Frameless vs. Framed Backpacks: Which Do You Need?
A frameless pack can save a pound or more, but only if your load is light enough. Here's how a frame works, where the weight line is, and how to work out yours.
One of the biggest single weight savings in a backpacking kit is the pack itself. Going from a
traditional framed pack to a frameless one can cut a pound or two. But a frameless pack carrying too
much weight is miserable: it sags, rides on your shoulders and wears you down by mid-afternoon. Here's
how to tell which you need.
What a frame does
A frame, whether an aluminum stay, a carbon hoop, or a stiff plastic framesheet, keeps the pack
rigid and transfers the load from your shoulder straps down to the hip belt, where your legs and
hips carry it. Your skeleton is far better at carrying weight on the hips than hanging it from the
shoulders. Without a frame, most of the weight hangs from your shoulders, and as the pack fills it
barrels into a round shape that pulls backward.
The total-weight line
Most people find frameless packs comfortable up to about 20 to 25 lb total,
including food and water. Packs with a removable frame cover the middle ground, and fully framed
packs take over beyond that.
Where each pack type is comfortable, by total carried weight. Work out your heaviest day (usually right after a resupply) and pick the pack for that.
Work out your number for your heaviest day, usually right after a resupply:
Your base weight: everything in the pack except
consumables.
Plus food: roughly 1.5 to 2 lb per day between resupplies.
Plus water: 2.2 lb per liter. Desert stretches can mean 4 to 6 liters.
A 9 lb base weight with 4 days of food (7 lb) and 2 liters of water (4.4 lb) comes to about
20 lb, comfortably frameless. A 14 lb base weight with the same food and water is over 25 lb, and a
framed pack will feel far better. Building your list in the pack builder
gives you the base weight automatically.
Removable frames: many ultralight packs have a stay or framesheet you can take
out. Carry it on the heavy days after resupply or a long water carry; leave it at home on short
trips. See packs with a removable
frame.
Foam pad as a frame: many frameless packs use a folded closed-cell foam pad as
a back panel, giving the pack some structure for free and doubling as your sleeping pad or sit pad.
Pack it right: in any frameless pack, put soft, dense items against your back
and heavy food and water near the middle of your back, close to your spine.
Other things to check
Capacity: frameless packs are usually 30 to 45 L, which pushes you to pack
light. If you need a bear canister, check it fits.
Hip belt: on a frameless pack, the belt mostly stabilizes the load. On a framed
pack it carries the weight, so its padding and fit matter much more.
Torso length: framed packs come in sizes. Measure from the bony bump at the base
of your neck (the C7 vertebra) down to the top of your hip bones, and match it to the pack's torso
range.
Load lifters: straps from the top of the shoulder straps to the frame pull the
load in close. They only work on a framed pack.
Pockets: a big front mesh pocket and hip belt pockets are what thru-hikers miss
most when they're gone.
The quick version
Add up base weight, food and water for your heaviest day.
Under about 20 lb: frameless works. 20 to 30 lb: a removable frame is the flexible choice. Over
30 lb: a framed pack.
Get the torso length right, then compare on weight.
