Quoted By:
I am very much a lightweight backpacker - I'm going to post a picture of myself at the end of a 5 day backpacking trip. I used a backpack that weighs about 2 pounds by itself, and my total pack weight on this trip was 35 pounds max, which included a .454 Casull revolver - however, I'd like to weigh in here because I think some people are dismissing these backpacks without considering everything.
Guys, for a modern backpack, 8 pounds may be a little on the heavy side, but if you think of it as a highly supportive 75 liter backpack made by Arc'teryx, $95 is A STEAL! (current price plus shipping I found at MidwayUSA). In fact, I may even buy one for myself just because it looks cool as hell.
Just to be clear, no I would not personally use a backpack like this for most of my trips, but my first backpack ever was an Arc'teryx Bora 80 (very comparable in specs to the ILBE, except the Bora 80 cost about $400 when new), and I sometimes still use it in the winter. Yes, the backpack itself is around 8 pounds, which is 5 heavier than I'd like it to be, but a) there are ways to shave a couple pounds off big backpacks like this for lightweight backpacking*, and b) the extra weight is not a big deal to many backpackers. For me, an extra 5 pounds of backpack material is not nearly as big of a deal as the extra 10 pounds of gear that the extra space "encourages" me to pack. If you can restrain yourself from filling it up all the way, you're set with any size backpack.
When I was growing up and shopping around the local military surplus store, "milsurp" meant old, dirty shit that looked like it was leftover from Vietnam. The ILBE looks very new and hi-tech to me. If I was on a budget, I would not hesitate to buy one.
*There are ways to shave 1.5-3 pounds off a backpack like this. For instance, you can cut off excess webbing, cut out any pockets you don't use, remove the top pack, or replace heavy draw cords with lighter ones. Ultralight backpack = a single compartment.
