How many liters is too much?

watson

watson

New member
been using a gregory z55 the past 2 years and its been working great but iv been housed up have the money to upgrade my gear, considering an osprey atmos 65, is it too big? im defidently not getting anything bigger then 65 hoping to find one around 60L.
 
When I first hit the road I started with the incredible North Face Terra 45L. It's an amazing bag with all the right straps and none of the useless ones, sturdily built, and unfortunately discontinued. 45L fit all my summer gear and worked alright, but as I got into my groove I found myself struggling to fit a couple days groceries in. For that first day after getting food I was always bursting at the seams, or worse carrying a tote bag of food! I upgraded to Osprey's Exos 58L and I'm as comfy as I could want with food space. Even when I'm fully loaded the bag isn't full, which gives me hope for trying to pack for winter (false hope)!

I don't think I'd go to 65L as an everyday bag. I could see myself winning the lottery and using something that big or bigger on an arctic trek or something, but thats about it. If you do go that big you probably don't want to fill it all the way, just because it'll be too heavy! Big bags also make hopping trains and fitting into tiny cars harder! If you pull the trigger just keep in mind that having the space doesn't mean you have to fill it.
 
I have a North Face 65L backpack. I adore it. With my sleeping bag inside it there's just enough room for everything I need with a little room for foodstuffs.
 
I've only really used one bag since leaving the army, and that's a berghaus atlas which is 100L. I could definitely get away with using less, but when I go from traveling through 40C to -21 I generally have to pack for all weather, all seasons, and liquids/food for at least a couple days at a time. Then you add cooking gear and some creature comforts and it all adds up.

In my experiences, people with really small packs just end up strapping stuff to the outside. With my beast, it all fits on the inside ;D I think I could ditch 10 or 20L though, and be fine.
 
I use a 5.11 tactical 43 liter bag. I've been using it for the last few months riding trains in all kinds of weather and it still looks brand new. I did break the plastic buckle on the strap, but it's nothing duct tape can't fix. I've found I can use it to travel with all my cold gear, a tarp, bivy and sleeping bag, 3.0 liters of water and a day's worth of food. That's all I need. I think it weighs in at about 30 pounds, but it doesn't give me too many issues. I don't really walk as much as I used to...I'd say liters is going to change based on your type of traveling and what type of person you are. I know people who travel kinda 'fearless and gearless' with practically nothing but what they find on the road and people who have 80 liter bags with all kinds of stuff. Over the years of traveling I finally think this setup is optimum for me. I would not change anything and the only shit strapped to my pack is my sleeping bag which does not ride up on my ass when walking...which can be a huge pain on long tramping.
 
I would personally keep it under 40. If you have a huge bag, you will fill it up, it's just inevitable, and having a heavy big-ass pack sucks, IMO. 40 is enough for gear and a couple days worth of food. If you need more for wilderness living or for winter gear, have a secondary little bag that is lightweight and can either be worn as a shoulder bag or strapped to the top or bottom of your main backpack. My two cents.
 
watson said:
been using a gregory z55 the past 2 years and its been working great but iv been housed up have the money to upgrade my gear, considering an osprey atmos 65, is it too big? im defidently not getting anything bigger then 65 hoping to find one around 60L.
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i have a 60L go lite bag and its honestly waaay to big. but the plus side is when im not walking with it i can fit my all my clothes inside. I would stick with the smaller size. The bigger bag makes it way easier to over pack
 
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