Mid-sized woman's rucksack recommendations

[Taurë-rana]

I had a look at a couple of packs yesterday, the Mont Flyte, and the Mont Backcountry which is designed for small women and has a different harness. The Backcountry was definitely the most comfortable, which is unfortunate as it's $200 more expensive. It might be worth it though. I haven't tried the MacPac yet, but a couple of sales assistants at independent shops suggested that they may not be as good quality as they used to be (sorry blacksheep, but I'm just quoting). I also got told at one shop that nylon is more durable than canvas, although a bit less waterproof. Is this right?

Western Creek did not have Aarn packs unfortunately as I would have liked to have a look at them. The comment about them also was that they are not robust enough for Tassie, and are very complicated in the harness.

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[the_camera_poser]

Well- after all the agony, she's finally found a pack!!!!!! And naturally, though she doesn't do it on purpose, it's the expensive one. We went to Tassie Bait and Tackle (again) today, and we tried on a whole number of pacs, including Macpac, Berghaus, WE and Mont. The result was completely unquestionably the Small-framed Wilderness Equipment Karijini, by miles. Go figure, the same pack as I chose! With a bit of adjustment, it fit perfectly, and with 12 kg of weight in it she found it comfortable. We tried the Breakout, but it wasn't as comfortable.

Thank you so much for everyone's help- we've carefully considered and tested every pack suggested, where we could, and you're advice has helped heaps.

The only problem with the Karijini is that the front pouch on it is small, and it doesn't have any way to carry water on the outside, so we'll have to get a couple of bottle carriers and maybe the side extension pouches for it.

Thanks again all!

[Taurë-rana]

Congratulations. What is the capacity of the Karajini?

[the_camera_poser]

A cavernous 85 litres- It's big enough for her to climb in and close the top over her. But, it can be compressed down very easily.

We didn't have a chance to look at the Echo- WE's ultralight pack, but that might be an option too.

[corvus]

t_c_p get a good STS pack liner and do as I do carry your bladder between it and the pack,it works and you don't need to carry anything on the outside
c

[the_camera_poser]

t_c_p get a good STS pack liner and do as I do carry your bladder between it and the pack,it works and you don't need to carry anything on the outside
c

I usually use a combination of giant-sized ziploc bags and yard bags, but I might go for liners. Especially for the wife, as she'll be lugging the sleeping bags and pads.

We'll use external bottle carriers- neither Helen or I like drinking out of bladders.

[corvus]

STS waterproof pack liners are just that ,yard bags and zip locks will and can leak.
What don't you like about drink on demand bladders.
c

[the_camera_poser]

Drink bladders- too much plastic, yucky! I prefer coated metal to be honest.

[Son of a Beach]

I recently got one of these. Haven't tried it out walking yet.

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[the_camera_poser]

That's a dead sexy bottle there Nik.....might have to get me three of those!

[north-north-west]

I recently got one of these. Haven't tried it out walking yet.

Cute. When my current Sigg wears out I'll get one of those. Do you have the 1.5L version?

[Son of a Beach]

I recently got one of these. Haven't tried it out walking yet.

Cute. When my current Sigg wears out I'll get one of those. Do you have the 1.5L version?

No, unfortunately.

[blacksheep]

I haven't tried the MacPac yet, but a couple of sales assistants at independent shops suggested that they may not be as good quality as they used to be (sorry blacksheep, but I'm just quoting).

It's amazing how the quality suddenly falls away when you don't supply a certain retailer- even if you use same factory, same materials, same specifications...just change who can and who can't stock it and there goes the quality
feel free to trust our products..they deserve it.

[tasadam]

I had a look at a couple of packs yesterday, the Mont Flyte, and the Mont Backcountry which is designed for small women and has a different harness. The Backcountry was definitely the most comfortable, which is unfortunate as it's $200 more expensive. It might be worth it though. I haven't tried the MacPac yet, but a couple of sales assistants at independent shops suggested that they may not be as good quality as they used to be (sorry blacksheep, but I'm just quoting). I also got told at one shop that nylon is more durable than canvas, although a bit less waterproof. Is this right?

Western Creek did not have Aarn packs unfortunately as I would have liked to have a look at them. The comment about them also was that they are not robust enough for Tassie, and are very complicated in the harness.

DA you can have a look at my wife's pack - it's a Macpac Esprit, it is 4 and a half years old, and it has done some pretty rugged trips.
And my wife is 5 feet 1 inch or thereabouts.

As for quality, well, I have my own opinions on Macpac packs. At this stage I will keep those opinions to myself, suffice to say my first pack, a Macpac Ravine, is 20 years old and was built (in my opinion) far better than the Macpac Cascade that I have had for less than a year.
But this topic is not the place for that discussion, so I will probably make my own topic sometime soon.
I'd still buy another Macpac pack. But I would also look at other brands more closely out of curiosity.

Blacksheep I don't think quality has fallen away any more than the day you stopped making them in NZ. Just my opinion.

If you have any quality concerns with a Macpac product PLEASE discuss with your local macpac store, or call the toll free number fo customer support. I am satisfied with the quality that I see in our range being equal to any- if you got a product with an issue I assure you Macpac tries to resolve it if we can.

and as for comments on pricing...I beieve where our pricing sits represent tremendous value. How many brands have products that stay in the field as long as a Macpac? (ps- and there is a sale on now )

I did. They couldn't do anything as they saw the damage as wear, despite the age and despite the old pack put up with worse abuse for 20 years. They said it wasn't covered (fair enough) and recommended a local repairer. I took it there. They fixed up similar problems in the Esprit which was 4 years old, but this Cascade they could not fix.
However this is not the topic to discuss that so I might split this off to a new topic when I have time to elaborate on my problem.
Thanks for asking though - I had considered PM'ing you.

thanks- if you do feel you want to PM me sometime (or e-mail campbell@macpac.co.nz )I'm always interested to review the good, the bad and the ugly of the products we put out.

cheers.

