Katadyn Water Filter

I inherited a lot of camping gear from my father. I don’t know if you are familiar with the Kelty Pack company. In the 1960’s and 1970’s backpacking was BIG in California. Everyone went backpacking in the Sierras. And the most popular pack was the Kelty pack. Their first store was not far from my house, on Victory Blvd in Glendale. This was all before I was born. My Dad was old enough to be my grandfather (I was an Ooops! baby) and my brother is old enough to be my Dad.

Anyway, my Dad, my Mom, and my Brother all went backpacking with Kelty Frame Packs. They last forever. Well, my Dad and Mom are Dead, and brother has lupus so bad, he will never backpack again. I am a small man, five footfour and 118 pounds. I use my brother’s pack from when he was a boy.

When I hunt, I am afraid of getting lost and dying of hypothermia. (It’s about 5,000 foot elevation in winter) so I carry lightweight tent, down bag, food, katadyn water filter, about 40 pounds of stuff).

I think that probably nothing I buy will be better for carrying stuff than what I have. Am I wrong? Are modern packs significantly better than frame packs from the 1970’s?

My 2500 cu. in. backpack which uses my Ridge Rest pad as its frame weighs nine ounces by itself, has lasted for several trips, and my total from skin out (FSO) weight is just 17.4 pounds. I wouldn’t strap into a 5+ pound Kelty pack if you paid me. In fact when I got started in backpacking around age 20 I spent a couple thousand dollars on the latest and greatest gear thinking thanks to Colin Fletcher, Backpacker Magazine, and others ensuring me that 1950’s traditional boy scout/ hunting/ military/ "bomb proof" gear was best, an investment that’d last a lifetime.

That was until I heard about ultralight backpacking around age 25 and over the next few years ended up selling everything at a loss, my 8 pound Dana Designs Astralplane Overkill backpack, my Asolo full leather hiking boots, my 3+ man LL Bean four season tent, my hiking poles, my Whisperlite camp stove with 20 oz. fuel bottle, my combat knife, an army canteen, and the list of junk I sold or dumped in the corner or gave away goes on, while the list of gear I bring shrinks in weight, cost and complexity every year.