"Yuppie Packs"

[SkyeDawg]

Kids threaten to steal my "Yuppy Pack" cause it's nice as hell and I usually have some nice shiny gear filling it. I pay for my gear by working my own ass off- usually for minimum wage- so anyone who doesn't like it can **** ****.

That being said, I still have the same pack I've had for like 5 or 6 years. From REI. They have a lifetime guarantee on packs so they replaced it WITH AN EVEN BETTER ONE when it fell apart from overuse. It's light and comfortable, and even with a gimped leg I can walk a fair distance with it.

And yeah, as to those guys who will diss your nice gear and/or threaten to and/or try to steal your nice gear;

Aint none of em got my gear not once yet. Not my problem cats be havin bag envy.

Hell man, I travel with a beat up 220,000 mile van. It's the ultimate yuppy pack. No AC tho which would honestly be helpful some highways get HOT. You should hear some of the shit DRAINBOW kids talk about my vans! They're all pissed off that I have a van cause it means I have money. Well, guess what- I WORK. Whenever somebody offers me good clean work, I take it and I work my ass off. That means I get the luxury of having an economy van and a yuppy pack.

Anyhow it's always the useless DRAINBOW kids who refuse to do any work or help with anything who are the first to complain about my nice gear. Sorry I'm hard working. For instance my car; I got it for 300 bucks and overhauled it myself by hand. Hundreds of painstaking hours later, I have a worthy chariot- and I EARNED it with blood sweat and tears.

Yeah man, get the most comfortable pack you can! If you're walking, get good shoes if you can too. Half the reason I don't walk much anymore is I have a bad leg and it got beat up even worse from years of walking miles and miles with a heavy pack and not the right shoes. You can really fuck up your bone structure that way...

 

[SkyeDawg]

In short YES get a good pack! Are you crazy! Your back and feet will thank you...

 

[Teko]

i had a light blue kelte pack for a minute..... so yeah, i'm all about kelte packs. <3

i love my coyote pack. which did you have? and to the people that will talk shit, well like you said, my shit fits inside my pack and its comfortable.

 

[Nikki]

I've been hauling an old Alice Pack for awhile now and it's done me good. It's bullet proof ,with different straps it's fairly comfy if the loads not much over 30 lbs and it is also pretty spacious.

I had a chance to try on a Kelty Coyote I think it was and god damn that thing was light years away in comfort and mobility. One thing I always liked about the Alice pack though is it didn't raise any eyebrows in the sense that you don't look "out of the ordinary" or a target for others to fuck with you. I'm just wondering if anyone who has had "nicer" gear like the afformentioned has ever caught any shit or had it been more of a burden than just sticking with a good ol' shit pack.

I may be looking into saving up for one of these just for the fact that I think it will open up ride opportunities. I've more than once missed a train on the fly because that big ass alice pack was sticking 2 feet out behind me flopping around and I didn't have two hand holds and couldn't get up the ladder.

I know a few of you carry some higher dollar packs and am just wondering if the price is worth it in durability, comfort, capacity, mobility whatever.

i just had the nicest pack ive ever owned stolen from me over the weekend. it was like a 250 dolla REI ultra lightweight backpack that i got for doing like an hours worth of weed pulling down in new mexico. i was so stoked! that thing was so fucking comfortable! the frame was super light weight and conformed to my back so nice. when the straps and everything were adjusted properly you could barely even feel the packs weight on your back/shoulders. i think its totally worth the price to invest in a nice back pack but check this out. when your in big cities and shit you guys should know how it is. the goddamn crackheads see you with a backpack whether its nice or not and they think you got something worth taking so your always a target no matter what! BUT in my situation. me and my man ate some L at a festival here in colorado over the weekend. we were hanging out with this dude all day. ( he was tripping too) so we thought it was straight to leave our packs with him because he didn't look like he would be leaving anytime soon! we went on the dance floor for like 20 minutes probably and returned to find that my nice REI backpack was missing and my husbands shitty boyscout pack w/ the external was still there!
what a dick.... everything in there was pretty much replacable except for my fucking cameras memory card with all our pictures from across the country! oh well. theres no sense dwelling on it now. theres nothing a girl can do.
i dont think i'll get a nice pack like that again.....
or just dont leave your shit laying around anywhere
not even for 20 minutes...
not even for 10!
i did it once and now im paying for it.......

