of materials and stitching impressed me. It works. However, I want to upgrade to something a little more robust, as I'm planning on doing some 2-3day weekend trips.

I'm looking closely at the Maxpedition bags, especially the Vulture, (the largest one i believe). I know this bag would hold everything I'd need, but is it TOO big for day-hikes? I wont be packing tons of stuff on a regular basis, so would the Condor be a better choice for the weekend warrior? Would it be able to carry enough stuff for a 3 nighter?

What are your experiences with this bag? Do you have one, and wish you had the other? I know about the durability and ruggedness of these bags, but what about capabilities and features?
 
bigger means heavier

Im not a fan of a big pack

something to carry around 20-30 pounds is good with me
 
i'm pondering the vulture, but probably leaning towards the falcon2 or condor as i also now have a Becker Patrol Pack (one of the old non screwed up ones)

mostly, i want something that's prepacked and ready for fun (and weight training) less bug out bag (fun && functional)

ideally, i could find pictures of these things cheap, side by side, and cheap ;) even used. clearance...

the other choice might be kifaru... $$$ i know. have an old mountain smith or two that i adore. mmm, maybe use those too ;)
 
I have the Condor and its plenty big enough for me. That's the problem though, is, how much are you going to take for a 2-3 day trip? All your water and food? Just your food? Self sustaining from the pack or you gonna be fishing for your food?

Most folks, would be looking at a larger say Kelty, or Mountainsmith for that if you are going to be "living from it".

I tend to roll out a little lighter, especially when I'm going fishing for a few days, or hunting. Mostly because I will not be eating out of the bag. But on most occations, I dry pack noodles and some e rations, to sustain me if need be, but you are talking less than a lb of food.

Clothes? Gear? You gonna have to travers and scale some rock?

Lay out what you usually carry for your loadout and we'll start there. One bag does not fit all, but you can put less in a larger bag than you can put more in a smaller one.

Moose
 
Yep bigger is alway better! Trust me:D

Seriously, bigger might be better, depending on what you need to carry, and how well conditioned you are physically to carry it. Only you can determine that.

BUT, if it's a knife, bigger is ALWAYS better! (Oops, might be letting out personal secrets here)
 
Maybe we can get a "post your backpack" thread going. I'm in the market for a new pack as well, so a consolidated pic thread would be a lazy, errr, convenient way to window shop in one sitting :P
 
I sound like a broken record but... Granite Gear Vapor Trail. Well built, comfy, lightweight, somewhat inexpensive. It weighs less than most day packs, has room for a cold weather 3 day trip, and costs less than most of the Maxpedition stuff. I have had mine for 2 1/2 years now? and still can't find anything better. It has a huge annoying storm collar on the top that lets it carry 40% more volume, so on longer trips where you need more food, you can start with a larger pack and eat it down to nothing. It carries well with 26lbs for me, and is doable for me personally up to 30, then totally quits being fun.
 
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Big is good, but just because its big doesn't mean you gotta fill it with all kinds of crap. You can have a big bag but keep it maybe, 1/2 or 3/4 full.
 
i just switched over from my 25 liter pack (falcon ii) to a 65 liter internal frame hiking pack. i put the same weight on both (27 lbs of gear) and i can immediately tell the difference in comfort...it's all about weight distribution.

if you look at maxpedition packs, the torso length on their packs are too short for the average adult. when you tighten up the waist belt it ends up tightening around your belly instead of on your hips and add to it that there's very little padding. the result is all that weight is on your shoulders...a bad thing. i even added more weight to my 65 liter to bring it up to 40 lbs and it was still more comfortable than my falcon ii with 27 lbs because all the weight was on my hips. the shoulder straps weren't even close to digging into my shoulders.

maxpedition packs are high quality built and they're great for ultra light day hikes and edc stuff but i wouldn't use them now for hiking with over 20 lbs of gear. check out a decent outdoor store with knowledgeable staff and at least see what i'm talking about regarding weight distribution. i wish i did it sooner, it would've made my previous hikes less painful on my shoulders.

and yup, bigger is better so long as there's plenty of compression straps to tighten up the load against your back when you're not using it's full capacity.

edit for pics: notice all these packs where the waist belt sits and the shoulder straps are barely touching the shoulders.