I might just do that (just been reading the full topic since my last post).

[north-north-west]

Cute. When my current Sigg wears out I'll get one of those. Do you have the 1.5L version?

No, unfortunately.

Oh well, suppose 2 X 1L will work just as well.

[the_camera_poser]

OK- after many dozens of hours researching, many posts on here and questions to stores, one trip to Burnie, two trips to Launceston, one almost-undertaken trip to Hobart, and atleast three "this is the one" moments, which were in fact later forgotten, we have BOUGHT A PACK. FINALLY.

First there was the Tatonka Yukon Light 60+10, but it was a bit too dear for what you got.

THEN there was the WE Echo, but you can't find one to try on, and they are a bit too big at 75 liters.

THEN there was the WE Breakout, but also too big and didn't fit comfortably.

THEN there was the WE Karajini, which fit ok, but might have needed to be broken in, but it was too big. We were going to get this one, but hten when I sayt down and compiled a packing list, it turned out that this pack was almost 1/3 of the total load that Helen would be carrying regularly, so it got questioned.

THEN there was a two-way tie between the Osprey Kestral 48 and the Macpac Torlesse 50 (a woman's model).

BUT THEN, when I went to go pay off a bit on a layby at the Backpacker's Barn, we discovered that they are going out of business, and I, just for the hell of it, asked Helen to try on a Vango bag we hadn't previously investigated. A bit of adjustment, put some weight in it, and whammo- the blooming thing actually fits like a glove, feels comfortable, the whole nine yards. THE GODDESS OF CHOOSINESS smiled, and declared it a winner.

Best of all, it was on sale, and cost $62....... WOW!!!

It's a bit light in substance, but considering that Helen wil be carrying between 6 to 12 kg with the pack, it doesn't need to be beefy.

We'll post a review when we've used it.

[Taurë-rana]

Just had a try of the Osprey Aerial 65l pack at Paddy Pallin, and found it very comfortable, and it's nice and light. This may be a goer for me but I would like to try the OP Shadow before commitment. I would still love to check out the Aarn packs but All Goods Lonnie only had a day pack, and will probably not be getting any more Aarns in unfortunately. PP also had some Western Mountaineering sleeping bags which are lovely and light but the price nearly took my breath away

[the_camera_poser]

Good stuff Annie- we just finished our gear acquisition- no more surfing gear review sites for me.

Don't forget the joys of Net shopping- I bought Helen's sleeping bag for more than 1/2 the price I could get it locally. The shipping was dear, but it still worked out significantly cheaper. Even if I had to return it for a fault, it'd still be cheaper.I'm not sure if Osprey allows it's stuff to be shipped overseas from the US.

[photohiker]

FWIW, I haven't noticed a big dollar difference in the price of Osprey between US sites and PP.

[the_camera_poser]

you really have to look at it carefully- weigh up the shipping, the pain in the bum if something goes wrong, etc. also, with Osprey packs, the heat moulding process needs to be done in store, so it would be silly to order overseas.

[Nuts]

These are a nice mid size ladies pack....

[the_camera_poser]

I used to love Mountainsmith stuff (what that pack looks like), but my big camera pack is by them, and it's horrid. Feels like I'm carrying a besser block unpadded, hung from my shoulders and hip by metal straps. But then, that's a camera pack, and I think Mountainsmith didn't really know what it was doing when it ventured into that neck of the woods. All my mates with mountainsmith packs in the US loved them.

[Nuts]

Doh... Thought that would take a bit longer, forgot about you...

Yes, Mountainsmith womens Trillium.
Good points...
Tough
High Quality
Removable Daypack(and dumbag)
Forward Facing Waterbottle Holders
100% Recycled Materials
2.1kg (48L but i'd say closer to 55/60 at a stretch)

Bad...

Dumbag...
Belt Pockets?
They arent made stocked closer to home (better still, they arent copied by a local manufacturer supplier...)

Cost- Probably around $200 landed here.

http://www.campsaver.com/itemmatrix.asp ... trixType=1

[Taurë-rana]

65l Osprey Ariel (Small, actually 62l) 1.96kg.
53l OP Shadow Women's short 1.5kg but I'm not convinced that a 53l pack has enough room.
Mountainsmith - might be OK, and I'd like to do what I need to try it on but that's really not an option at the moment

[Nuts]

Hi DA,

Sorry, had the idea that you already bought. No, the M'smith pack arent what i'd call ultralight, the material is more like canvas weight. Packs, like clothing, are a very personal choice, the 'look' can even play just as big a role.

There is no bottom line with u/light gear. Those packs you listed are 'heavy' compared to some.

I tried the Osprey Atmos (same harness?).
Light, comfortable, good looking, good ventilation.
The trade off is a back panel which seems to divide you from the load in the most critical place (against your back). Great for where they come from, perhaps unnecessary here? Also thought they would be a bit to flimsy? I seem to remember having a chuckle at the stated capacity. Some luvem. Sold it on.

Havent tried OP but if I was after a 'local' pack then i'd probably give them a go. I'm sure they (and Macpac, WE, Mont) would be as good as anything quality wise.