Ridgeline 45L Pack

Forty-five litres is the size most people should own. It is enough for three or four nights carrying your own shelter, and small enough that it does not tempt you into bringing a folding chair.

The harness is the part that matters and it is where the money went — a moulded hipbelt that actually transfers load to your hips rather than hanging off your shoulders, and a load-lifter angle that stays right whether the pack is full or half empty.

Waxed cotton-nylon body over a welded polyurethane base, which is the panel that fails first on every other pack we have sold. Roll-top closure, one lid pocket, two mesh side pockets deep enough for a one-litre bottle to stay put.

It is not the lightest pack in the shop. It is the one still in service after ten years.