Need help figuring out what size of Backpack to buy.

Hey.

I went reading in a lot of backpacking websites before coming here, but their essays couldn't help me because they never took into account the climbing gear.

i must admit that after reading over 20 "how to choose the size of your backpack" essays and guides I'm more confused then i was at the beginning.

so I'm looking for a big backpack to take with me on hiking+climbing trips, it should have room for a small, well folded, tent, a sleeping bag, clothes, camping necessities (whatever that includes, i don't know yet) and a rock climbing trad rack (which i don't have, yet - and therefore need your help to evaluate its volume), oh, and a rope, obviously.

i already have a small (23L) backpack for 1-day climbs, and was thinking of going on longer trips and start doing some multi-pitch climbs(a week in yosemite? 3-5 days in mohab?)

thanks

For single day or one over night winter trip I carry a 40L CCW chernoynl pack (no tent I use a bivy sack).
For more than a one overnight where I want a tent I have a 60L pack (an old NF). for a week long trip my wife made and pouch to carry extra food.

I find that for 2-3 days vs a week or more the pack size is only slightly different. For ME at least a 2-3 day trip I have all the gear I need for longer it just the amount of food I carry.

IMO, if you want an optimal answer, you will need to provide a bit more detail... This may be difficult, if you don't have the gear that you want to carry yet.

My recommendation would be to start by estimate the weight of all the gear that you want to carry and the volume of everything that you want to go inside your pack. use a spreadsheet. Most packs have a published comfortable carry weights and volumes. Therefore, once you have an estimate of weight and volume, it should narrow things down significantly.

Generally speaking, people who have their systems well dialed can get away with over stuffing 35L packs, and strapping some items on the outside. I have a 37L Osprey Variant pack, and I have been able to use it for just about every imaginable multi-day trip, up to 8 days. On big trips: I hang my rack off the waist belt gear loops, I strap my tent and ropes on top, I strap my sleeping pad on the side, and I strap my ice tools and crampons on the back.

If you refer to keep everything inside your pack, you will need a much larger pack.

well, ill try and give as much info of what i had in mind for the kind of trips i was thinking about.

first of all, i'm talking about 4 to 7 days trips, tops. I want to keep low weight for climbing on difficult terrain, but i don't think i will do any technical climbing with the bag on my back... i don't aid climb.

as of weather, i don't plan on doing anything too cold, a mountain with a snowy peak is my coldest limit, i am not going to sleep on snow and i'm not going to places where i would need to use ice tools and crampons.
i am going to very hot weather areas tho... Mohab maybe, other deserts too, a trip to Yosemite won't hurt either.

i do prefer having the tent and sleeping bag INSIDE the bag then hanging from the outside of it. the bags have a weight distribution systems relative to their size, and having a small bag with things hanging from it too much is less.... healthy.

so inside the bag i would have a small tent and sleeping bag, light clothes (thermal shirts, yes, but no huge snow coats), a small stove and minimal cooking items, minimal food and trad climbing gear (harness, shoes, 2 sets of cams, some nuts, quick-draws, slings etc.).
i would leave the rope and helmet hanging on the outside of the bag, probably.

so what volume of bag are we talking about for that? i really have no clue for now.
any other things i need to consider to answer that question?

thanks a lot for all the answers so far, you helped a ton.

Alon Sandler wrote:well, ill try and give as much info of what i had in mind for the kind of trips i was thinking about. first of all, i'm talking about 4 to 7 days trips, tops. I want to keep low weight for climbing on difficult terrain, but i don't think i will do any technical climbing with the bag on my back... i don't aid climb. as of weather, i don't plan on doing anything too cold, a mountain with a snowy peak is my coldest limit, i am not going to sleep on snow and i'm not going to places where i would need to use ice tools and crampons. i am going to very hot weather areas tho... Mohab maybe, other deserts too, a trip to Yosemite won't hurt either. i do prefer having the tent and sleeping bag INSIDE the bag then hanging from the outside of it. the bags have a weight distribution systems relative to their size, and having a small bag with things hanging from it too much is less.... healthy. so inside the bag i would have a small tent and sleeping bag, light clothes (thermal shirts, yes, but no huge snow coats), a small stove and minimal cooking items, minimal food and trad climbing gear (harness, shoes, 2 sets of cams, some nuts, quick-draws, slings etc.). i would leave the rope and helmet hanging on the outside of the bag, probably. so what volume of bag are we talking about for that? i really have no clue for now. any other things i need to consider to answer that question? thanks a lot for all the answers so far, you helped a ton.

