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How to Choose a Backpack

Planning to buy a new backpack for backpacking? There are three main areas where you’ll need to make choices.

Backpack capacity: The size of the pack you’ll need is tied to the length of your trip and how much weight and bulk you want to carry.

Backpack features: These are the refinements that affect how the pack works for you.

Backpack fit: Torso length—not your height—matters most.

Frame Type

Internal-frame backpacks: The majority of packs sold at REI today are body-hugging, internal-frame packs where the structure is hidden inside the back panel. They are designed to keep a hiker stable on uneven, off-kilter terrain and may incorporate a variety of load-support technologies that all function to transfer the load to the wearer’s hips.

External-frame backpacks: With an external-frame pack, you can see the structure that supports the load: aluminum (usually) hardware on the outside. Because the frame extends beyond the packbag, a backpack like this may be an appropriate choice if you’re carrying a heavy, irregular load (like an oversize tent or inflatable kayak). External-frame packs also offer good ventilation and lots of gear organization options.

Frameless backpacks: Ultralight devotees who like to hike fast and light might choose a frameless pack or a climbing pack where the frame is removable for weight savings. But packs without a frame are much more uncomfortable under heavy loads.

Ventilation

Some packs feature a suspended mesh back panel to combat the sweaty-back syndrome you tend to get with internal-frame packs that ride against your body. Also called a “tension-mesh suspension,” this is a trampoline-like design where the frame-supported packbag rides a few inches away from your back, which instead rests against the highly breathable mesh. Other packs will have ventilation channels (sometimes called “chimneys”) in the back panel to solve the same issue.

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