Internal, external, or none at all? The basic question is whether you want a frame to help hold your pack together and in place, or not. And if you do, should that frame be inside or outside the pack?
What does all this mean? Remember those old packs that you see in the movies? The ones that have an aluminum frame and then some kind of nylon pack laced on the outside? That’s an external frame pack. If yours has a good hip belt along with it, it probably works pretty well. We have two from about 35 years ago that still only weigh about 3 ½ pounds. What more do you want? If you have one, there really isn’t much need to upgrade. And you can often get these at yard sales for almost nothing. Can’t beat that! The one drawback to our old packs is that our new sleeping bag and tent are so small that they aren’t easy to tie onto the lower part of the pack…where they belong. Still, that’s a minor quibble for something that weighs so little, costs so little, and works pretty well.
But after everyone bought one of those, somebody needed to invent new technology. Enter the internal frame pack. In these packs the frame is minimized (usually just a couple of aluminum or plastic bars to help the pack keep its shape) and fits inside the pack itself. The object is to create a pack that fits you better, and is better adapted to your body---so the bag doesn’t flop around quite so much behind you. It’s a good idea, and if you can get one that doesn’t weigh a lot more, they work really well. We’re very happy with our basic Eureka 3800 pack that we picked up at a discount store for under $50. It weighs the same as our old pack, and it does fit our body better…we can adjust so that M’s is pretty different from P’s. and both of us are happy. The one disadvantage is that these hug your back, which means that your back gets no ventilation...and P's shirts are always sopping wet on a warm day. The old packs were better at this.
You can now buy internal frame packs in sizes up to “bigger than you could ever carry on your back” and at prices up to “why don’t we just buy a horse?” They can carry 5500 cubic inches, weigh more than six and half pounds, and have a special compartment for musical instruments. (Just kidding.) Unless you are planning to hike the entire John Muir Trail without a single re-provisioning break, you don’t need or want this pack. This is especially true for beginners, who tend to pack too much stuff anyway. When you have a big pack, you will fill it up. And then you will have to carry it. And that just might be enough to turn you off backpacking for the rest of your life.
In fact, if you are really planning to do some long hikes, you might look at the latest backpacks, which really are light. If you are willing to revise all your equipment to ultralight stuff, you might be able to get by with one of the new ultralight backpacks that have no frame at all. Yep—just like the backpack your kids take to school every day. Except that they are made with space age materials and weigh almost nothing. And if you don’t put too much into them, and baby them a little bit (these materials are not iron-clad!) they are a very interesting option.
Which is best for you? It really depends on what you are going to put into it. If you have all ultralight gear, and your final trail weight is 14 pounds, then by all means go for one of those ultralights. If your trail weight is closer to 35 pounds on your longer trips (as ours is) then we would go with either a smaller internal or external frame pack. And if your trail weight is more than fifty pounds…we’d get a pack llama.
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