Hello fellers, long time no talk. I recognize some familiar names from my posting days a few years ago. Hope everyone is doing well. Got a question for y’all. I actually sent Flexx a PM about this but wanted to ask all of y’all as well. To make a long story short. I’ve got a public land turkey hunt lined up next year in NM. Had to cancel it this year because of the Coronacrap, but now I’ve got more time to plan. I’m looking for some recommendations for a good frameless, 1-2 night backpack. Something I can roll up and but in my bag while flying but large enough to get me through 1-2 nights. Most of what I’ll be carrying is hammock, tarp, under and top quilt. Change of clothes, food and water, and maybe my turkey vest. I’m thinking maybe 1L of water and some mountain house meals for food. My inital thought was keeping it around 250o cubic inches, give or take, but I’m open to any thoughts, ideas and recommendations. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Our plan is to drive where we can but hike back into areas we think may have birds to get us off the beaten path and make a temp. camp to hunt from but I doubt we would end up staying at the same spot for more than 2 nights. We would come back to our vehicle, restock and then change locations if needed. Those Merriams are notorious for roaming long distances each day. Again, any suggestions would be appreciated. I’m not wanting to break the bank to get one but I’m open to suggestions.
40 liter pack without a frame requirement is a bit too much i think...even a.t. thru-hikers/hardcore ultralighters have seen the benefit of having an internal frame backpack - main goal is to distribute most (not all) of the weight on your hips...for your requirements i highly recommend rei and checkout osprey packs...an osprey atmos 50/65 would be high on my list.
I own the Atmos 50. Most comfortable multi-day pack I own. You're not going to be able to roll it up and stow it in a bag though. I look at the Atmos 50 as a bag for week long or more trip. For a 1-2 day trip I suggest the Osprey Stratos 34. Awesome pack as well and very comfortable.
Thank y’all for the suggestions. I have an Osprey Aether (spelling?) 70 that would be perfect but I had concerns about getting into my travel bag. Long story short I may be able to make it work with me taking the hip belt off and the black plastic backing that fits inside to back portion of the bag, if that makes sense. The pack still has a wire lining inside in that I can’t find a way to take out but even though I can’t roll it up I can lay it flat and tuck the material in and get it inside my luggage bag. I’ve got until next spring to get it figured out so I’m going to continue to work with it and look at the suggestions y’all made. Thanks again for the replies and suggestions.