Ode to a pack

When you start backpacking, the first thing you're going to need is, of course, a backpack. It's the single most necessary piece of gear, and it's handy to have unless you want to be lugging your gear around in luggage.

My first trip was to Utah's Canyonlands, which is SERIOUS BACKPACKING COUNTRY. I was dirt poor and searching for an affordable option, which is difficult because yuppies also backpack, driving the prices far outside of my meager budget. After scouring the interwebs, I found my $45 internal frame red-and-black baby on Ebay.

She was a behemoth. She could fill a whopping 7200 cubic inches from top to bottom, and packs that large are extinct nowadays. It was like some ridiculous freak of evolution, a brontosaurus of a pack. In comparison, my current pack clocks in at a measly 5500.

I took it to all of my favorite backpacking places, and had so many great times with it. Whether it was a week-long excursion in Yellowstone or a weekend in Afton, my trusty pack came right along.

Sadly, its Achilles heel was the fact that it was not an expensive pack, and probably made by child slaves in a country without a lot of pesky labor laws or quality standards. As a result, the pack's durability reflected the fact that it cost about as much as a cheap night out on the town.

When in Yellowstone, about 12 hours before we encountered bears, I was attempting a sweet river jump:



and my pack could not manage the ridiculous weight I had loaded it with, and snapped:


Notice the jerry-rigged strap on the left. That happens to be right where my shoulder is, which making wearing an overweight pack even more uncomfortable.

This was only the start of the decline, as the pack slowly started falling apart. The other strap broke, then a few of the zippers went, and it developed an odor that I would describe as "bear-attracting." So finally, this spring we put the ol' girl out to pasture (i.e. the dumpster behind our apartment) Even though my new pack is cool (it's made of recycled plastic bottles! it's from a brand I've actually heard of!) I'm not sure anything could replace the first.