Thru-hiker Backpacks

Just wading through some more data from my AT Thru-hiker Study today and wanted to share some info on pack types.

Here’s the chart of the 434 responses.

Let’s dig into the numbers a little bit and see what we find.

As you can tell, internal frame packs were by far the most-used by thru-hikers (72.6%), followed by external frame users (13.1%), frameless packs (8.1%), and the ubiquitous “Other” category. In looking at the data, “Other” users were typically hikers that started with one style of pack, then switched to one or more styles before completing their thru-hike. There was no real pattern to this switching, as some switched to internal frames from external or vice-versa.

Some interesting tidbits:

• Prior to 1982, ALL thru-hikers in this sample used external frame packs.
• 32 out of the 35 frameless pack users thru-hiked since 2000
• From 2000 on, internal frame use constituted 78.2% of all users

Satisfaction Ratings

I’m always interested in seeing how satisfied people are with their gear selections. There are as many ways to hike the trail as there are hikers, and there is more selection now then there has ever been. Let’s take a look at the satisfaction ratings for backpacks.

Well, it looks like thru-hikers were almost universally satisfied with their backpack selection, regardless of type. 90.9% of all thru-hikers sampled reported either being Very Satisfied (68.8%) or Somewhat Satisfied (22.1%.)

Looking into things a little closer, there was a weak relationship between Very Disatisfied and the “Other” category, suggesting that hikers found some sort of replacement pack during their trip. Anecdotally, it isn’t entirely uncommon for thru-hikers to replace gear along the way as they find other approaches that may work better for them.

I’m digging through the Brand and Model numbers now, and will try to report the results shortly. From just a quick eye-balling of the data, there is a definite trend towards smaller, lighter packs, with Granite Gear and Gregory being two of the most popular pack manufacturers.

UPDATE:  Make sure to check out Part II of this section on Thru-hiker Backpacks. I get more into differences by decade, weights, and present The Most Popular Pack on the Appalachian Trail!