 

[Nikki]

and the whole 'punk points' thing. FUCK THAT YO! im not the cleanest person in the world but i like having nice gear that isn't frumpy and wider then i am! i gotta have something nice and lean so im able to move around and jump on trains when i got to! can't forget hiking uphill around massive rocks and through caves and shit! anybody who disses on nice packs is a fucking retard!! sorry, i like being comfortable especially when i live out of it 365 days a year.

 

[Bl3wbyyou]

Ehh i beat the living shit out of my alice pack and caught freight on the fly with it.And its the massive large pack lol.But im 6'3 so i can use something like that.I did however upgrade to the MOLLE system which is the straps and kidney pad.Both of those upgrades were $20 each.And boy did they make it like a new expensive pack.

I would say your average $30 alice pack with the molle upgrades would be easy to hang with $100+ bags.Just takes sometime setting up and getting comfortable with the new set up.I have carried 50lbs of gear in that damn thing for a week solid and it took it no problem.I however couldn't take the weight lol.

So i started tossing shit out of my pack and got it down to a comfortable weight for me to take.Other folks would pick up my pack when they were bitching aobut the weight they had to take.

Then they would go what the fuck LOL why the fuck do you carry all this weight?Lol its comfortable for me and doesn't really slow me down.I just have gotten use to it is all.

Hell i love ever damn lb i have to carry.Least i got food/stove/cook kit/ and some clothes as well as a good sleeping bag.Granted its alot more then what everyone carries but hell it makes my life better out there.

Alice packs have been proven to take up to i thought it was 100-120lbs back in vietnam the damn radio guys were loaded to the hilt with those packs.And they just held up perfectly.Sure the pack itself when empty is still a bit much.But dammit if you are cheap and want a nice set up then do what i did.You won't regret it ill guarantee that lol.

Hell our boys over in iraq are still rocking alice's with just the upgraded molle straps and pad.They chuck the molle pack because it simply doesn't hold up and isn't really made for todays soldiers that have to carry alot of gear still.

Not to mention you can get them at any surplus store for cheap too.I dunno what the upgrades would cost at a surplus store though.

 

[Dead horse]

I've had all sorts of different packs over the years but i just bought a Kelty Ridgeway today for a 100. Theres no decent surplus stores around here in Abbotsford B.C. (i'm just making excuses to not go into Vancouver right now). But ya I'm pretty jacked, take mixed martial arts and i'm covered from neck to waist n highly visable tattoos so no one's ever really fucked with me for it. Thing I don't like about the "yuppie" packs is that when they're new they look nice (despite the usually bright colours) but once they get that grain car dirt worked into them they look like shit as were an Alice or other good Canadian or American issue pack would usually tend to look better. And your right about the Alice's being bulletproof bro, that and with those too is if you find the right surplus store or dealer you can buy add-ons and replaceable straps as where the yuppie shit, you get what you get and usually after a season they're fucking toast

 

[DisgustinDustin]

Nah man.. if someone drops 300 on an Ospery Aether 65-75 L... That pack is with you for the long haul.. They will
Fix your shit if it breaks.. Lifetime warranty..

Gregory packs are the shit too.. And Deuter.
Word. I'm with the "yuppie"packs.
Fucking spange or work and treat yourself, yo..
eBay?

 

[Kim Chee]

...but once they get that grain car dirt worked into them they look like shit as were an Alice or other good Canadian or American issue pack would usually tend to look better.

(I agree)

The alice pack hip pad rests in my lower back which isn't much of an issue, but if I had my way, I'd have a taller frame. The packs aren't terribly comfortable, but they are built to last. Think "walking shoes -vs- leather boots". If I bust a strap (hasn't happened to me) or if I notice excessive wear, I can get another set in almost any town. The bag is the right color, it is cheap. And no little shit is gonna take it from me unless they want to get beat with it. They will hold a lot of weight. If it doesn't fit inside, strap it outside.

 

[Kim Chee]

(I agree)

The alice pack hip pad rests in my lower back which isn't much of an issue, but if I had my way, I'd have a taller frame. The packs aren't terribly comfortable, but they are built to last. Think "walking shoes -vs- leather boots". If I bust a strap (hasn't happened to me) or if I notice excessive wear, I can get another set in almost any town. The bag is the right color, it is cheap. And no little shit is gonna take it from me unless they want to get beat with it. They will hold a lot of weight. If it doesn't fit inside, strap it outside.