Alon,

Why wouldn't you split the rope and rack with your partner? (i.e., only carry one or the other yourself).

A 60-65L will do you fine. I try to avoid having anything outside my pack and a 60L will meet that requirement for your gear (including the helmet).

Adivce:

Go pick up a ~60l pack--whatever is on sale at REI that fits well. It's big enough for whatever you are going to do with it and it will get you started on trips. While using it, figure out what you like, what you don't like, what works and what doesnt.

In a year or so, once you have some actual experience and all the gear you talk about planning on buying, you will know what to look for in a pack.

RIght now, it seems as though you honestly don't have enough experience to know what you want in a pack and what works for you. Just get something--anything--and go from there once you have actual experience using it.

If this were ultralight backpacking, I would say buy all of the gear you want and get the pack last when you know the volume of gear you need. This could still apply, and the advice isn't bad. But a 60L pack will be big enough for whatever you actually need and not give you enough room for too much extra shit that you think you need.

Buy an inexpensive 50-65L pack, use it a bunch and you'll figure out what you like and what you need. An REI Flash would be fine and should still give you years worth of service. You'll decide what you need I.e. mostly cragging a cragging specific bag is nice (i.e. Arc'Terxy Miura), vs a backpacking pack (Arc'Teryx Bora or Altra) or alpine climbing pack (Arc'Teryx NoZone). Sorry for all the Arc'Teryx references, I'm not as familiar with any other manufacturers full line for comparison purposes. But any 50L pack will be fine to get you started. Black Diamond Speed backpacks seem pretty nice and are frequently on sale, one of my climbing partners has a Speed 40 and it seems quite nice but I'd want another 5-10L for it. Whatever you do, buy a pack that fits your back/frame well. That's more important than a lot of the other stuff.

Based on the additional info, I would go with 45-50L, if you have a low bulk sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent. Otherwise, I would go with 60-70L.

Karl Henize wrote:Based on the additional info, I would go with 45-50L, if you have a low bulk sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent. Otherwise, I would go with 60-70L.

+1

Very dependent on sleeping bag and tent. Ultralight tents and down sleeping bags take up much less room than synthetic and other tents. Tents can also be split with a partner making them easier to carry, or if you use hiking poles on these trips, get a canopy that uses them for support (much more efficient with weight)

The size of the rack is pretty common for double cams and enough stoppers/draws/stuff, but the camping side is much more variable. Knowing what camping stuff you will have will be the determining factor. Another factor is water availability. If you have to carry it in, water takes up a lot of space and is heavy.

FWIW, I used a BD Axis 33 for 4 day trips in the Uintas (just camping) and was able to get by just fine. And my whole rack, food, water, rope, and helmet all fit on the same pack. So refer to Karl!

I don't have ultralight gear and I hate strapping shit to the outside of my bag, so I ended up with a 70L pack. The weight difference between a 50L and 70L pack is usually pretty minimal, and you can always put 50L of shit in a 70L pack but you can't put 70L of shit in a 50L pack.

I used that same pack for cragging for a very long time, too. Sure it's overkill, but who cares? Even if it's a few extra ounces, I've found that that weight is often due to making the pack more comfortable/carry heavier loads better. So even if it's 20L more than you need, it'll make that heavy rack and rope and water carry a bit better. Plus it's come in handy when I've had to carry out others' gear in addition to mine after an injury. I've never had to "pack" that bag either, just throw shit in and go.