backpack question

“Hello,
Shopping for my first backpack --I am considering a kelty bigfoot 5200. Does anyone out there own one? if so, do you like it? and why or why not? Thanks for your input.”

“I like kelty, but I don't know about that model. What color is it? If it is green or purple then it rocks:)”

“If you are just getting into backpacking I might tell you to get the Osprey Aeather 60 backpack to start out with.I own one I love it.

Just a thought.

8)”

“How many pockets does it have for holding scotch?”

“Try renting before you buy.
Try an external frame, try an internal.
Which do YOU like best?
Try a couple different ones in the style YOU like best.”

“It holes a pint inside.

8)”

“CMB, why do you want holes in your pint?





Well, one hole, OK.”

“Naviguesser Crazy Mike is....Well you know.:~ )”

“HOLDS!!!!!!!!


Ok so I have had one to many!

8p”

“HOLDS!!!!!!!!


Ok so I have had one to many!

8p”

“Heeheehee you could say that again!”

“

A Klein Bottle is locally 2-dimensional ... every small patch follows the laws of 2-dimensional Euclidean geometry. In this sense, a Klein Bottle is a 2-dimensional manifold, and its inside is the same as its outside. But although it's a 2-D manifold, it can only exist in 4-dimensions!

Alas, our universe has only 3 spatial dimensions, so even Acme's dedicated engineers can't make a true Klein Bottle.

A photograph of a stapler is a 2-dimensional immersion of a 3-dimensional stapler. In the same way, our glass Klein Bottles are 3-D immersions of the 4-D Klein Bottle. Our Klein Bottle is a 3-dimensional photograph of a "true" Klein Bottle.

A Klein Bottle cannot be embedded in 3 dimensions, but you can immerse it in 3-D. (An immersion may have self-intersections; Embeddings have no self-intersections. Neither an embedding nor an immersion has folds or cusps.)

We represent a Klein Bottle in glass by stretching the neck of a bottle through its side and joining its end to a hole in the base. Except at the side-connection (the nexus), this properly shows the shape of a 4-D Klein Bottle. And except at the nexus, any small patch follows the laws of 2-dimensional Euclidean geometry.

Contrast this with a corked bottle -- say, a wine bottle. It has two sides: inside and outside. You can't get from one to the other without drilling a hole or popping the top. Once uncorked, it has a lip which separates the inside from the outside. If you make the glass arbitrarily thin, that lip won't go away. It'll become more prominent. The lip divides one side of the bottle from the other. So an uncorked bottle is topologically the same as a disc ... it has two sides, separated by a boundary -- an edge.

But a Klein Bottle does not have an edge. It's boundary-free, and an ant can walk across the entire surface without ever crossing an edge. This is true of both theoretical Klein Bottles and our glass ones. And so, a Klein Bottle is one-sided.

A Klein Bottle has one hole. This, in turn, causes it to have one handle. The genus number of an object is the number of holes (well, it's more subtle than that, but I'm not allowed to tell you why). Other genus-1 objects include innertubes, bagels, wedding rings, and teacups. A wine bottle has no holes and so is genus 0.

http://www.kleinbottle.com/whats_a_klein_bottle.htm”

“Anyone else understand that?”

“The Klein beer mugs a really cool, but impossible to clean.”

“Well, THAT defeated the scotch.”

“T-girl, I know 'bout Mike.....







He's fun to backpack with!”

“Uuhhh, what about the guy wanting information on packs?

That sounds like a very big pack for a first timer. I'd do as suggested, rent or borrow till you find out how big you really need. The longer you pack, the lighter you will want to be.”

“oh, oKaaaaaaaaaay... <G>

5200, hmm? Well, that does seem a little big for a pack these days. How much does it weigh? I carried a 7000+, 8lb pack for years and have the knees to prove it, LOL

You might want to check out some ultralight backpacking sites just to get some ideas of what's out there.

And then there's GoLite and GVP, which get a fair amount of discussion around here. There are a few more like that but I'm blanking out at the moment.”

“well, you came to the wrong place for backpacking advice, what were you thinking? coming to a place called thebackpacker.com?”

“If you want a pack ask your back...

We can only tell you what fits us, but your not us, so...

What I did for my last pack(kelty tornado) was I set a size range, features I wanted and price range. Then I tried on every pack that fit my spec and chose the most comfortable.

Boots and packs are the only 2 things that you can't take another mans word for. All other gear is the same for you or for me. If a tent keeps out the rain for Simer 190 it will do it for me. But boots and packs feel different to all. Just find some specs that you want and buy the most comfortable pack in that range.

I made the same mistake you are. I looked through backpacker for a pack. I found my self looking at the, Gregory Forrest, Reality, Osprey Aenther 60, and Jack wolfskin trail head II. All great packs in my mind. They have cool gizmose and features, but none of them fit. I was disapointed.

But then after trying on 20+packs I found the Kelty Tornado, and that I have hips like a woman. I was also forced into buy a pack that day, for the next day I would be in the Aderondacks.”

“what do you all think of this one:
Rei New Star Pack

Kinda was thinking there for a second. Now, I have all those ultralight packs, but what if I will be over 25 or 30 lbs. I will catch heII with those packs so I was checking out other packs and the rei new star seamed to be pretty nice.

I do have the gregory g pack, a really nice pack, very comfortable, but just not enough for a real backpacking trip. or is it??

also have the golite trek pack. just not what I have expected and I am almost worried to try it out on a bping trip.”

“I'd look at Osprey Luna or Aether if I were you Gemini. Oh wait, I did already. I love my Osprey Aether 60, it carries a load great.

That REI pack is a little heavy, 6lbs just for the pack!”

“thanks bitpusher. I saw your messages about it all over this board. I think it's time for me to check them out huh ? :)

woahhh, almost $300, I guess I can't save $$ on a pack. back to the credit cards...”

“I got mine for $189, I think. You have to wait until they go on sale. Spring's coming, you won't have to carry a load until next winter. Your Gregory will last you til then no problem.”

“I might be able to get you a deal on one. How soon do you need it? Email me. click on my name and it will give you my email address.”

“The short and curly of it...
carries very well,
lots of features,
weighs a ton. almost 8 lbs”

“If it wasnt for the weight issue I would just love this pack. the sleeping bag compartment is big enough to hold a summer bag and my tent (zip-out divider).The thing just sucks gear in and loves to pack in a lot of extras. :)

I did have trouble getting all the adjusters to the just right range due to the fact that there are so many of them. But once I did find a good balance it carried a 50 lb load with little trouble.

It does come with a hydration port but I did find that the hose had to take the long way around and tended to leave things a bit short on the drinking end. I put a long hose on to compensate.

there are two outer pockets next to the back which work well for soft items like socks and stuff but dont put hard items like fuel bottles there. If you fall it will leave a major bruise. :0

top pocket is equally generous in size and has a waist belt for day pack use.

The pack is festooned with a myriad array of straps, patches and loops for every conceivable piece of gear one might want to carry on the outside of the pack.

Internally the pack uses an aluminum tube to provide much of the shape and support to the pack.
It has a zip-out divider and both a top draw closure as well as a large u shaped front zipper closure that is gaurded with a zippered mesh to keep the contents in.

The mystery ranch harness while sounding nice in theory seems a bit overboard and is a royal pain to attach and remove from the pack. It uses a nice hunk of steel to support the adjustable shoulder pad. The system does eliminate getting poked by the pack contents but tends to push the load away from your back a bit farther then a more conventional harness would.

I do keep this around for over-sized winter loads but consider it to big and too heavy for normal summer usage.”

“Thank you DOM, for answering his question in detail like that. I sent this person here to ask for advice and then Ice Tea tells him that he shouldn't be asking for advice about packs here, the nerve of that squeegie!

MHDennis, it is really a good idea to try them on, like Tea said, but asking here for good and bad points of the pack is a good idea too, because someone who has used the pack will really know the quirks. A lot of people can use a wide variety of packs without having fit issues. Some people have more trouble than that.

RichB has taken an inexpensive external frame pack and made his own hipbelt. With that and a few other modifications, he has a really comfortable external frame that is much cooler in the summer than his internal frame packs, and it didn't cost him much. He needs to start a business making hipbelts to sell, because they are wide with a double buckle system, one a cam buckle and one a regular one. I tried his modified pack on and loved the way that it adjusts to fit you. The hipbelt, in my mind is one of the most important aspects of a pack.”

