I found a sick Stevie Wonder collection on sale for $8 so that kicked ass.
Anyway, It's time for a product review. Today's product for review: internal frame packs. I've been using my '76 Kelty for as long as I've been backpacking, and I don't intend to get a new pack anytime soon. This is partly because I'm so used to it and I don't need a new one in any way, but also because there is nothing good to choose from in the store. The guy at GOP told me that some 80% of people buying new packs get an internal. What he failed to mention was that they sell about ten varieties of internals to their two models of external. Whether the chicken came before the egg is not clear, but either way there is neither the supply nor the demand for external frames. Yet again, the public has been misled.
Firstly, I'll point out that internals are generally more expensive. When it comes to getting good equipment, it's pretty much all expensive, but I'm just throwing it out there. Beleive me, the price is the least of my grievances with internal frames. Their average base weight, meaning the weight of just the empty pack is heavier than that of the average external frame. This is primarily due to the excessive padding and lots of little straplet things. I've never needed or wished I had any padding on my '73 Kelty. It's extra weight that serves only a cosmetic purpose. They are impractical. You have to put everything in the one big sack, so you have to take everything out to get anything. Some might say "Just pack the things you'll need more often towards the top." Well, you can't. Everything gets jumbled around in there and you can never find anything. Externals have multiple pockets and places for you to lash things to the outside, giving you easy access to everything, all the time, not just the thing at the top of the sack. Being able to lash to the outside gives you unlimited storage space, whereas with the internal, you can only pack what you can fit in the sack. So even though my '74 Kelty is smaller than newer packs (that's just the way it was made), I can still pack more gear than those new internals. The main issue here is tents, sleeping bags, pads, and other large, bulky gear. I never saw a efficient, consistent way to pack these things on an internal. And let's talk about water. Everyone who knows anything about packing knows you take at least two water bottles, and those will be Nalgenes. They should also know that these Nalgenes will be placed on either side of the pack for balance. My '72 Kelty has perfectly Nalgene-shaped pockets on the sides, but internals just have the big sack, or the occasional single side mesh bag on some models. Even newer externals only have the one Nalgene pocket and a badly shaped pocket opposite it. Mine has a great design that seems to have been lost.
They say internals are better designed ergonomically, but I disagree. Any good pack will fit well if you know how to adjust it. Speaking of which, externals can be adjusted because you can actually shift the frame and shoulder and hip straps around on the pack. This cannot be done with an internal; you have to find the one that most closely fits you and stick with it. Internals are supposed to be better for balance, but that's just a lie. Externals give you a lower, wider center of gravity, as opposed to the tall, skinny internals. The lower base also helps to keep the weight on your hips, but the weight of internals is shifted up because of the shape of it. They have a chest strap, too, and I have no idea why. If your weight is where it should be, you don't eve need shoulder straps, much less a chest belt. Most internals, and all newer packs for that matter, have these plastic clippy-buckles that hold the thing together. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer my '75 Kelty's airplane seat belt buckle and ropes on the front early in the cold mornings. Those clippy-buckles can be quite painful in the cold. And wouldn't waterproofing make sense? And if you say it's already is water resistant, why do you need a raincover?
My final and biggest problem with internals is this: they look like a giant poo, like there's a big ole poo on your back, going down the mountain. With an external, you simply look more respectable, and more like a real backpacker. So when it's all said and done, I dare you to give me one good argument in favor of internal frame packs.
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