POLL: which backpack should I buy?

http://www.granitegear.com/products/backpacks/standard/stratus_access/

Should I buy the 4500 or the 5500

These are both the same height but the 5500 is wider.

I plan to use this for weekend hikes and camping trips for the time being but whenI have more money I will be taking week long camping and biking trips.

The 4500 would be more than enough for weekend/long weekend hikes, but if you will do longer hikes you can always use the extra room of the 5500. The compression straps will close the pack around you're gear when it's not full, so you won't really notice the bigger size on the shorter trips. Even if you're a super ultralite type, the extra 3 oz isn't much.

I use a smaller size pack, and conform it to the length of the hike. I suck up the bottom straps to eliminate the sleeping bag compartment in the bottom for day hikes, which gives me plenty of room for long day hikes and a good suspension pack, so I can have enough gear to be safe since I always go alone. For longer hikes I add gear bags to the sides, onto the compression straps, for more room. This lets me use the same bag for everything.

check out backpacks by:

dana design
Lowe
osprey

among my favorites....

REI is a good source.

Mine is from REI, but I changed the hip belt to a much better one from another manufacturer. I just need to get out and use it more. I'm getting too damn used to the air mattress and big, flannel lined bag I use when camping with the Jeep.

I have a couple day trip planned in the Sierra's in Aug after running Dusy, and over Labor Day weekend. I really enjoy the solitude and the scenery of hiking the Sierra's.

I through hiked the John Muir Trail with a 4000 cu. in. Dana Bridger. I strapped my tent, extra food bag and Thermarest to the outside, everything else including the bear cannister went inside. I don't think that those items would fit inside a 5500 cu. in. pack, either. Having a smaller pack also encourages you to pack lighter. The Dana suspension was very comfortable and had something like 8 different adjustments. My heaviest load of the trail was 56 lbs for a 12-day leg, and the day I set out with that load I covered 22 miles in vain attempt to catch up to a couple of girls from Vermont who planned on spending the following day skinny-dipping in a trailside hot spring. :heart:

I should probably tell you that I am getting this pack at a huge discount because I work in an outdoors store. I can buy Granite Gear, Gregory, and Vaude packs so low I can't tell you what I am going to pay.

I tried on all three of these packs and the granite gear is the best fitting and best feeling pack I have ever tried on. If you haven't tried one you should.

My dilemma is that I have been told I will probably never need the 5500 so I should just get the 4500. My thinking was the same as Goatman's in that I should get the 5500 and just cinch it down tight and it will end up being the same size as the 4500 with room to spare if I need it. The great part about buying a Granite Gear pack is that then I can buy any other pack that they make and use my framesheet and harness which will be cheaper than buying a whole new pack. I really just wanted to know what other people thought about pack size and what was best.

5500!

You NEVER KNOW when you might find yourself planning an extended backcountry loop that requires carrying all-weather, all-season clothing, a fat bag, more water than you thought you'd ever need to pack (desert) etc,etc.....

when it come down to it, what is the difference of material weight in ounces between the two packs?

not much I'll bet.

I used to do extended desert travel, and I wasn't happy with a less than 6000cu/in bags......

I would go with the 5500 for all the reasons above. I usually have all kinds of stuff hanging off my pack, but after a few trips in WA, I found it's nice to be able to get everything in when it's really coming down. I also use it back-country skiing, where it's nice to have it all packed away tidy (the fewer things headed in their own direction the better when turning).
On a side note: We just got a Kelty pack for my wife, and looking over the info that came with it, they recomend putting heavy stuff at the top. I've always done just the opposite. In fact My sleeping bag is usually one of the last things to go in. Particularly while skiing I'd like the bulk of the weight low and right on my hips. I always put the stove and other metal along with extra water in the bottom. What do you guys think?

If you're cash-strapped, pick up a US Army large ALICE pack, and a composite frame for it from US Cav.

I acquired mine when I ETS'ed out many years ago.

