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- Verified Buyer
Kelty has always been a brand in conversation between my friends, coworkers, and family, I never had the chance to give them a shot, but got out the evening I received this pack to give it a run around and see how it feels, loaded with about 35 pounds, around a 4 mile round trip. short hike. This thing felt great! 10/10 would recommend to anybody who is hunting for a new pack!It puts most of the weight on my hips like it is supposed to. My shoulders don't hurt anymore on backpacking trips like they did with my first backpack. Much more comfortable and snug too. I like the keys holder in the top hat and the side pockets above the water bottle holders that are very easy to access. I wish the pocket on the back had a larger opening so it would be easier to fit my notebook journal easier.Great pack! I’m an active duty marine, and I always thought that with a 50-80 lb pack, you were just destined to be incredibly uncomfortable due to the packs we used in training and those issued to us. That was until I got this pack. It forces you to be comfortable whether you like it or not! The sizing of the pack to fit your torso is great, straps are well padded and the ventilation on your back is nice as well. The Velcro it uses for the sizing is a bit hard to undo to resize, but that’s kind of a good thing because that means it won’t get loose on accident. Either way, solid pack, pretty light weight, and a good amount of organization.I got the 85L in Lyons Blue. Overall, its a really great pack. I originally bought the 105L but it was way larger than I need so I returned it for the 85L which is a great size. It has plenty of storage in the main compartment, side and outer pockets.I just took it out on a 2 night, 3 day, 40 mile section of the AT. No real complaints other than:- the ventilated back doesn't really ventilate, but none of them do. It was high 80s all 3 days that I was out, and I was extremely sweaty on my back, and really everywhere else.- the adjustable torso part of the back has 2 things wrong with it: - you have to release a lot of velcro in order to adjust it which isn't easy. It's good that it's very secure but adjusting it is difficult. - once I did adjust it, the outer edges of the back pad were now exposed and rubbed against my shoulder blades which became very uncomfortable, so I put it back to where it was.Still, its a great pack for a great price when compared to other brands. I definitely recommend it.I purchased the 85 liter pack and recently used it on a 14-mile, 2-night backpacking trip. I liked this pack very much.I'm 6'3" but with a long torso (so probably comparable to most 6'5" or 6'6" back lengths). Ergo, height matters a lot to me. I was able to adjust the height to fit my back well. I was able to fit plenty of supplies inside the pack; I used the straps outside the sleeping bag compartment to hold a tent; I used the hood to hold my wide sleeping pad; I used the external loops to strap on a chair. You can see it's pretty versatile.I would not recommend for a very thin person. I weigh about 185 lbs, and I had the belt close to as tight as it can get. When I was 21 I weighed about 150 lbs, and I imagine this belt may have been too loose for me.I had a Kelty external frame pack in the early 90s when I was in Boy Scouts. Afterwards I went in the military and have carried an ALICE pack since, until now. I got the 85L in Asphalt. A Major selling point for me was that it has external pockets for gear I’ll need quick access to such as water bottle, rain gear, compass, pocketknife, headlamp, firestarters, first aid kid, bug spray, and sunscreen. It doesn’t have a bunch of stupid zippers going to the main pack and making weak points that will fail.I will go over what I don’t like. First the color, it is pictured as being a dark grey, in reality it is a lighter medium grey. Asphalt is almost black so that’s a bit of false advertisement there. It is for this reason I am on the fence about sending it back and starting my pack search all over again. Second I think Kelty erred on the side of lightweight over durability. Coming from an ALICE pack it feels cheap and flimsy. There’s no pack cover provided, this just screams low budget junk to me, seriously a pack cover is a cheap way to say we thought of our customers, apparently Kelty doesn’t care. The pockets on the hip belt, the one on the left is fine but the one on the right is mesh, given that is the side I carry my water bottle on I would prefer it to be somewhat water resistant. It is also elastic so I hesitate to put anything of any kind of value to me into it. Basically it’s worthless. Being right handed I would prefer the pocket that I will be keeping everything in to be on my right side instead of my left. The top flap could have been made with an outside zip pocket for a pack cover, some straps on top for additional storage, and a pocket on the inside for valuables. Instead we are stuck with one dysfunctional side entry pocket on the lid. The sleeping bag storage compartment is a bit small for an 85L pack, my 3 season sleeping bag fits no problem, but my winter weight bag will not. The partition between the sleeping bag compartment is an afterthought at best and is not sturdy enough to hold your gear on top of it or your sleeping bag below it while you pack the other compartment. The compression straps hold your sleeping mat or whatever behind the sleeping bag compartment. The sleeping bag compartment could have been made bigger and the compression straps on the bottom to eliminate this problem. The side pockets could have been made a bit taller on the 85L pack, and the back pockets could have been one pocket instead of two like on the 65L pack. The gear attachment loops on the back are pretty much useless to me, I don’t like things hanging off my pack I want everything secured. If some bungee cord or netting of some kind could have been used instead it would have made the back of the pack far more usable. Lastly a total lack of elastic bands or Velcro loops to tame loose straps and keep them from dangling, flopping, swinging around or annoying you.Overall it is one of the better packs on the market (doesn’t mean it’s good or well thought out, only better than most.) It does show a lack of thought and a disregard for customers that will use it. It certainly lowers my once high opinion of Kelty considerably.It's a good size pack, just wish it had more separate internal pockets for organizing smaller pieces of gear.Its exactly what you need for a multi day hike. Bring plenty of food.