**and if you spend a lot of cash to get that yuppie pack, make sure you get a set of matching Carhartts.

 

[DisgustinDustin]

Mine are in the mail..

Note: I don't own a $300 pack..but I will by fall..
I carry a $50, on sale, Teton Scout 3400.. Decent enough.. Not extremely comfy but I can put in 30-35lbs or so and walk forever..But I'm pretty fit.... For a heavy smoker and severe pothead.

Different strokes..

 

[Nyte]

Remember, especially in the big markets, watch craigslist, in the DC market I see all kinds of high end yuppy packs go cheap as shit. I helped hook up all kinda people rolling through DC this winter and spring with nice like new packs for cheap. Same shit with sleeping bags and shit too.

 

[Hylyx]

I got a Kelty external frame backpack for like 30 bucks on Craigslist. I don't know the model, but it looked like it was from the 90s (bright purple) before painted it.

It's super damn comfy, has side pockets and an extra pocket on the back, and I've filled it super full just to see what it was like, still was comfy.
Oh i also cut a hole for a camelback bladder, cuz yeah. Those are the shit.

 

[purr]

Hey, any of y'all that have tried out a Kelty Coyote. How much gear do/did you typically lug in those things and what (if any) issues did you have with the pack? Other info you can provide would be cool too, thinking about getting one of those for my next pack.

 

[Dishka8643]

ya know, after living out of a large alice pack, I decided to "upgrade" to a new, commercial pack from kelty. I was extremely disappointed. The alice has it's downsides.... they are slightly heavier and less comfortable for larger people, but I still think they are far better than the junk that has flooded the outdoor market in recent years.

The kelty straps were flimsy and not very supportive without the hip belt in use. wearing the hip belt was uncomfortable, as well as awkward when wearing a coat or a sheath on your belt. If you are trying to run, you have to unclip the hipbelt anyway, so the pack is swaying back and fourth violently. When you have the pack on the ground, it doesn't stay upright like the alice, so you have to lean it on something or hold it up when loading and unloading the main compartment, which is a huge pain in the ass. The design is not nearly as versatile as the alice. I routinely use it as a seat and lay my head on the kidney pad, like a pillow. Couldn't do that with the kelty without bending the frame. Adding insult to injury, it was bright red, and paper thin. With 40lbs, the composite/ aluminum frame bent as I walked. I ended up going back to the alice pack.

 

[Bl3wbyyou]

Its funny as old as the alice stuff is getting its still bomb proof gear really lol.I just down sized from the large alice to the med and i love it.Just gotta get the little extra's to make it compactable and ill still have room inside.The hellcat mod is a must do on any of the alices.It really changes how the whole pack performs and is very very comfortable with 45-50lbs loads.Since im carrying the MSS sleep system im gonna get the carrier for the molle pack and use it on my alice.It'll save alot of room in the main ruck by putting it under the ruck.

Hell for about $60 you can have a pack that'll just about beat most of this new age crap kids are using lol.The molle pads have came down in price and a med alice can be had with the frame for $20 then $18 on the straps and $20 on the kidney pad and thats all ya need.

 

[daveycrockett]

what the fuck do you need all that shit for its just a bag to keep shit in , i carry a change of clothes and hygienic stuff in mine, ????? maybe some liqour or food .iphones and fancy ass bags what the fuck

 

[kokomojoe]

I just got this pack today. I think it'll do the job.

 

[RnJ]

what the fuck do you need all that shit for its just a bag to keep shit in , i carry a change of clothes and hygienic stuff in mine, ????? maybe some liqour or food .iphones and fancy ass bags what the fuck

This thread is probably not about needs. And you know that, that's why you talk about space for liquor, which is not really a need. Priorities, man.

Also, have you been away from civilization for more than a day, and do you have a relatively high metabolism? Food can use up a lot of space, never mind the luxury of liquor (not to mention most people who make liquor a priority of traveling spend more on liquor in a week of "traveling"-sometimes used to describe heckling people on the street for more beer money--than on a fancier backpacks).

Anyways, this is just a friendly reminder to you, myself, and others that there is no wrong way to travel. Make it your own. You can have your liquor, I can have my 50litre backpack with two books and a radio in it. we don't have to live up to each other's expectations, thankfully.

 

[urchin]

^That.^