1980's youve got to be kidding...

If you want Vintage then YOU MUST INCLUDE a Kelty External Frame Hiking Backpack in your collection placed neatly next to your Svea Stove

In the early 1970s, "Vintage Packs" were canvas and leather rucksacks and WWII backpacks. These days, I think of the packs from the 70s as vintage. The first two packs that come to my mind are Kelty's external frame pack that Roger posted a picture of (first made in the 50s) and the JanSport D2 which were first made in the late 60s.

I would also second Roger's observation... if you are going vintage, you have to get a Svea 123 stove. It was THE stove for years.

For other ideas see Bruce B. Johnson backpacking revolution which includes pictures of gear and interviews with people who helped shape backpacking industry in the 1950-80s.

Edited by verber on 05/02/2008 01:21:08 MDT.

How about a 1950-1960 design Boy Scout canvas rucksack, a rectangular canvas box with straps, no hip belt, no frame, nothing. Actually it's fairly lightweight, perhaps very early UL.

It is still sitting somewhere around my house. And somewhere I have the Boy Scout manual that goes with it...

hehehe...cool Kelty external pack.

Actually, those aluminum externals were good packs.

Eric

>In the early 1970s, "Vintage Packs" were canvas and leather >rucksacks and WWII backpacks.

yeah, they were called "bergens." Bergen rucksacks. They carry the weight real low on your back no matter how you try to pack them and force you to lean forward all the time. Still, not bad for when you had to hump through jungles and were off trail a lot of the time, situations where balance and agility were badly needed despite carrying a load.

Eric

Yo! Great backpack. Mom got my dad one in the late 50's/early 60's. I think it's still in the attic. I should head over to her house and see if it's still around. Truly a classic.

When I was a kid, we used to go over to the Kelty store in Glendale -- back before the company was sold, back when Dick Kelty was still running the operation. Them was the days. :)

I have a soft spot in my heart for vintage Karrimor packs. I still use my Karrimor packs from the late 1970s and 80s. They are very well made and well designed pieces of gear (and not that heavy.)

Pictures and more information here:

http://www.larsonweb.com/backpacks/id1.html

I've got an old Sierra Designs rucksack of my dads. Leather bottom, forged alu grab loop, and felt padded shoulder straps!

You can't have it.

Does anyone have any Gregory Mountain Products Blue label hiking packs or fanny packs for sale? The Blue label packs are the ones with Gregory written in "blue" on the tag.
Thanks
(wilkest@uci.edu)

Hello, I wanted to let everyone know I have a vintage Rivendell pack listed on ebay. I have had the pack since the early 80's. My uncle purchased the pack in the 70's and gave it to me when I started venturing out with him. Just wanted to let any one with interest know about the pack. Many thanks, Brad.

Roger: I came across this exact backpack in a thrift store a while back and picked it up for four dollars. I take it out regularly and love it! Do you have any more information on it?

Hi,

I have a large Red Kelty Red Backpack for sale. I'd say very good conditon. No rips, tear; Kelty pins attach it to the aircraft alluminum frame. email me if interested joelblaylock@yahoo.com similar listed on Ebay starting at $124, I'd take less, if interested. Joel

I had a Kelty like the Roger posted and really liked it. There are a bunch of little compartments inside that made it really easy to stay organized. I'd guess it was about 4 lb. I retired it after a trip to Peru where it was just too small to comfortably hold everything (among other things I was carrying live traps for monkeys, not a lightweight trip). The Gregory internal frame pack I used after that was definitely heavier.

If I look hard enough I might still have it.

Of course, I also had a SVEA 123 at the time, bought used and if I can find it I'm sure it still works fine.
--Walter

I have a mint condition JanSport D2 (74/75 vintage) and a rebuilt JanSport Alpine Phantom ((78/79 vintage).
Does anyone remember that one? It was developed and used on a K2 expedition back in the day. It was an articulated frame pack and the bag could be removed to become an internal frame pack featuring internal "X" stays. 7000 cu. in. at full capacity. I guess they had strong legs and backs then.

Well, I'm young enough that "vintage" = Vietnam era, so how about:

http://www.uscav.com/Productinfo.aspx?productID=7146&TabID=1

I carried one of these for years, earlier in my military career. Bulletproof 420 denier nylon. I have one in storage, back in the U.S. You can find them in surplus stores for a LOT less than this website is charging for one, especially since the U.S. military converted to a new load-bearing system within the last decade or so.

Definitely NOT ultralight... :)

I not only remember the Jansport D2 I have 4 of them. I lost mine years ago and have tried unsuccessfully to recreate it. Each has some of the features mine did but none have all of the same features. I think I had the Omega of the D2 line.

Jim what color is yours?

Edited by SharonAnne on 04/25/2009 11:44:37 MDT.

I think you're talking to the other Jim, but I have a Jansport D2 that I bought in 1986 or thereabouts. It's Navy blue. Everything is original except that I had to replace the shoulder straps. The original straps were affixed to the frame via a two layer plastic piece that connected to the top of the shoulder strap and then tapered to a rounded point. A bolt was inserted into a hole in first layer of the rounded point, through the frame, then through the second layer, and then affixed in place with a nut. The plastic piece gave out in 2007 (20 years after I bought the pack). I sent it back to Jansport. They replaced the plastic piece with a shoulder strap with nylon webbing with a steel gromet. That's the only mod. I'll post a photo or two if anyone is interested.

Edited by hikin_jim on 04/25/2009 13:10:05 MDT.

It is a light light blue with a tan frame---Sorry for not answering earlier, but haven't checked the post for awhile.

If you still have that pack and are interested in parting with it, Jim, please let me know. email at cx@johnbridge.com

Kelly

What you have pictured here is a Kelty Tioga. It was the largest and most deluxe frame pack available in the early 70s... bested only by the expedition pack which was basically the same but with a vestibule below to stuff your sleeping bag in. I know because I have one just like this hanging in my garage. I ousted the Holubar Chateau II tent I bought at the same time all those years ago... It was tired. I still have the Optomus 111B stove and -30F Hulubar Expedition mummy bag. So what's your fetish for the Tioga?