Greetings!

Is there any really good, as light as possible, but still with good suspension pack for desert hiking?
In desert you MUST carry enough water for 2 days, which means 8 liters. + the base weight (4-5 kilo). The pack should not be that big. The sleeping pad and bag could be hanged outside.

Gregory Z30?

Thanks, Greg.

Last summer on a Guadalupe Mts. trip I put 20 lbs. of water in a 2.5 gallon REI Water Sack (sadly no longer made) in my Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus. Heavy of course but only for the first day. The rest of my stuff for 3 days-2 nights fit inside the pack except my ccf sleeping pad was on the outside as it always is. We didn't carry stoves because of ignition ban but everything else was the same as usual.

My MP in size small weighs about 21 oz.

Mina

"I put 20 lbs. of water in a 2.5 gallon REI Water Sack"

Sorry for shifting off topic here but my curiosity has got the best of me. Were you ever concerned about having your entire water supply in a single container? I've never had to deal with the situation of carrying large quantities of water myself but I recall reading in I think it was "Cactus Eaters" where their big bladder burst and they lost ALL of their water.

Gregory,

8 Liters = 18 lbs
2 days food = 4 lbs
Base weight = 9 lbs

Total 31 lbs (14kg), not too bad, many packs are fine if packed properly. I would like to try the ULA Ohm for this but even my CDT is tolerable, weight is reduced by over 10 lbs on the first day. However, 4 days comes out to 53 lbs, different story. In this case, framed suspension packs, the weight of the pack is insignificant, comfort and fit rule. Let us know what you select, I am thinking about desert packs as well.

the Osprey Exos has a decent frame, but still comes in pretty light- I used a 46 in the Gila on a five day trip where we had to carry quite a bit of water, pack carried fine with loads into 30's

the design of the back w/ the mesh also makes it pretty nice for warm to hot weather (less so for cold weather)

it comes in a variety of sizes- 34,46 or 58 liters w/ S/M/L frames available

The exos is nice and definitely has a lot of room but i found the suspension can get overloaded pretty quickly. I like my Talon 44 better. A little smaller for the size but the frame is much beefier than an exos. I've had 45-ish lbs in it and while not fun, wasn't miserable either.

I probably wouldn't have wanted too much more than mid 30's w/ the Exos, but was pretty happy w/ it at that weight. It'll basically boil down to how many days w/ those kind of water loads a guy needs, for a couple of days I think the Exos would be fine, beyond the mid 30 #'s something else