Buying a backpack, for backpacking...
A surprisingly stressful decision. Too small: it won’t fit all your stuff Too big: you over pack and its a pain to lug around.
The Process: 1) figure out the type of backpack you want. Are you camping? Trying to pack a tent? Or just a sleeping bag? How many days are you going for? In what kind of weather? While you don’t want to buy a backpack for a single trip only, thinking in these terms might help. 2) research. I gathered information from ANYONE I could. Everyone has their own opinions and styles and ideas on what works best. I did online research then asked employees in stores. I went to The North Face store and they were so knowledgeable ALSO they had weight to put in the packs so I could really test how it felt. 2) the size. This was the hardest part for me. I wanted my pack for backing around Europe. So this means hotels and the occasional friend’s house and the rare hotel. So I didn’t need to pack any camping gear. Then I can very easily over pack. So I wanted something a bit on the smaller side that would prevent me from going overboard. 3) style. I am a girl so I bought a backpack designed for women. Easy enough. It’s narrower (for women’s shoulders) and provides a general better all around fit for women.
I ended up purchasing The North Face Alteo 35 for women. The size is measured in liters. So mine is a 35. I originally researched that a 40 to 50 would be a better size. But I would prefer to pay for a load of laundry then have a backing breaking heavy pack.
I have just started the trip and so far so good. I seem to have enough clothes. But I have only been traveling for 4 days and staying at a friend’s house. I will report at the end of the trip with more info re the backpack.
I am adding this a couple of weeks after using the backpack, the verdict: amazingly comfortable. The perfect size but two problems. Problem 1: I can only open the pack from the top. Highly irritating when staying at places for a night or two that I have to unpack half the bag to get at my stuff. I would suggest buying a bag that has at least a bottom opening if not a side opening as well. Problem 2: this is both a negative and a positive. It has a trampoline back. Which means its extremely supportive and allows air to flow so the pack is not pressed to you back. However this means that it backpack is a bit of a funny shape making it challenging to pack and because of the shape it creates, you cannot easily stand the bag up.
