UKC

My wife would like a new daypack, just for mountain walks, no cragging. Outside zip/velcro and wand pockets for phone, gloves and poles etc are essential. Must have a short back to suit a petite frame and with the emphasis on comfort rather than stripped to the bone.

Suggestions please and many thanks.

In reply to BnB:

My wife has a Loew alpine airzone ND 24 which might fit the bill? It fitted her a lot better than the usual osprey offerings.

Some larger Cotswolds stock them, as well as Outside in Hathersage.

In reply to BnB:

Hi,

I work for Lowe and our new Eclipse packs are the dogs B***cks! Check out the website www.lowealpine.com/eclipse-nd22. The 22 litre is a good size and has everything you need for walking, winter walking, cycling and climbing.

In reply to ernieb182:

Thanks. I did check it out. They look perfect if the fit is good. Love the features!!

My wife has a very short back and the 18" back on most 20-25 litre packs results in the load resting on her bum!! The website specifies the back profile for most of your packs, but not the Eclipse

Do you happen to know the back profiles for either the 22 or the 14? The right answer of course might just be to go for a smaller pack.

In reply to BnB:


I don't have a particularly short back, but do have a very curvy back (deep hollow and then a sizeable bum ), and so have a similar problem.

My experience is that very structured back systems are rarely helpful, and the more minalist sacs are better because they bend to fit - certainly for day sacs - I tend to use an OMM sac most of the time, or one of two old Macpac (that just have a foam mat back) for any single day trips, even when it's a fairly heavy sac of climbing gear.

In reply to BnB:

Perhaps a little small for long days but my wife has a Lowe Alpine Edge 2 in the 18L flavour. It ticks the boxes you wanted and comes in a 22L version 2. Has a very small back, too small for me to use it. I'm 5.10 and the wife is 5.5 BTW

http://www.lowealpine.com/edge2-18

In reply to BnB:

Hi

I had some real problems with finding a smaller bag for climbing. I know you say it is for days out but I find my Deuter Guide Lite perfect for walking also. I just spent a week in the Cairngorms, hiking, scrambling and doing multipitch routes and The Deuter was perfect. Last year i wrote an article about packs for women, have a nosey if you want; http://www.womenclimb.co.uk/climbing-packs-for-women/

In reply to wilkie14c:


I wouldn't have said the back's that short (I have one for work/days out with kids/odd hill trip), but it is perhaps quite narrow on the shoulders. I'm 5ft 8 and it's fine on me....but that just goes to show it's always worth trying things on! Either way, it's worth a go.

Another thing that occurs to me is that it's not always back length that's the problem - it's sometimes just that the shoulder straps don't tighten down far enough to get a good fit.

In reply to wilkie14c:



My wife is a very lovely 5'1" so the length (height?) of the back is more of an issue for her than it would be for yours I reckon...

In reply to BnB:

my wife is only 5'3" she loves her Deuter Guide light, it took some searching and a bit of "debating" to find the right bag, and even though I need her to carry double ropes, food, spare clothes and some kit; harness shoes etc, she doesn't mind. Worth checking out.

I am talking Shelley into getting a larger bag so she can carry the full rack, leaving me to stroll along in front pointing out geological features and taking photographs.
we have the Lowe Edge 22 , it is a good bag with nice features fits me fine

http://www.deuter.com/US/us/sl-womens-fit/guide-lite-28-sl-33533-131.html

In reply to BnB:

A good shop should have some models filled with paper etc so you can try on and get a realistic fit, Cotswolds do this and the BMC discount makes up for any cheaper deals out there

In reply to BnB:

I've just bought the osprey tempest 16. It's awesome. So light and well fitted that you don't feel it on your back. I'm 5'4 fairly short back it fits great. Plus the 'on the go' walking pole stowing system is great

In reply to BnB:
Id also look at the Osprey sacks - i'm currently looking for one for my son and it's the best fit so far

In reply to BnB:

My other half (5'1") has used an Inov8 22l job for years and found it very comfy. As someone above suggested, minimalist packs seem to work much better.

