Soelden 42

I tried on an Escapist the other day. It fits weird. Honestly I don't think 3-4 L here and there is enough to really distinguish backpacks. At that point, choose on features. I have an Osprey Stratos 34 I love but haven't tried skiing in. I'm not sure if the frame might be too much. I have an Osprey

How much climbing gear are we talking? I wrote a bunch more but it's pretty TL;DR. I think if you're only carrying personal gear, like a bum, it'll be fine. If you're also carrying quick draws and/or the rope, and you're not an ultralight masochist, it'll be way too small and also not stiff enough.

It's really wide! The Amazon listing says 12.4". I'm sure it gets narrower filled with water but I don't like to count on that kind of thing for a fit, especially since the top and bottom will behave differently from the middle. Anyway, none of my bags made me confident re: width. Though for me, "bi

I love my Stratos 34! I've used it for travel a little bit and agree it's not great for that. I found it pretty frustrating to get a better work/travel pack recently, since I really wanted it to have good support. And I wasn't even trying for the suspended mesh backpanel. I'm usually an Osprey fan b

TL;DR: get a hiking pack you like with a frame length under 22". I'm really curious about the older-model Mystery Ranch Coulee 40 for this. I believe its frame length came in just under 22" but the new one is longer. My experience of traveling with a backpack is that you really need to keep an eye o