My Golite Pinnacle, complete with a mysterious strappy thing which I can only assume is for holding my slingshot

Backpacks are an essential tool for the most mobile of travelers. Ever since mankind’s materialism revolution (beginning with simple stone or wood implements, or perhaps a garment or two), there has been need for people on the move to bring their things with them. There are limited ways for modern international travelers to haul things, the most popular categories being backpacks and suitcases. If you are trying to decide between backpacks and suitcases, try this simple guide. Otherwise, what follows is help on choosing a backpack, because backpack is my method. My means of marvelously moving my materials.

I’ve been doing backpacks since forever. In fact, I never have done any kind of travel with a suitcase as my primary baggage mode, save for when I was too young and stupid to effectively pack and lug my own gear. Having done all kinds of backpacking, camping, and international travels, and having used many varieties of backpack, I feel I have a thing or two to say about them. Indeed, I often find myself orally ranting reviews of my current backpack situation when riding alone in a train compartment, or while killing time at the airport.

I believe that to find a good backpack that truly fits you and your needs, you must see it for yourself. Touch them, feel them, carry them around. Ask the sales people a million questions, their preferences on brands, their personal opinions, and tell them what you need from a backpack.  Ask your friends about their packs, what they like and don’t like. Asking people is a great way to learn about what things matter in a backpack, and traveling types are always excited to talk about their gear.

Hark! A few things you should consider in a backpack right from the get-go, so keep these in mind as you prattle around the backpack section of your outdoor store:

• Padded waist belts and chest straps help to distribute the heft of your pack off of your shoulders, helping you wear the pack comfortably for long periods. These straps, as well as the shoulder straps should be easily adjustable through a wide range so that each time you put it on with a different load, you can easily cinch everything up for optimal fit.
• Volume, of course, is an important backpack statistic, as this dictates how much stuff your pack will hold. Huge backpacks these days have 75 to 90 litres of volume and are generally purposed for people who plan to walk, self-supported, for very long distances, and as such may be excessive for international travel. A midsize pack may come roughly between 35L and 70L which is a handy size because it is never so big as to become terribly unwieldy. Anything smaller than that is essentially a daypack, but not to be discounted.
• Weight Capacity is important because backpacks these days tend to have a max load recommendation to which they are designed, ensuring your extended comfort and lifetime of the pack itself. Weight sort of goes hand in hand with volume, of course, so don’t expect to drag 60 or 70 pounds of heavy gear around with you in a little teeny backpack. The result will be discomfort and a torn up pack.
• Size of the backpack is crucial to your comfort when carrying your load. The key measurement is your torso length, so find a buddy (or salesperson!) to help you measure yours. Many packs come in small, medium, and large sizes, and so knowing your torso length will help you to definitively pick the correct size.
• Durability is very handy. Many backpacks are designed for weekend warriors or once-in-two-blue-moons trekkers who hardly put any walking miles on their backpack. These packs don’t last very long because they are not supposed to. Ask your salesperson or read reviews on brands to help you find one that will rough it just like you. Pull on stitching, step on all the plastic buckles,  yank on zippers, look for fabric terms like Cordura (heavier but tough fabric) or Ripstop (a nylon fabric which prevents tears from growing) in the pack’s literature. Also check the literature for warranty info, as plenty of proud pack producers will back their goods with even lifetime warranties. Spending time finding a dependable pack really pays off.
• Format is an attribute which sort of encompasses all of these things. Backpacks generally fall into these simple categories, each with their own uses:

1. 

   Mountainsmith Apex 75

   Internal Frame (example): Packs with the highest volumes are internal frame packs. Internal frames provide good load distribution to your hips. They also come in a variety of shapes, with all kinds of pockets. The small profile of these packs help you navigate tight places. This type of pack is very popular these days, and so you can surely find one with just the right size and with the right layout to fit your needs.

2. 

   Kelty Yukon 50

   External Frame (example): These olde-style packs have a high profile since the frame is not built into the pack. I like external frames because you can use bungee cords or ropes to attach anything you want to the exposed parts of the frame, which is very handy when you don’t care to carefully fold all of your belongings into tidy little shapes before packing them. They are more scarce these days, but can be found in  up to 65L volumes, and in enough sizes to fit anybody. These packs can be clunky, and will probably not fit into the overhead bin on your next flight.

3. 

   Golite Pinnacle

   Frameless (example): Some large packs are frameless, meaning there is no rigid frame which distributes load to your hips. Rather, this type of pack relies on your gear being packed tightly into the bag to create some rigidity. Because there is no frame, these packs tend to be lighter and more versatile, easily being converted into a smaller volume daypack for your small time missions.

• Pockets and loops and straps and all the dingleberries are unique for each pack. Choose a pack that fits your needs. There are packs made for skiing which have special pockets and things for carrying skis, snowboards, snow shovels, or what have you. Many packs have conveniently placed pockets for cameras and water bottles, or have the ability go carry one of those water bladders with a drinking hose. Some packs have detachable mini-packs that can be used independently as daypacks. Some packs are completely waterproof (or claim that they are). Consider what kind of stuff you will bring with you and what kind of doodads you like (mesh pockets, mitten-friendly zippers, dog-hair-proof Velcro, carabiner loops, a place to strap your tent…), and the proper backpack layout will gradually reveal itself.

Hark! Here’s some tips and ideas I want to impart unto you:

• There are tons of people traveling out there who love their humongous backpacks, who bring every type of clothing, and are prepared for anything. Overprepared! Schlepping a huge pack around is tiresome and unnecessary. When choosing a backpack, think about trying a smaller size. This limits the amount of stuff you can bring to essentials which can be difficult, but equally rewarding. For every traveler out there hauling a tractor-trailer backpack, there is a traveler walking around with little more than a book bag and bare feet.
• Are you a checker or a carry-on-er? If you always check your bag on the airplane, well it doesn’t matter so much how big it is (although weight is an issue these days). If you like to carry on your backpack, make sure that the backpack is small enough to fit in the overhead compartment!
• I am using a Golite Pinnacle (pictured above) which I like. It is very light, being that it has no frame, and even when it is pretty full, I can easily shove it up in the overhead compartment on the plane. It is pretty bare bones as far as dingleberries and doo-dads, but it easily swallows my gear whether I am mountaineering or traveling abroad. There are a few features by which I am still mystified, and I have a few gripes, but all in all I find it does very well by me.

So there ya go. Things to consider when choosing a backpack. Remember, every brand and every pack is different in design, and there are a million of them out there. There is no magic backpack which works for everyone because everyone has a different shape and a different set of needs. It’s like shoes. Lumberjacks don’t need track shoes, just as sprinters don’t need steel toe boots.

How are you humping your habiliments?