ES gear for a new guy

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As a disclaimer I have not used a CFP-90.  The ALICE pack is 1070's technology and the CFP-90 is late 80's early 90's tech.  The ALICE has an external frame so it can generally handle heavier loads better and the space between your back and the pack allows more air to circulate which means a cooler back.  The CFP-90 is more inline with newer civilian pack technology.  It has an "internal" frame which is now the vastly more popular type of frame for packs.  An internal frame pack is usually more comfortable, more stable and the pack overall is usually lighter.  It has become hard to find newer made external frame packs.  Now as I pointed out, the ALICE pack has been around for a while and still holds up well but there is a reason why they have moved away from it.

[Stonewall]

As a disclaimer I have not used a CFP-90.  The ALICE pack is 1970's technology and the CFP-90 is late 80's early 90's tech.  The ALICE has an external frame so it can generally handle heavier loads better and the space between your back and the pack allows more air to circulate which means a cooler back.  The CFP-90 is more inline with newer civilian pack technology.  It has an "internal" frame which is now the vastly more popular type of frame for packs.  An internal frame pack is usually more comfortable, more stable and the pack overall is usually lighter.  It has become hard to find newer made external frame packs.  Now as I pointed out, the ALICE pack has been around for a while and still holds up well but there is a reason why they have moved away from it.

Sounds about right.  Another reason why I tend to use the Large ALICE pack during the summer is the gap between my back and the pack.  As was said above, allows for air flow.

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There's a good video that was made for Kelty that talks about external frame packs vs internal packs.  It's a little hard to get.  The only way I've been able to get it is through iTunes.  If you have iTunes installed click on the link.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=165787517

The episode you want is "Kelty backpack fitting."