“Lyndy hit the nail right on the head. After you get your torso size dialed in start right at the hipbelt since it supports most of the weight. A properly fit pack will spread the load throughout your body and not put pressure in any one area. Make sure you put enough weight in the pack you are trying so that differences become glaring between different models. Packs are machines not dead weight and some are more efficient than others. Don't buy a pack based on its weight alone. To figure the volume you need look at your gear list and buy a pack based on that. What sense does it make to buy a pack too small and them not be able to fit your gear into it? I highly recommend that you check out McHalepacks.com and read the section "letter from Dan McHale". You'll find many interesting facts about packs from someone who's knows more than anyone. I even recommend getting his video for $3.50. Even if you aren't interested in buying one of his packs, the info you'll get on how a pack should work is worth the $3.50. Dan is an artisan of making packs and you can tell that his packs were designed by someone who has spent a lot of time carrying packs and refining them.”

“Thanks for the input guys. I've tried on a few packs, each time I learn a little something more.
I think i'm goint to rent a couple before I purchase -- compare external vs internal.
I'm just excited about going and kind of want a pack now... I just need to remain patient.”

“Good idea to rent a few internal and external packs. Nothing like finding out likes and dislikes than wearing it all day. It'll give you a good idea of the volume of pack you will want to buy too. Good luck.”

“Also remember that all of the capacity that you might think you need, to carry all the extra stuff that you think you might need, may cause you to end up with a bigger pack than you really need, once you decide to stop carrying all of the stuff that you don't really need

Geez... did that make any sense at all? ...... more coffee please !!”

“Sounds like you were drinking expresso.”

“LOLOL! Hodgeman needs some decaf french vanilla!

I need an extra 1000 cu in for winter versus summer. Summer capacity I need 4200 cu in.”

“Decaf or more water in his regular brew.”

“got my pack, but damn it's heavy. All my stuff finally does fit it. I am not sure what not to pack. I really thought I packed only the bare basics. Wonder if I just don't know how to pack. Anyhow, got the Osprey Luna 75, really nice and soo organized.

I just realized almost all my hiking cloth is black. Hmm, should I buy new stuff?

anyone wants to by a golite pack?”

“I just returned my new osprey. I just don't feel comfortable with it. It's heavy, it's bulky, the material is sooo thick, it's just not what I thought it would be. Loved all the little zippers and pockets though.

I went locally today, all they had was dana and gregory packs. I decided on a gregory lassen. I just wanted to know if anyone had any good or bad experiences with this pack.

and I realized that I can't find a spot for my water bladder. Did I miss it??”

“I think Gregory puts the bladder pocket under the top lid. I had a Shasta and that's where it was. It was just a mesh layer over the nylon with two openings to insert the bladder. The openings where too small though to fit a full bladder so I had to modify them with a drawstring closure.”

“ahhh, I saw that mess. thanks richb. always thought you should carry the heaviest items close to your back. Oh well, I Hope it works.

anyone knows much about gregory products? good or bad?”

“They are made right up the freeway from my house. They put together a solid pack. A leader for many years. The new "Lightweight" G-Pack is new and yet to be given a true test in the field. If the Lassen fits you, you'll be pleased. Some folks can't wear certain brands of packs for different reasons

Glad to see some of us are still buying USA made stuff.”

“Why vote for funniest Gregory pack....
Would Beavis use this pack?”

“I think only the pro series Gregory packs are made in the U.S. The Shasta I had was made in Mexico.”

“mine says "made in the US" it's the adventure series. (noticed that right away when I checked it out, had a little tag inside, all nice and colorful) I like it, but did not want to spend the money if it gets bad reviews. It fits, so I guess I am going to be happy.

I already have the g-pack and love it, but it can't carry a heavy load, so that's why I decided to get a second pack.

Thanks didjfan.

stovestomper: I must be slow again tonight, because I just don't get it. hmm, what did I miss?”

“I've had my Gregory Massif for over 10 years and it's the only backback (or any piece of gear)I've had that has held up to the Samsonite-Gorilla gear tester. $350.00 seemed liked alot of cash at the time, but it was definitely worth it!”

“Hey I have a 10 year old Gregory Massif too! (walks downstairs and sees his pack is missing...)

HEY!”

“cool, I think I did okay then. Feel so much better. I can't even start telling you all how much $$ I spend on stuff that's just a bunch of crapp”

“OK...scroll up to the top of the page. Under "TheBackpacker" is "Trail Talk" and under that is the word "Thread" and to the left of that is a thumbnail pic of a backpack...

Who else can tell what make and model of pack that is???”

“Look to the left of "Trail Talk" and tell me what is Ice Tea looking down at in the pic???”

“It looks like a Dana Designs Terraplane with the two vertical pockets on the back.”

“Fartknocker 2000”