The Jansport Carson 90 external frame pack

My first commercial pack was an internal frame number that I bought in the 80s. It never seemed comfortable no matter how I adjusted it. But I made do with it for many years. I ended up going back to the familiar and trusted ALICE pack, then experimented with MOLLE and FILBE packs. And why not? They are and were readily available, upgradeable, inexpensive and bomb proof brutes of a rucksack that worked well for me. And they are also external frame packs. So, when I decided to look for something lighter in a commercial pack, I decided to look for one with its frame exposed for all to see as well.

I also wanted the extra space that a big pack has. My hammocking gear takes up a lot of room and while its not heavy, it can be a fight to compress it all to get other things in. The military packs expand back or to the sides. With this pack, I can distribute the weight up or down, that's the concept. Upon closer inspection, I see that while the frame bottom is removable, the top is not.

Jansport no longer makes these packs. Most manufacturers don't even make external frames packs anymore, but you can find them online. Time will tell how well this works for me. Its not a perfect pack and there are already mods I want to make to it. I would like to add load lifter straps and maybe some extra small pockets or pouches, replace some of the buckles and make the lid removeable. But by simply changing packs, I reduced my load by a full 5 pounds.