High Sierra Appalachian 75L Top Load Backpack

Update July 2020: This bag is awesome and still going strong!! No issues with zippers, stitching, or anything really. Just did a trip last week and doing another next week - comfortable as before and constantly getting comments from friends and other folks that like the bag! Get this bag, you won’t regret it! — Original review: First thing's first: People need to realize that you can't expect this bag to be as light as a top-brand bag like Kelty, etc. You get what you pay for, and personally, I didn't want to spend over $100 or so on a bag that I may end up using a few times a year - for the following reasons: 1. I'm in college, so I don't have money - 2. I personally don't understand why people would pay $250+ for a backpack that is maybe a few ounces lighter than this $100 backpack. I just don't get it. Really? Spend over $100 extra for just a few ounces less? Whatever, not a big deal. 3. I could care less what brand my stuff is. I just want quality products for an affordable price - and this bag is just that! It's worth every penny, and then some. Pros: -Very durable material and good quality zippers. Zippers are important to me, because cheap ones will break and have your gear spill out. So, this bag has some nice zippers - and hold well together under pressure. -Location for water bladder. This was important for me, because I don't want to take off the pack every time I want to drink some water. So the bladder was a must, and the space for it is huge! You can easily fit 2 2-liter or 2 3-liter bags, with double nozzles on your shoulders, if you really wanted to. But one bladder is sufficient for me. -Somewhat spacey sleeping bag compartment. I was able to fit my 0-10degree sleeping bag in the compartment. It took a little to figure out how I would go about stuffing it in there,... but with a little pressure on the bag, it fit fine and the zipper closed nicely and kept it snug. I would say my sleeping bag is medium-large size when rolled up. So I was afraid it wouldn't fit - but it did! Awesome! -Straps were adjustable enough. I'm a waist 36, 5'11", 200lbs, somewhat built (is what my eharmony profile says, but its debatable). The belt fit fine, and actually felt a little big. It could easily adjust to much bigger waists if needed. So don't worry about that. -Straps on the bag were a tad long... but acceptable. Its better to have extra cordage than to not have enough. :) -Straps on the bottom of the bag, under the sleeping bag compartment, were awesome! I was able to fit a roll-up foam sleeping bad and a 3-person tent just fine! Both were snug against the bag, and felt stable. -Water resistant cover located under the sleeping bag compartment. Throw that over your bag nicely if it rains - works well! Cons: -The bag isn't as lightweight as a $300-$400 bag, but I'm not complaining! Personally, I'm trying to build up leg muscle, so a heavier bag helped me work out the legs better - had to take more breaks, but it was worth it personally. If you aren't used to carrying heavy stuff, don't put too much in your bag. It definitely adds up. And if you aren't able to handle the weight, you will suffer on your trip, rather than enjoy your time. What I fit into the bag: -1 0-10degree sleeping bag (forests in high altitudes are awesome. cold, secluded, and cold) -1 foam sleeping pad attached to bottom of bag (ground floors are not my friend) -1 3-person tent attached to bottom of bag (what can I say, I like the space) -small portable cooking grill, small fuel oven with extra canisters (hard to cook over a wood-fire, better with canisters) -medium sized first aid kit (for whenever I feel like spraining my ankle downhill) -small container of batteries, multiple flashlights and small lantern (one flashlight is never enough) -bag of cooking pots, utensils -multiple knives (medium sized, bear grylls ultimate knife, etc. one knife is never enough) -2 egg containers (2 dozen eggs total) (Note: Because sleeping bags expand after being removed from original packaging, re-inserting the sleeping bag into this pack ended up taking slightly more space than anticipated, at the bottom of the pack. The egg containers would no longer fit securely at the top of the pack, so I removed them altogether) -2 liters of water + 2-liter bladder (wish I could fit more) (Note: On my extended trip to Lincoln National Forest, I removed the 2 liters of bottle water to reduce weight. I still, however, kept the 2-liter bladder - it fits nicely in its special area) -matches, fire starters, rain ponchos, other minor accessories in the small pockets -couple cans of beans, bags of instant rice/potatoes, mac n' cheeze. (I treat myself quite well, if I do say so myself) Total weight came out to nearly 50lbs. This forced me to pace myself, and I'm a runner and workout daily. So this "vacation" was more like a spartan race training exercise. But I didn't mind the weight... the more the merrier! Anyways, if you're looking for an affordable backpack of excellent quality and lots of space for your gear, I highly recommend this Appalachian 75. I eventually want to grab the next size up, the 90L. And maybe buy the next size down, a 45L or something for day hikes. I absolutely love this pack and wouldn't trade it for anything else! Get one! :D **** UPDATE 7/21/2015 **** My update is a little overdue, my apologies. So my family and I went camping at Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, quite a drive from Texas but worth it! Its definitely a beautiful forest - I highly recommend you visit it. Lots of things to do during the day too. There are a few night sky observatories in the forest itself, run by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, etc that you can publicaly tour and see how they work and what they hunt for in the skies etc.. very cool stuff. Anyways, I of course had this pack with me on this trip. As I mentioned in my first review - this pack is just unbeatable for the value, quality and price that you get for it. Friends have Kelly and big brand "lightweight" bags running $250+ that are thinner in quality but sport the brand name that some of my friends like, and I'm over here with a $100 bag that is much better quality, holds the same amount of stuff as their big brand bags... but I saved tons of money. So the bag held well throughout the hikes we did, and the zippers worked great! I've always been cursed with zippers breaking, snapping, falling off their tracks, etc on luggage and backpacks. For this pack, it was not the case - zippers held well even under extreme pressure of increased elevation and very tight packing of gear into the bag itself. The bag performed well, much better than I did - no thanks to Whataburger. On the trip, I fit everything listed above except the egg containers. Because sleeping bags require a miracle from the Heavens to reinsert in their original packaging, the sleeping bag took up extra space in the bottom of the backpack, thus forcing the egg containers to be omitted from this trip. As I tested the bag fully loaded prior to our hike, I also removed the 2-liters of water that I had. This is because it just added unnecessary weight that I was willing to give up - I forced my younger brother to carry them in his High Sierra 65L pack... this is why younger siblings exist, to carry older siblings' snacks. Aside from no eggs and less water, everything else above fit well in the bag. I may end up ditching the foam pad in the future though, as I felt like it was interfering with my walking as it hung from the bottom of my pack. Though it could have been user error on my part - its debatable. A side note: fuel canisters for cooking purposes are not as effective at colder temperatures. Our family learned this the hard way the first night as we waited 30 minutes for water to become slightly hot, in 25 degree weather. Note to self... use a wooden fire in cold temperatures to cook your food and heat your water. Other than that, it was a great trip and the bag outperformed my expectations just as in the past. In the next few weeks, my brother and I will embark on a kayak/camping overnight trip. I'll be sure to take pictures of my bag to use when I update this review soon. I hope this review is still helpful to those on the fence about choosing this bag - so if anyone has any questions, please comment on this review and/or ask and I am more than happy to answer them. When I find great products that I believe deserve recognition for quality/price, I do my part in recommending them to friends. This bag, is that type of product and then some. My rating remains at 5 stars. Thank you for reading.