Mountainsmith Tundra

This is a really nice pack. The "internal frame" consists of a pretty flexible slab of plastic (oh, er...HDPE...sorry), which, when the hipbelt is tightened, actually curves around your hips a teensy bit, thus gaining a really nice degree of rigidity. Think of it like this: take a piece of cardboard and bend it widthwise in a slight curve. The top of the cardboard will suddenly support some decent weight, whereas it would not have before you bent it- right? In combination with the comfy shoulder straps, the suspension system is fully adequate for day hikes- even slightly heavy day hikes.

Each side of the bag sports a mesh pocket. Nice for small things you'll need to keep handy. However, I wouldn't trust them to hold bottles. The pockets aren't deep enough, and their shape is somewhat whacky, so that you can shove a bottle down into it and it will look secure, but the moment you put the pack on, it will begin to squirm out. Not too big a deal considering the fact that the pack has a built in hole to accomodate a hydro tube.

The bellowed pocket on the front of the unit is nice for small items that you know will not become smooshed (it's kind of tight in there), and on the front of that pocket is a nicely thought-out bungee cord set up, with cord lock for your jacket or whatever. There are also twin daisy chains there for clipping on your various and sundries.

The main bag is panel loading, but the shape of the opening is angled backward and only goes about halfway down the pack body- a feature I like very much. There are also two compression straps to help keep the zippers from popping.

The only prob is the price: 99 bucks. Kind of pricey for the unit, but not a huge deal.

Overall very nice pack.

N'E