Backpacks, how many is too many?

jfb said:

I don't think there's such a thing as too many

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I want more than the paltry 8 packs I now own, I feel deprived! And now I am getting emails every day proclaiming sales from EMS, Altrec, Cloudveil, etc. I feel a spending spree coming on!

You know that line we all use, "But this will last me the rest of my life..."

It's funny b/c it's a red herring. Sure the quality will last a lifetime but we'll find something newer, shinier and better long before the old one wears out. Marketing types rely on our feeble consumption behavior...



Oh yeah, I am the proud owner of a new Osprey Argon 85 (I think that makes 9 for two of us).

jfb said:

I don't think there's such a thing as too many, but a couple of years ago my wife convinced me to donate three packs, three sleeping bags and a tent to a local Boy Scout troop.

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Sounds like your wife and mine took the same Husband Managing 101 course.

Mine constantly works on me to donate stuff I haven't used/worn recently. Why, just last year she convinced me to donate some perfectly good bell bottoms I last wore in college. Still perfectly good, too. Some of the finest polyester ever spun.

I especially miss the pair of checkered red and black ones.

It certainly is an addiction....nothing like the smell of new gear in the morning.....


Recently sold or gave away five of my packs so now I'm down to ten......

spencer said:

Marketing types rely on our feeble consumption behavior...

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Sounds like what’s needed is another support group.

I justified the new summit pack I bought last week because its .025 oz lighter than the one I already had. If that wasn’t enough I think this one is made out of some fancy type of recycled, by-product of the Chinese recalled toys from last year.

I wish I had a gear room... then I'd have space for all the backpacks I want, along with the five that I own. All of a sudden, owning five backpacks seems like not so many!

I am much less a gearhead than a packrat (no pun intended). My collection includes old Kelty frame packs, a couple of really great ca 1971-72 Alpine Designs day packs, and three or four more recent smaller packs for day use, including a Mountainsmith lumbar pack with shoulder straps that so far is my all-time fave for day hikes. There also is a 1950s vintage Adirondack pack basket of considerable capacity and elegant construction. And some stuff I've lost track of.

This seems like a normal accumulation of such things, to me.

G.

Grumpy said:

My collection includes old Kelty frame packs,

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One of my hiking partners swears by his old Kelty. (Well, actually, he usually swears AT it, especially when moving through low-hanging branches.)

Here's me, Sir Edmund and E-Frame outside the HPIC before heading off to Colden in March '08. Can you see where E-Frame's nickname came from...?

Up until a month ago I had around fifteen packs. I've since sold them all off except for two. I now have a 30-ish liter and a 40 liter pack. I'm planning on buying a 60 liter as well. Those three sizes should get me through any trip that I have planned.

I {heart} my Kelty external frame.

MichaelJ said:

I {heart} my Kelty external frame.

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I hear ya buddy !

Here is seven of my eight. Right to left in approximate amount of use.



1) Kelty Redwing 2900. 11 years old, it fits like a favorite old pair of slippers and I know which pocket I have put gear in, so I can always find it quickly. extremely versitile.

2) Golight Dawn. Very light.

3) Swiss gear. Piece of junk that I got free when I bought the watch. I don't care if it gets paint on it, or holes in it so I use it for trail maintenence.

4) Mammut Snowstorm 40. Nice pack, but more for snowboarders that I got on clearance but don't use much.



5) Salomon Snowboarders pack. Don't use, relatively light but only one additional pocket.

6) Osprey Argon 85. Got it for Rainer, Good pack, very comfortable, but empty it weighs over 7 lbs..

7) EMS 3000. Too small, again got it on clearance.

8) Camelback (not in picture). Use it frequently for cycling.

Pack minimalist here.

Picked up a 40 liter Go-Lite Jam for less than $100 and use it for everything. Bushwhacking, winter day hikes loading it up to the brim with you-name-it.

Summer overnights, carrying empties back to the store and bringing it back full.

It weighs a pound and does any job I ask it perfectly. It also seems indestructable for ADK whacking.

This makes my other 9 packs obsolete.

If you count hip & bladder packs, I'm pushin' twenty or so.
I get sentimentally attached to the stupid things...
And I have a gear room.

Oh great!
I'm feeling better already.
There is an empty bedroom in my house...hmmmm, gear room. I'm liking it!

I have 5 that I use; Osprey Daylite [750ci 1lb 5oz] (attaches to my Osprey Aether 85 [5200ci 4lb 12oz] if I actually need that much space), Osprey Switch 40+5 [2500ci technical/winter pack], Kelty Shadow [4500ci 3lb 13oz] and my circa 1983 Kelty external frame.

Now let's list tents !

Guess I should list those packs of mine before I list my tents ...
Kelty West Coast 4800 (the external frame)
Osprey Crescent 90
Dana Designs Bomb Pack (the original)
Gregory Chaos
and the small one is a Jansport, I forget the style name

Tents:
LL Bean King Pine (4-person version)
Mountain Hardwear Room With a View
Sierra Designs Light Year
Bibler I-Tent
and a Hennessey Hammock

I hoping to buy a condo/townhome later on this year and I'd rather have a gear room than a 2nd bedroom

I think I'm up to five.

-Old LL Bean external Frame.
-Osprey Aether 70
-Osprey Kestrel 32
-Camelback something or other that I bought on clearance. Thing is bulletproof and served as my day-pack for about five years. Still use it occasionally.
-Old Kelty day-pack

My Osprey Kestrel was bought to be a winter day-pack but I like it so much I use it all the time. Large enough for a light overnight pack and comfy enough for a day-pack.

I also have two hydration packs from my mountain biking days.

The true cause of global warming?? GEAR!!

Reading multiple threads I think I've now found the solution to global warming. LESS GEAR!!!

Gear Rooms - Most are heated -> More fuel burned -> More CO2 emissions.

Gear Factories - These places need heat (see above)

More Gear Stores - Heated too!

Trucks delivering the stuff (yadda yadda)

Disposal - Probably not a problem since folks here seem to never throw stuff away (hence the need for these big gear rooms).


I dunno. I'm starting to think this hiking thing is the REAL cause to all the world's problems!!!