Backpacked many trips out west with the pack and hiked entire Appalachian Trail with the Kelty Super Tioga and plan on taking in back for a second round. Yes, it scares small children and pets. Too much room for the ultra-light crowd now in vogue but great for those who want to hike 10-12 days without hitting a town.

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Inner stay of waist belt cracked (did not impair usage but made clicking sound as I walked) and had waist belt replaced free of charge from Kelty. No problem.

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Also use internal Frame Camp Trails Wilderness for short trips.

I've owned my Super Tioga external frame, since 2000. I'm an avid outdoorsman and love to spend every extra moment I have in the wilderness. I like to hike to alpine lakes with a 3-person sevlor raft for trolling. The Super Tioga, can handle all my boat, fishing and hiking gear with room to spare and unequalled comfort. It's rugged, durable and lightweight and has been more than a match for the rugged Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain ranges. I like my pack so much, I'm planning on purchasing the new Super Tioga 4900, to have another pack to share the load so as not to wear my pack out.

The super tioga se is what i have and i the best pack ive owned yet its mnstrous so i can take all kinds of crap with me on the trail. Maybe not a good thing but i really like it so far, this pakc was hard to find for some reason.

I've had mine for 10+ years. It doesn't have the radial frame, load lifters and still uses the string tie with toggel for the top flap. It's been used & abused. I've carried elk quarters that weighed around 80-90 pounds with other gear, firewood, enoug gear for two and misc. fishing and hunting gear. Been hiking I can't remember how many times with it and it's still going strong. It's comfortable at whatever weight it has carried. Especially compared to ANY internal frame. Being a external it does tend to create balance problems when menuvering under or over objects, like when mountaineering, but that's what I have a Gregory Shasta for. Overall it has proved tough, can carry anything you can lift & walk down the trail with and it's cheap! In this day and age of over priced high-tech packs, it's nice to see Kelty still making a real classic that just works. Need I say more?

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Never had to use them

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Cheap orange one 30 years ago, Bow Scout "Yucca" pack, Lowe, Gregory, REI, others.

What a great pack and if you take the time to look around a bit you can find them at a great price as well.

When I first got this pack and started really exploring it I was surprised by how versitile it really is. As far as size goes its large enough to carry far more stuff than I have any business trying to take on a multi day drip. There are pleanty of external pockets so that the gear you use most on the trail is easy to arrange and get to.

The inner bag divides into two main sections (the bottom accessable from the back of the pack. There are numerous smaller pockets, pouches, and rigging points for securing your gear both inside and out.

Inspection of this pack quickly shows why it's so popular. At $180, the list price most places, it would be a fine purchase but a little scouting around should enable you to locate one for less than $130.

If you hurry, Campmor.com has them for $119.

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Looked at several Kelty models mostly.

My first back pack was this Kelty fram, 20 years ago. have used and abused this frame every which way. The only thing I have added was an extra net panel across the back for more contact with my back.

I have carried a 110lb raft on this for a frist descent. I have led many trips with the extra room carrying the first aid kit, and ropes for the group. It is an excellent pack and has served as well as any internal frame of my peers, all the while being lighter, less sticky to the back and more versatile.

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None

This is my third year with the Super Tioga. I have used it for short and long treks, four-seasons, and it has performed well. This year I had it fully loaded with 55lbs of equipment for a two-week trek and it worked great. No problems so far.

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None

This is a great pack I've had it for year and taken it all over the Cascades, and ten days in the Sierra's last summer, I've never run out of room. It's also really comfortable with heavy loads and adjusts easily.

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Kelty Trekker, Jansport Scout

I'VE GOT THREE OF THESE SUCKERS AND I LIKE EM...CARRY A HELL OF A LOT AND ARE LIGHT WT COMPARED TO THE INTERNAL FRAMES..KELTY MAKES GOOD STUFF..I USE THE REDWING FOR LIGHT TRIPS;ON MY LAST GRAND CANYON TRIP(3 WEEKS AGO)THE MAIN BUCKLE
BROKE..ONE OF THE WING JOBBIES BROKE OFF...GUESS I'LL PROB GET AROUND TO WRITING THE COMPANY SOMEDAY

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GOOD FOLKS

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HAVE TRIED EM ALL..THOSE BORAS ARE HEAVY SUCKERS AND ONE OF THE REI BIG INTERNAL PACKS THE WEBBING WENT BAD

I have had a Super Tioga for two years now, and it is a good pack. It carries big loads well, and has a wealth of pockets to allow you to organize your gear to your heart's content. The quality of the workmanship is good, as well. And spare parts for these things are everywhere, so you can keep one maintained and usable for decades.

As with all external frame packs, if you do a lot of off-trail or steep/rugged trail backpacking, this pack can be more difficult to keep balanced - in fact, I have had it throw me off balance on a couple of really, really steep "trails" (well, the mountain goats that made them think of them that way ;-), and have fallen more than once because of it. Of course, the answer to that is that you should use an internal frame pack on those trips anyway, and now I do - the problem is sometimes you don't know it is going to be that kind of trip until you get into it and find the "trail" has degenerated since the topo map was made.

However, if you are going to be doing just average backpacking on well-maintained trails, need to carry a lot of gear, and like to have lots of cubbyholes for it, this is the pack for you.