Neither. At over 7lbs, both are way too heavy. I have a North Face Prophet 45 which wieghs 3lbs, fits great, and which balences the load between waist belt and shoulder straps very well. I'll give you a link to a couple of ultralight bakpacking sites, which you really should check out. For the same weight as your 7lb pack, I'm carrying a pack, tent, and sleeping bag. So lighten' up dude!
http://www.northface.com
http://www.backpacking.net
http://www.ultralightbackpacker.com/

OK....BIASED REPLY

Buy a High Sierra Backpack!! (I work here!!)

www.hssc.com

The bags are pretty rugged...they just came out with a new internal frame line this year.

Check them out (PS...I'm in IT...not Sales!)

The 4500 will hold plenty of gear and like handlebars said, you can lash some stuff to the outside. Learn to pack smart.

If you are planning on doing a lot of winter backpacking where you will need a lot of cold weather gear, get the 5500.

Nice shot Handlebars - which pass are you going over (I have hiked the Muir as well).

Seldomseen said:

The 4500 will hold plenty of gear and like handlebars said, you can lash some stuff to the outside. Learn to pack smart.

If you are planning on doing a lot of winter backpacking where you will need a lot of cold weather gear, get the 5500.

Nice shot Handlebars - which pass are you going over (I have hiked the Muir as well).

Click to expand...

Bluegrass fan, Seldomseen?

KY Chris said:

Bluegrass fan, Seldomseen?

Click to expand...

Well I don't have any pre-recorded bluegrass around , but would be hard-pressed to walk past a live performance.........:angel:

Erik said:

Neither. At over 7lbs, both are way too heavy. I have a North Face Prophet 45 which wieghs 3lbs, fits great, and which balences the load between waist belt and shoulder straps very well. I'll give you a link to a couple of ultralight bakpacking sites, which you really should check out. For the same weight as your 7lb pack, I'm carrying a pack, tent, and sleeping bag. So lighten' up dude!
http://www.northface.com
http://www.backpacking.net
http://www.ultralightbackpacker.com/

Click to expand...

I already have a lightish 5lb tent and a 2lb sleeping bag and Lightweight costs lots of $$$ so I can't afford that and if I was going to get one I would get the Kelty Cloud 4500.

I would rather toughen up than spend the money to buy ultralight stuff.

My experience is that people tend to fill the pack to capacity rather than economize and trim weight. This part of human nature keeps me advising others to only purchase the minimum size pack for the expected travel. If you truly need it, you will find a way to pack it, inside or outside the smaller pack (add bum bags or side bags to the gear). If you have extra room with a larger pack, the urge to carry extra "stuff" is hard to resist.

Limiting the packing through bag size works with the Wife, when faced with the choice of carrying something outside the pack compared to leaving it unpacked. I found her a sub-3000 ci bomb pack and it carries everything she needs. I carry a 4700 ci pack and it has proved more than adequate for a week backpacking. Both of these packs are Wolf Pack models out of New Zealand that weigh less than 2 kilos (they look just like other modern top-loader compression packs).

My packs have become smaller over the years. I have traveled with packs that weighed as much as 34 kilos loaded (aircraft baggage limit), and learned (the painful way) that while having everything handy is nice (at times), I can do without more often than the times I needed that little extra a larger pack provides. Large packs do not carry well when lightly loaded, and while the modern compression strap models are an improvement; it's not like carrying well-tuned packing in a matched pack size.

Living out of a backpack, for months at a time, taught me the reality that I do not need to carry anymore than the layers I wear and a minimum change of clothes to dry me off. If it rains so hard the rain gear fails; I find a dry place, put on my dry clothes, and wait (until I must walk out, wet). If I backpack into a strange town, and need to clean up, I can clean/borrow or buy cheap clothes to reduce the trail rank. If it's a hike staged out of a vehicle I only carry what is needed for the expected weather and terrain (leave the rest in the vehicle). There are few places in the world where a two or three day hike cannot get you out to a town or vehicle to replenish non-consumables. Food and water are the only "extra" necessities, and the only reason for a large pack (a long desert trek with little available water).

