can anyone make a suggestion on a good pack for my lady? needs to be able to carry 40-45lbs, thanks.

j4ever wrote:can anyone make a suggestion on a good pack for my lady? needs to be able to carry 40-45lbs, thanks.

What is the primary use? Day pack for technical winter loads? Overnight multi-day?

Is she thin, fuller-figured, broad/narrow shoulders, short/long torso, etc??? There are a bazillion different packs out there, so without knowing more about your wife and how she plans to use the pack, it's difficult to make a valuable recommendation.

My primary, multi-day backpack is the Osprey Aether 70 Pack, and I love it! Then again, I'm 5' 8" and built like a brick house...this pack may not work for a smaller woman.

Take her to a good shop and buy the one that has the features she needs, but more importantly that fits her most comfortably with weight in the pack. Packs that look great in the catalog (or on your friends) aren't necessarily the best fit for your wife. Also, comfort unweighted does not equal comfort weighted - different makes can fit very differently.

Agree with the above. It seems that knowing your torso length is critical to getting a good fit. Just getting a "woman's" pack doesn't cut it. I'm a woman but I have a long torso and am more comfortable in a man's pack. I prefer Black Diamond packs like the Epic 45 for their "Ergo-Active" suspension systems. I own three -- one for ice-climbing, one for day hikes and one for multi-day trips. Pretty much won't buy anything else now. I also have Mammut, Arcteryx, Osprey and North Face packs.

All the points here are solid, for sure. Weighting the pack is critical, so make sure you go to a good shop, as JH said. REI has pack fitters, but for stuff like this I tend to go to a hiking/mountaineering/climbing specific shop, and make sure that the person you are talking to has knowledge in this area.

I own....probably 18 different packs including my haul bags. And use them all. Many packs are good for "all arounders" but if you post up exactly what you are planning to do it will help. From the weight posted, my guess is that you are doing multi day trips of some sort. Keep in mind that you can stuff close to 40 pounds in a pack as small as 40L - my original SAR pack loadout weighed close to that. But most "daypacks" aren't designed to hold that much weight, and will fail.

I use an Osprey Kestrel 48 for multi (up to 4) day trips, with lightweight gear. When my fiancee went to purchase a new pack, she went through several women-specific packs, and ended up with the same pack as mine, in a smaller harness size. So it really differs from person to person.

If you'd like some more advice, feel free to post up the following -

1. Price
2. Use
3. Features you have to have
4. Features you would like to have

I'm sure you will get plenty of ideas!

she is thinner 5'5" and 115#, i am going to measure her myself then go to REI and have her measured there and try on a couple of packs with weight,we probably go on a couple of trips this year together,each trip being 2-3 days,something like Shasta west face hidden valley and Rainier D/C Muir route,she wanted to go on a couple trips to see how well she would like it,like i said need to carry say 40#,top loading with front access,sleeping bag compartment. i wish there was a good mountaineering shop around but the best i can do is REI, there is no mountaineering equipment there but they do carry several packs,when i first started a couple years ago the worker at REI measured me wrong and i got a large pack and needed a medium,did not take long to figure that out,lol,anyway thanks again,any recommendations/comments are welcome,oh as far as price around $200 would be good.

What I did is go to REI or your local shop load several packs with 45lbs and see how they feel. Nothing worse than finding out 2 miles into a 25 mile hike your packs not fitting very well.