Kelty Tioga External Frame Backpack

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Customer Reviews

Simply The Best

Having backpacked for nearly half a century, graduating Outward Bound in 1965 (back in the days when people occasionally didn't live through it), I must share with you my opinion that no one of whom I'm aware knows more about constructing a backpack than Dick Kelty. No one's been making them as long.
As to the advantages of the external frame, they are many. How much and what kind of hiking do most of us do, on or off trail? More than a thirty mile trip max? If you have a specialized need for an internal frame - or a big, heavy expedition weight external frame - great. If not, a lightweight, external frame is vastly superior on the trail - lighter to carry - easier to port - better at the campsite. What then is the allure of the internal frame? Yeah, they're easier to deal with in airports, and seem, but are not, more flexible, adjustable on the trail (that is - if you've got a good frame pack). While one cannot deny the versatility of some of convertable travel/internal frame packs, such as Lowe has made so well for years, for straight out backpacking, the Kelty Tioga is many times the pack. And,in truth, if you pack it in a duffel, a frame pack will carry and stow quite easily at the airport. I purchased one of the first internal frame packs that Wayne Gregory ever made (from him personally), and have used other internal frame packs. Unless you're doing some serious, extended off-trail packing - forget the hype, and stick with an adjustable external frame. Frankly, a larger day pack serves quite well for most bush rambles.
Consider your real needs in a backpack: 1) Comfort 2) Durability 3) Load Capacity 4) Security. No one makes a more adjustable (in as many ways), more LST (light, strong, tough) pack than the quite affordable Tiogas. The Tioga, as simple as its design seems, is a highly technical, sophisticated, and well-conceived piece of gear, state of the art. I've owned a Stephenson - Kelty is more comfortable (does not dig into front of pelvis - and yet gives quite a bit of "hip carry"). Dana Design (I owned a "Longbed") - way heavier. Kelty knows how much space you actually need - and where. A twenty - thirty pound load is best. But it will expand to a lot more. You can pull out the frame and attach for longer stays in the wild. And very moisture resistant (so far anyway). Happy trails.

Big Old-School External Frame Pack

The suspension has a plenty of straps to adjust: there are extra tensioning straps at the shoulders and waist, in addition to the belly and shoulder straps. The frame is also adjustable in length. With all these things you can eventually tweak it to a comfortable fit. I am 6 feet tall and it was very comfortable by my second hike, when I started figuring out what to adjust and how much. I would recommend loading it up at home and getting all the fitting over with before you start up the trail. You can separate the frame easily at its adjustment points, then fold and check it inside a medium suitcase for travel (this does involve some creative rotation of the disassembled aluminum frame and its attached strapping). The pack has plenty of space and can be zipped to have the entire main pouch as one big space. You can fit a liter lexan water bottle in one of the side pouches, left open.

Tioga 5500 - Good Performer

I had decided on a external frame backpack due to them being somewhat cooler and being able to carry a bit more for the same size pack. When I had tried them in the past, the down side I had experienced was significant sway when hiking. With this unit I did not experience any noticable movement. Overall I found it to be a good performer.

huge

Very nice pack if you plan on a long trip or a short one with a ton of stuff. However, if you don't fill the cavernous interior completely the pack shifts on your back. As most external frames, storing the sleeping bag in the compartment is all but impossible. Attaching it to the bottom of the frame is the way to go but then the bag pushes up on the bottom of the pack making it a tad difficult to get into. As I am a Boy Scout leader this pack was just a little too large for my liking. I exchanged it for a Kelty Trecker 3950 which holds all the stuff I need. My tent, I was able to store inside, sleeping bag at the bottom of the frame and my bedroll on the top.