I am looking for a daypack, but at the outdoor store I visited they tried to sell me a pack that looked good rather than one that fitted. Can you help me with a size (I'm 5 feet, 6 inches), and/or what to look for in a properly fitting daypack?

Jamie Brown

Expert Answer:

I sympathize — it's a shame that outdoor gear is such a"fashion thing" now. We shouldn't have to care what a pack looks like to the people behind. What should matter is how comfortable it is, how well it works, and therefore what we look like from in front (the size of our smile!).

For determining an appropriate pack size, your torso length is the key measurement. It is not necessarily proportional to your height — people with the same height can have long or short legs, and therefore different torso lengths. Find someone to help measure your torso length. First establish the position of a line across your back that connects the high points of your hip bones. Then find the seventh neck vertebra — the lumpy one at the base of your neck that protrudes more than the others. Now measure the distance against your back from the line to the vertebra. Lowe Alpine dealers have a new gadget to make measuring this distance a lot easier.

The different pack manufacturers have different sizing, but as a general rule, shorter than 16 inches is considered "extra small," 16-18 inches is "small," 18-20 inches is "medium," and 20-22 inches is "large."

If you are much outside the medium range, you probably need a daypack that comes in several sizes — a one-size-adjusts-to-sort-of-fit-all pack will probably fit poorly. With the pack stuffed and partly supported on the "shelf" of bone above your bum, check how the shoulder straps lie. If the pack is long enough, the shoulder straps or the adjuster straps above the shoulder straps should extend close to horizontally from your shoulders to their attachment to the bag.

Many packs are too short and "boxy" in shape, compared to the easy-carrying, taller, closer-to-the-back shape of serious outdoor packs. These packs extend from your bum shelf to above your shoulders.