I was just reading a thread on a travel web site left by a guy who's off on his first 6 month adventure to South America. He is after advice on his pack and what he's taking.

He bought a 100L pack and can't fit everything in !

I never knew there were 100L packs !

I wished him well and gave a little advice (eg. 8 undies is a wee too much). I think he, like I did, will have to learn from experience.

Edited by ianwright on 09/30/2006 06:18:47 MDT.

"8 undies is a wee too much"

You don't hike with underwear with the days of the week printed on them? That's how I keep track of what day it is. I guess you're right, you would only need 7. DOH!

We were hiking down the beach from Cape Alava on the Olympic coast and saw these guys come out of the woods with the biggest packs I have ever seen. That hike is a triangle with 3 mile legs-- they looked like they were going for a 1000 mile unsupported expedition. Testosterone is heavy stuff :)

I went on a month-long trip to Morroco, Tunisia and Malta last year. Next month, I'll be going to Asia, also for a month.

I pack pretty much the same way wherever I go. I wear clean clothes every day. After packing everything inside my campus bookbag -- it's less than half full -- there's still quite a bit of space for souvenirs and stuff. My total pack weight is 7.5 lbs.

Yeah, I too wonder what people pack inside their 90 or 100L backpacks. But the truly amazing thing is how those packs are completely filled up and bulging at the seams!

But lest I (or anybody esle) sound too smug about all this, I should admit that I also learned from experience. I carried a hard-sided American Tourister suitcase on my first two international trips! :)

Edited by ben2world on 09/30/2006 12:35:45 MDT.

My wife and I spent three weeks in Europe with carry-on travel backpacks. That was 20 years ago, in Winter, and I was dripping 35mm camera gear too. We could do that same trip much easier now.

Traveling in industrialized countries is easy-- if you run out of clean clothes you can just buy more :) If you want to check out a good travel system, search on Rick Steves.

While 100 L is a bit much, I've often wished for a bigger pack so my loftables have room and overall stresses on unbearably light pack fabrics are reduced. When I did 9 days in my Maraposa I felt like a sadist everytime I loaded it (extra warm quilt, tons of food). Back at home it went straight to the sewing machine for some TLC. I'm certain I could go bigger and resist additional gear.

That's what I just went through while trying to downsize my pack. I know it isn't good for loft to be squeezing things down to rock hard and it is a pain in the neck-- and much harder in the field on a rainy morning than sitting in my living room. Trying to access items buried in an overstuffed pack is a mess too.

In 1989/1990 I spent about 8 months traveling through South America. All I took was a small duffle bag. A pair of pants (plus the one I was wearing) 3 or 4 shirts, 3 pair underwear, a few toiletries, a Minox camera, and a Swiss Army knife. No cold weather stuff. When I hit the Andes and colder weather I bought an alpaca sweater for $6.

Dan

Ian wrote:
"I never knew there were 100L packs!"

Ok how about this one:

Bergans 3800 Power Frame
volume 130 liters, 7,900 cu in!
weight 4,9 kilo's, 10.13 lbs!

http://www.bergans.no/sider_eng/start.htm

I came accros one in germany and had to try it off course. It weighed a total of about 20 kilo's, 44.1 lbs. It was actually very very comfortable. It didn't feel heavier than my ordenary daypack i was carrying. So if I'd be a lumberjack and need to carry my chainsaw etc this would be my pack of choice.

Nice feeling though, that two SUL hikers together have a baseweight of less than what this pack weighs.

Eins