be careful about getting a good fit, esp. if you yourself are not an off the rack kind of person. I’m not, and I’ve learned the hard way not to let anybody else tell me what fits.
I’m pretty fond of Ospery products for there fit, design, and quality, but it’s not like I’ve used every pack out there.
That’s actually my size, just a few pounds heavier, so Osprey is what I’m leaning towards now.
As to Common Tater’s suggestion that I ship things, I won’t need much in the way of food in my pack for hiking this summer, more by the way of lots of differently weighted clothing (since I’ll be ranging from Scandinavia to Greece possibly), sleeping bag, and some food/water/toiletries.
Also, I had a friend swear by Dana Designs’ packs a few years ago, but I lost their name until Valgard reminded me, so thanks for that! I’ll probably decide between them and Osprey. Valgard, how does Dana Designs fit, do they have adjustable support etc?
And re: jackelope and capybara, I’ll definitely have both those things
Subjectively my Dana pack fits me great and with minor adjustments both people who borrowed it from me. We’re all of similar height but different weights (users have been in the 160-200lb range).
From a technical standpoint adjustability seems quite good - it’s got a plastic back tray with one aluminum stay that can be taken out and bent to whatever shape is needed to best fit your body. The waist belt has a good range to it and is completely removable, they sell different size belts so I could put a Small belt on my pack instead of the current M/L belt. Variety of shoulder strap adjustments and whatnot, seems to be the same with most other packs I’ve seen.
Once it fits right there’s no need to fiddle with it, like I said I wore it for a month with 40-50lbs of stuff and I just felt heavier, I didn’t feel like I was hauling a heavy backpack around.