The one or two times in life when you may need a 6000 ci "load monster" pack are the times when renting a pack is a good solution. If you prepared for this type of long trek you will probably learn how to pack and stage the trip out of the 4500 ci pack.

Spending your money on compact & lightweight gear (forced by the smaller pack) puts you way ahead of the game. Pack light and pack small, and buy what works for 90% of your normal trekking today. If you really get an opportunity to hike the seven to ten day treks, you will be specializing the gear anyway (renting the load monster).

I vote load monster.....

if you can't fight the urge to overpack, well, you should be spanked.....simply put.

the extra fabric doesn't weigh much more, doesn't cost much more, and will be worth its weight in gold when you find yourself planning a 10 day trip in the cascades, or chisos for example... and yeah, I did the whole minimalistic/ultra-light weight, no tent, fill your summer bag with clothes to make it warm routine, and I STILL found the extra cu-in's necessary for the long and tough stuff.....

"its there when you need it".

I have to agree here. Buying a smaller pack was the smartest move I made. I carry half of the cra I used to, and I have been caught out on a limb yet. I tend to side with the crowd that feels that a smaller pack tends to get you to pack smarter. I Just went climbing on Mt. Shasta this weekend and I ended up strapping a smaller pack to my larger one so that I wouldn't have to carry extra wieght on my summit bid. WHen it is absolutely nessesary, you can always add on. Yeah you may look like a hobo strollin down the trail, but that may be onlt 5% of the time. The rest of the time you'll be just fine with a smaller pack.

A note on packing a bag (since this was brought up earlier): I have always loaded up according to what I was doing. For humping big loads down the trail, I like the heavy stuff up high on the pack. This places the wieght in line over your hips when you lean forward slightly as you have a tendency to do. This keeps the wieght over your legs and not hanging off of your shoulders. For climbing and cross country action, I try to pack the heavy gear so that it is in tight towards the small of my back. It pulls on the shoulders a bit more, but it offers more stability in rough terrain.

Oh yeah, If your worried about wieght, look for a pack that has only the features that you will use. I noticed that the packs that you were looking at had things like ice axe loops on them. All of those extra doo dads add up. If your serious about cutting the grams, look into some of the things that the adventure racers do. Those guys have made a science out of stripping pounds out of thier gear.

Hope this helps, but after looking back over it, it seems like more useless rambling to me, so I'll stop here.

Alex, that's a great pic, I'm also curious about where on the trail that pic was taken. I've been toying with the idea of hiking the Miur Trail, but it would have to be done in sections as I only can take one week off at a time. I've also been having a hard time deciding between hiking and wheeling with my time off. When I'm at home, I think more about wheeling, as I like being with the good friends that I've made in this sport, and I like the air matress. When I do go on a hike, I enjoy it so much that I tell myself that I have to be sure to do more of this. I need to get my 50+ year old butt down to the gym and get back into hiking shape.

My pack is a smallish 3600 ci model, and I also go for the smaller pack theory. I hang a couple of side bags for more room when needed, and pack as light as possible. My 2 sleeping pads go on the outside, rain doesn't bother them, and I can't (don't want to) get along with just one pad. It's nice to have strong young legs, but I need to keep everything light.

My hiking is in the Sierra's and always includes steep uphills........I can drive to the desert.

There's no need to spend extra for lighter gear, and there's just no way that you're cheaper than me! I buy most of my stuff on e-bay from shops unloading demos and last year's models, or from some loser who went camping once and decided that he didn't like it. This method is easier in the fall, but if you need it now that you need it now. Also try Campmor, they usually have deals on last year's models. It's not about getting "tough", it's all about playing smart and enjoying the trip more. Last easter for a 6 day trip into Grand Gulch, I was able to pack plenty of food, clothes, a tripod and a Rolliecord medium format camera, all in under 32lbs. I checked my bag again when I got home and with a couple of trail bars left over the pack was 22lbs. It wasn't all that heavy to start with and I hardly noticed it on my last couple of days. Sure beats all the people that I see huffing and puffing their way down the trail with 50lb packs. Besides hiking with too much gear in a hot desert is just plain dangerous.