My gear prep for my AT thur hike has finally started!!! I applied for the Mastercard with REI and it finally came in the mail today! I went by the REI store close to me after work today and spent some time talking to the associates there about backpacks.
All of the people who assisted me were amazing and knowledgeable! The two main associates who helped me stressed having a pack with a little bit more space. The first one, Ben (maybe), said that it was good to have the room for when I just didn’t want to pack it super nice or when I had to get bulkier food from in town.
Jackie, my second associate (Ben was getting off), focused on finding a pack that fit my shoulders good. I am pretty broad shouldered and a lot of the women’s packs were pretty narrow around the shoulders, which was making the straps lie on the tendons closer to my neck.
Jackie had me try on at least 3 or 4 different packs. Besides the shoulder thing the other problem I was trying to avoid was have the pack rub against my head too much. Three of the packs I tried on, we put some weighted pillows in so I could sort of see what it would feel like packed. This helped narrow down my choices to two packs. One was by REI and the other was by Ospery.
I decided I need to do a bit more research before I buy but I’m kind of feeling the REI one. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress. I promise this time!
Outside the Garden 