r/Ultralight • u/AttentionNo9358 • 12d ago

Purchase Advice Backpack recommendations with pack pain

Hello 👋
So my father and I are planning on doing the Skye Trail this summer and it’s gonna be the first backpacking trip for him. He is in his fifties and has some back pain and I was wondering what kind of a backpack you would recommend for this. Would it be beneficial to stick to the more traditional backpacking design (Deuter, Osprey) or do you think the weight savings of an ultralight pack would be worth the loss of stability?
What other recommendations do you have for people backpacking with this sort of issue?
He has gotten himself the Therm a rest Neoloft and we will try to shed his baseweight to around 5-6kg.

Thank you so much :))

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u/PanicAttackInAPack 12d ago edited 12d ago

If you have an REI your best bet will be to go in and pick some packs and have them load them so he can walk around the store. The Flash 55 has been a solid contender for years and then there is all the Kelty, Deuter, Gregory, Osprey stuff.

Short of that I can recommend a Zpacks Arc Haul which is good for loads under 30lb. For heavier loads in 30-40lb or more I would look into Superior Wilderness Designs or a rigid load hauler like Seek Outside Divide (heavy for a UL pack but has an awesome load transfer system). None of these are cheap and the SWD has a multi month wait time.