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Depends on a lot of variables, you, the area, the stuff being carried, season it's being used.

One pack has never been the solution for me, I've always had day packs, weekenders, expedition rucks and so on. There seems to be a common misconception that there should be one pack, one knife, one gun to rule them all. As much as a man on a budget would like for this to be the case it just simply isn't so for me.

For a number of years I've been using a Eberlestock pack, it's the Barta Stalker which is no longer in production but the base model is, the Halftrack. That pack worked ok and at 3800ci it had a pretty decent amount of space.

For winter camping and canoe camping though I needed a bit more. I had to go old school to get what I wanted.

I visited the factory of Frost River, maker of reliable soft goods out of Duluth Minnesota. I've got a long write up over this adventure on my blog with close to 70 pictures I guess. I won't bore you with all of it.

I'm a sucker for old school leather and waxed canvas. I bought one of their Timber Cruiser packs.

This is most of the stuff I was carrying for a winter trip:

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What it looked like on and in the Eberlestock:

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Here is what all that and more looked like after transitioning to the Timber Cruiser:

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The full write up, pictures of the factory, the craftsmanship and so on can be found here. These things are made old world style, one at a time. A canvas and leather pack isn't for everyone, I'm not an ultralight kind of guy, I like ultra-functional and ultra-durable. I spend four months a year over water and moose bog and another four months a year in deep winter towing a toboggan. This pack works for what I need it for.

For a size comparison this is what it looks like on me. I'm slightly over 6', 235 pounds 48-50 jacket size with a 38" waist. The pack fits me, it's comfortable.

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The first outing with it can be found over in the WSS section, I took the kids out on a winter shelter building exercise in 3' of snow and used the pack to haul our gear in. Here is a link.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=817847

Purpose and practical application should drive your pack choice. Just one more example of why this pack works for me, during trapping season I run a line. This pack accommodates a pack basket quite well. That kind of work would destroy the modern packs. They wouldn't make it through a single season. However, they are great on established trails, established parks and so on. Get off the path maybe not so much.

Just my 2 cents.
 
It all depends on the weight of what your packing, the weather, and what type of shelter/ sleeping bad you use. I have a 65 litre frame pack I use for my big hikes like multi day with food water tent everything. For day hikes I have a 25 litre for lunch water and rain gear, I just picked up the vulture II and have mixed feelings about it. I still trying to configure it for multi day without the hydration pack digging in my back, luckily Maxpedition gives you tons of options. Long story short bigger is not better, experience tells me lightweight and options are the keys to a good pack, YMMV. Happy shopping.
 
Weight distribution is what its all about definitely.

I have always stuck to the never more than a 1/3 of your body weight, usually 1/4 if you wanna move fast. I like to enjoy my hikes, at a leisurely pace, but I always pack so if someone is hurt, or I need to move I can without my pack hindering me.

If you keep the heavy stuff close to lower back it makes a huge difference!

rethink what you actually need when out and about and you can shave off a lot of weight. Minimalism is best.

Check out some of ray jardines stuff. Sort of the father of ultralight. Some of his ideas are out there, but alot of it is very helpful.
 
Packs are kind of like gun safes. You're just going to fill them to capacity. :p
I bought a Falcon II for overnighters (granted, summer overnighters) to challenge myself to go a little smaller.
YMMV.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions and info guys! totally changed my thoughts on how to choose my pack. I think i might end up getting a maxpedition Condor or even a Falcon for day trips and overnighters, and probably look into investing in a good quality framed pack for some of the longer hiking trips.
Originally I was looking at the Vulture as an in-between to a large capacity multi-day pack and a small day-pack, but if I'm going to be on the trail for more than a day I think comfort and weight-distribution will be a bigger issue than just capacity and molle straps lol.

Also, as far as the girlfriend goes, I'm pretty much a pack-mule. All backpacks seem to be "too big" for her.
 
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