packs for women

[Denise West]

Thought I'd share some research regarding packs for women - from:
http://members.shaw.ca/guideforeurope/packing.html
which I thought was a pretty good site.  I found a Kelty that gave me
some support which I found far exceeded the ultra lights!
Thanks for all the help on this one!

item below - at the end she gets to several brands:

                Packs For Women:
              Not just a matter of gender,
              but size.

              by Michael Hodgson

              What makes a woman's pack a woman's pack? According to
Heidi
              Kessler, chief pack designer at Lowe, the following are
areas of
              importance in achieving a perfect fit for women and
require a different
              design approach than with a man's pack:

                   The width, shape and set of the shoulder strap. Men's
shoulder
                   straps tend to have a wider "Y" at the yolk whereas
women need
                   more of a "V" shape. Women also need a narrower strap
that
                   doesn't dig into their body.
                   Women typically require a shorter torso length so we
make the
                   packs and the pack frames shorter.
                   The hip or waist belt needs to feature more of a cant
(flare) to it
                   than a man's since a woman is typically curvier.
Also, the hip belt
                   needs to be a bit narrower since the space between a
woman's
                   ribs and her hips is less than on a man.
                   For external frame packs, the pack needs to be
mounted lower
                   on the frame so that it best matches where a woman
carries her
                   center of gravity.

              OK, that makes good sense, but hasn't it become apparent
that many
              women are fitting better into "men's" packs and men,
especially shorter
              torsoed ones and teenagers fit better into "women's"
packs?

              The fact is, fitting a pack is more a matter of matching
pack size and
              shape to body size and shape. The sport of backpacking is
not different
              because women are involved in it. A woman heading out for
two weeks
              on a backcountry trip has the same support and carrying
capacity needs
              as a man, but try to fit her into a pack designed just for
a woman and
              there is no way you'll be able to meet her needs.

              "Volume is a huge issue for me and I'm a tiny person,"
says ny friend
              Jackie Lawhon of Wilderness Outfitters in Georgia. "I
carry both Dana
              and Gregory and have found I can fit any person of any
size extremely
              well. First I find a pack bag that will meet the carrying
needs and goals
              and then I match them (the customer) up with a suspension
system that
              will carry the load comfortably based on their size and
shape."

              So what is most important when buying a women's pack, or
any pack
              for that matter? The following: You must be sure that the
pack can carry
              sufficient capacity to be able to support your carrying
needs, be it a
              weekend foray or a week-long expedition. After that, the
most
              important thing to establish is fit.

              Which companies are best meeting the needs of fitting
women and
              smaller torsoed men? During my certainly unscientific
survey of both
              retailers and manufacturers across the nation, I asked
either which
              brands of packs their store carried that best fit women or
which brands
              (from other manufacturers) they felt were doing the best
job of meeting a
              woman's needs. The following is the result.

                   Unanimously, Dana led the list with virtually every
specialty store
                   carrying Dana and citing that they liked his system
if price was not
                   an issue. It must also be noted here however, that
while Dana
                   was the most popular, every woman interviewed for
this article
                   said they felt Dana could improve the hip belts as
they were
                   known for digging into a woman's rib cage more
readily than
                   other models from other companies.
                   Lowe gained kudos from many for leading the way in
the
                   category and this was the brand that played as a
dominant one in
                   the chains where women's specific branding and value
pricing was
                   deemed most important.
                   Gregory (with their adjustable belt and especially as
a mid-price
                   point offering with the Adventure Series) and The
North Face
                   (especially since they created a line of women's
specific packs)
                   gained frequent mentions as popular brands too.
                   Osprey, MountainSmith gained several mentions.
                   Kelty was the lone frame pack company that every
retailer and
                   other pack companies kept mentioning, although
JanSport
                   received a few nods due to the microadjustability of
the frame
                   and pack bag position.


              © 1999 Michael Hodgson; All Rights Reserved