Blimey,what an excellent response! I will def have to review the amount of kit i have and then decide what rucksack to get.I will be visiting a few outdoor shops this weekend to have a good look at Karrimor/Berghaus etc.Once again thank you all for your kind and helpful advice.
Cheers
Britboy

Hi Britboy

Welcome to the Forum.

A lot of good advise here already. As to the pack my brother-in-law is ex Army Staffordshire Regiment, all his kit now is Berghaus. Swears by it or is that he swears at it <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.
I don't camp or hike as much as I used too but when I did the old adage runs true " Buy the best you can afford" quality lasts, my pack is LOWE and is a med to large, additional pockets give volume and versatility. I've had it 10 years now and it's still going strong.
Not sure which corner of the UK your from but I shopped around the four in my town and tried them all, go with what feels right when it's on (and loaded if you can). Nothing worse than hiking with gear that rubs and pokes in you, takes the fun out it.

Sunny Colchester is where I'm from so I know all about Squaddies(Paras being based here).There are several shops here(Millets,Blacks etc) plus the usual small ex army surplus shops.Hoping to have a good look around and hopefully spend some hard earned cash!!
Cheers
Britboy

First off, I have never hauled out any game animals, whole or quartered on my back heavier than a ring-necked pheasant and that was in a shooting vest game bag.

Secondly, I have never had to haul radio equipment, crates of food, crates of ammo, or anything of that nature as a matter of necessity on my back.

Thirdly, I have never had to drag anything or anyone in a roughly made sled out in the back country as a matter of necessity.

With an external frame pack, all the above are possible. The frame could be a solid base for addition of native material to make a decent hauling sled.

I own a humongous Wegner (Total cubic inches unknown.) with 6 side pockets and an aluminum ladder style with turnbuckle cross tensioned external frame. I have a medium sized Hillary with 4 external pockets and an aluminum ladder style external frame. A boy scout small frame backpack (Which I will be selling soon or give to my nephews if any of them show a proclivity for the outdoors.) with ? external pockets and an aluminum external frame. An alice medium backpack with 3 external pockets, hydration bladder pocket, and an L1 steel external frame which I will be buying an equipment lip for.

I know from having been on this forum that most of you go on trips and do things that I would have been physically challanged to do even in my youth when both my knees worked well. I understand the preference for internally framed back-hugging packs that usually do better for balancing when you climb or hike meandering paths. I do not dispute those advantages and for the most part your selections make good sense.

What I like about external framed packs is the OPTION they offer for everything I mentioned at the beginnig of this post. Some have written in the past that your own legs will be your last available mode of transportation and wheels for lugging what you take along would make sense. With an external framed backpack, you can even jury rig an axle to the frame to support wheels.

One more thing, I like being able to hang the packs on a tree limb without having them sag, and to put the pack on wet ground where the frame keeps the pack from touching ground.

I do have a Jansport (Rucksack, Bookbag?) for in town use.

Bountyhunter

I carried a medium alice pack for eight years in the Corps. I'd say that trying to carry anything extrodinarily heavy, bulky, or of a wierd size, then its a great pack frame. As a pack, it is one of the worst choices. With the large pack the weight sticks out three feet from your back giving thus putting you off balance. Why they didn't make it long and flat like conventional packs is beyond me. I've thought of using my frame to carry 5 gallon cans.

I currently carry a CFP 90 that I have heavily modified. With its internal frame and balistic nylon it weighs in at a mere two pounds and its designed to hug your center of gravity. Plus it carries twice as much gear as the Alice Pack.