The Inov8s don't have proper pole storage, but do have lots of mesh and other bobbins, and we've never struggled with carrying poles, axes, crampons etc on the outside of the pack.

My girlfriend's pack has been utterly thrashed for about 5 years now, and it's only just showing its age.

In reply to BnB:

Thanks for all the suggestions. Osprey Tempest 16 and Lowe Eclipse 14/22 are the frontrunners. Many other helpful ideas but these are mostly in larger sizes (25-35) which are pretty much certain to be too long in the back for my partner. We'll pop to Cotswold in Leeds and try them on. A romantic city mini-break

In reply to BnB:
I'm 5'1" as well and I've been happily using a women specific Berghaus freeflow 30+6 litre bag. Despite the larger size, I haven't found any problems with the back length and it fits really well, all of the weight distributed in the right places and a versatile bag - good for days out but equally I've done 2 seasons of winter/alpine with it. It's an older style freeflow but it could be worth a look at if Cotswolds in Leeds have any of the newer ones- I think they have more of the wand pockets etc your wife is after. Otherwise I've got a couple of OMM bags which are really good - the Adventure 45+5 I use for backpacking, but the smaller litre packs look good as well, and a last drop (10 litre) for fell running. Both fit well and the back length seems right for me.

(Lengthy reply but I sympathise with the difficulties of finding a pack to fit when you're a bit shorter than average! Trousers as well for that matter...)

In reply to BnB:

I find the Deuter women specific ones good - I have two now (one day pack and one for alpinism). I have this one for my day pack:

http://www.deutergb.co.uk/hiking/act-trail-28-sl/

In reply to BnB:
Hi there. I'm about 5'1 and have plenty of trouble looking for daypacks which have a back of the right length and are comfortable for walking or cragging. I've now owned two which worked really well for walking (for cragging, I use a bigger pack).

The OMM Classic 25 pack fits very well and even though it is a racing pack, I do find it very comfortable to carry over long distances. It isn't a zip-top but there are plenty of pouches on the hip fins, the lid of the pack and there are large mesh pouches in the front of the pack to stash your waterproofs for easy access.

Black Diamond do daypacks in Small/Medium and Medium/Large. I own the Bolt in Small/Medium and it's extremely comfortable. If your missus is after a pack with zip entry, perhaps try the Nitro? http://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/hiking-packs/nitro-pack-BD681089_cfg... The pack is very similar to the Bolt but seems to be tricked out with all the specific features that she's looking for.

Good luck with your search!

In reply to Bruise Apprentice:

Given that's a few votes for minimal OMM sacks being comfortable, it might be worth looking at the smaller zip ones?
http://www.theomm.com/products/packs/ultra15/

PS I know the original request was for comfort, rather than stripped to the bone, but I find stripped to the bone better than badly sized structure...

In reply to BnB:

Right then. I've had a look at a few in the flesh and the winner is:

wait for it.....

Lowe Alpine Eclipse ND22.

In fact it wasn't even a close thing. The Lowe is miles ahead of the rest (IMO of course) in fit, features and function. Very impressed.

In reply to BnB:

As others have said looking to OMM and other running brands might be your best option. OMM Ultra 15 using the lightweight MSC would be my suggestion.

I've used an OMM classic 25l plenty times for mountain cragging and as long as you pay attention to the packing it's totally fine for carrying heavyish loads, so comfort is not an issue in my opinion.

The other sacks I'd look at are the Deuter Speed Lites. They tend to be shorter but again are comfortable to use and have plenty of very well thought out features. My wife has pretty much nicked mine now!

In reply to SFM:

See the post above yours... Thanks for the helpful suggestion but it comes too late... The winner was announced Thursday!!

In reply to BnB:

was never one to be first to a party.... ;O)