>>217280The Kestrel 48L was the first gift I got from my wife after we got married and I love it to this day (even if it is either too big, too small, too heavy, etc).
>>217281Honestly, anything that you can put inside a normal 45L pack, or christmas tree to the outside of it, you can put inside the Exos 58. I honestly don't see the point of buying the smaller Exos packs as the weight difference is negligible, they compress awesomely, and when you do want to carry a bit more you can. I can understand wanting a smaller pack to force you to pack smarter, but if you can do that all packed internally in an Exos 58 (that weighs less than my 22 and 28s) why the hell wouldn't you? The comfort thing, eh. I hate Gregorys and Deuters and REIs and MECs and and and. The only companies that make packs that feel just right to me are Arc'teryx (although their new swiveling packs don't seem to ride well on me) and Osprey. Different body shapes, different packs.. For what it is and at its price point, I believe the Exos is one of the best mainstream packs on the market.
>>217282Realistically I've gotten myself down to either using a 10L with a jacket through the straps, or nearly needing all of the 48L. I personally tend to find that people need something in the 25 or so range, and then something above 45. If you go ultralight enough, then maybe you don't need the 48 (but then you might as well go down to a 30 or so). I dunno man. I feel that the Kestrels ride best when they're full or damn close although they're rigid enough, particularly if you're using the Osprey bladders (which are awesome by the way) to be comfortable basically empty.
My camera is freaking out for some reason but here's the small half of mine:
