Women Walkers need your advice please !

[coachmacca]

Im looking at getting my wife a new pack as part of her chrissie bundle and was about to get her an Arete 45 (i got one - last years model for a bargain 47 quid i might add of tintertweb).

Anyhoo I noticed some packs come in womens versions - the shape is different I read.

Question .. are they different? What do any of the ladyfolk here use (40-50l) ? We both have great light Montane 25l cobra's but the 4-50l is for winter and for Glenmore in Feb.

Our first pack were 40l jobs from Decthlon and the shape/cut seems fine for her but I wanted to go lighter, neater and bigger too so Arete was ideal.

Any ideas appreciated!

[Rudolph]

Try them on. They are certainly differently shaped. A female specific version may fit better than a standard one but until you try them you can't be sure.

They do tend to come in more 'girlie' colours and I've seen one which had a pretty flower attached. Only you can decide if that's a good thing! It stopped our boys borrowing it if nothing else.

MrsSanta uses a standard Osprey Exos 46 which fits her well and is really light.

[Jonay]

The women's Arete only comes in 35L IIRC?

[basscadet]

I would say it depends on the load you are carrying. My daysack is a man's daysack.. It doesnt fit that well, but thats fine if you are just carrying your lunch, waterproofs and even crampons and axe. If I were to carry more weight than that, I would want a comfy rucksack and that means going for a womens version.. We have shorter backs, slimmer shoulders, skinnier waists and bigger hips and these are all the places a rucksack has contact, so important

[Mountainlove]

Women go for what looks nice...well that is my criteria when I buy a new backpack . I never had any particular gender one, so i am not sure if they would be any different. I completely agree with trying the backpack on...I had some which just felt wrong, when I tried them on.
As for the male and female ones...I guess it depends how your wife is build...if she had broad shoulders and narrow hips, a female version might not work...just as a man with narror shoulders and a short back might be better with a female version.

[Lenore]

The women's ones are sometimes built for shorter torsos than the same pack in a men's version. I'm about 1.80 m tall, and those women's versions tend to be too short, so I guess they must be made for really short women. The hip strap then ends up around my waist!

Sometimes the only difference is color, though.

[mrssanta]

I have three rucksacks I use regularly, a small 24l for walks near home, it's a deuter ladies one, a great big 65litre one for camping trips which is a Berghaus ladies model, quite heavy so only use if I need to carry lots of gear, and an Osprey Exos 46litre (not ladies) for lightweight backpacking/camping. when I bought the Osprey I tried on various ladies ones and found none of them comfortable at all.
the moral of this is, try your rucksack on with some load in it.
hope it helps

[HighlandSC]

For a camping pack my wife got a 60l osprey with then custom belt.... Shop heats it up in a special oven thing then you mould it to your shape. http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/custom_molding

[coachmacca]

Wow! Thanks to all for the advice Food for thought she likes my Arete 45 and is pretty tall and not "slight/narrow" so it may just be that methinks

Hope you all have a great Christmas

[chickadee]

I think it depends on her shape/how tall she is etc. I'm a shortie so I've got a "women's" rucksack for day walking which is smaller and sits better on my back. I have some back problems so I need support in the right places if I'm out in a glen and carrying my heavy camera, water and so on. I got a Regatta rucksack on Ebay for £15, it was a great purchase! Only problem is it's a hideous turquoise colour but walking gear manufacturers often seem to think all women want brightly coloured 'female' things. Not always! I love colour but sometimes it's too much even for me, haha.

I own a big 60L Trespass rucksack for long walks/overnight, but haven't used it yet. It's really big, almost as big as me! It's a regular bag, not targeted at women, so I'm not sure if it'll be best for me or not. I think the only way to know is to go and try them out, really! You have to get the right fit. Women are differently shaped (basically, I mean - not that we're all the same!) after all. Also I'd take some stuff to put in the bags she tries on so she can get a better idea of what it's actually like to carry the stuff. I know that's so obvious but I always forget to do that! Bags which feel ace in the shop then feel like ton weights at home with clothes and cameras packed in.