Which Pack to Choose?

Just on Osprey, it comes with a lifetime warranty for any reason. Not all gear is fit for all purposes but if it fell apart then I'd at least try taking it back rather than throwing it out. Ref: https://www.ospreypacks.com/nz/en/customer-support/all-mighty-guarantee

Thanks Izogi: True I got a replacement and a) It also ripped its outside pocket mesh a bit in a branch although I was being careful. b) I can't even give it away, anyone who tries it, doesn't like it so it just sits in my basement, practically new.

@izogi Yeah but then you just land up with another copy of the exact same gear you no longer have much confidence in. Still I can sympathise a fair bit with people here. It's simple for me because I have a rabid, fixed preference in packs. Makes it easy when or if I want another one. Still back in the day it was all a lot quicker, you wandered through a couple of your local outdoor equipment shops, looked at or tried on several of maybe a dozen choices at most, paid your ding and took your luck. These days with literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of choices on the internet, gathering information and determining which sources to believe, can be an onerous, time-wasting task.

i use black diamond packs, someone told me they found black diamonds were better than aarns. they use the same shouldter strap system where they are attached to each other and dynamically extend and contract as you walk and black diamond have a pivoting hip belt to reduce tension and let your body move naturally, some other brands have pivoting hip belts too, arcteryx does, possibly berghaus, most brands don't.

True re Osprey. I once asked the Bivouac guy what prevented people from buying lightweight stuff that was completely unfit for intended purpose, thrashing it, and bringing it back for free replacement or repair. He didn't have a clear answer, but for the most part I guess there's a rough correlation between people who like to treat their gear hard and preferring heavier gear that'll take it rather than having to repeatedly return it. I have to admit that I quite like it when my gear picks up a scar or two, as long as it lasts. In a selfish and sometimes probably dishonest way it helps me feel as if I've been somewhere.

FYI: the current Aarn Natural Balance pack (and perhaps other models) has a pivot joint on the hip belt.

@ bernieq Yes Aarn Tate has been working on his designs for about 18 years or so. I still have one of the very first generation Featherlite Freedoms, while similar in overall concept, differs in a number of details from later versions. In particular the Balance Pockets from these early ones are not very compatible with later versions. It's still my favourite in some ways. These ones were typically coloured blue. For some years I had a larger second generation Natural Balance that did good service, but even though it was beautifully comfortable, some details didn't work as well as I would have liked. These ones were typically coloured red. And recently I purchased a small day pack from the current third generation green toned packs. Looking at the current range you can see quite a lot of improvements, and when the time is right I'll likely buy a couple of new FF's or NB's for myself and my partner. It's likely I've simplified the product generations a lot, but I think this is broadly representative of what is out there. So when someone tells you about their experience with an Aarn (or any product for that matter), it's important to drill into a bit more detail about exactly what age or version they were using. Often it will turn out their experience has been overtaken by time and product evolution.

Frank and I did a 2 hour session of scrub bashing with our respective Macpac Ascent XPD and my Osprey Ariel last week. He got several tears along the top seam of his lid and I got zero tears on my Osprey. However I suspect his being 8 inches taller with a longer pack was the problem though. The scrub was so dense that I had to make like a pig and just shove my way forward. As it was night-time I had no idea what the scrub was like ahead as all I could see was the immediate foliage in front of my headlight. I just kept shoving. We found the track in the morning...That is the densest scrub I have ever encountered but mercifully not prickly stuff, just coprosma etc.

Where were you? And why were you crawling through thick scrub at night?! :D

@Kreig: nice to see you back. We came down a scrubby face from St Mary but the manuka scrub was quite thick, we were pretty stuffed and then came onto an evil zone of fist to head-shaped boulders which rolled when you stood on them. It got dark and then we had to climb up a terrace to Jervois Hut. The terrace was very thick with scrub and being night time, it was impossible to pick any weak lines of vegetation. I'll compose a trip report sometime - entitled Magdalen, Jervois Hut circuit.