Kelty Redwing 50 Internal Frame Pack Medium/Large -17.5 - 21 Torso (Cypress)

The best feature of this pack is the 3/4 of the way around, flat zipper, meaning it zips back the front into a large flap, providing almost complete access to the entire main compartment, Vice stuffing it in from the top, down a cylinder. When you pack you can properly lay items into the bag. This is why I stuck with this product line.

I previously had a 1997 Redwing. I used it every time I traveled, no matter where I went. My 1997 Redwing still looks new. I just felt that after 14 years, it was time for something different.

The new bag gets a little thick around the top/middle, when you stuff it full, but it still fits in the airplane overheads of a Southwest 737. Unfortunately, it does not work well in an American Airlines 737. Their compartments are shorter. It fits pretty well in every other 100+ person commercial aircraft.

The lower cinches can make it a pain to open the main flap all the way, but they easily unclip.
The various little pockets, and sliding slots work really well for me. It has been a nice upgrade.

Why do you need it? I rarely check bags. This is my one "Overhead" item, and my computer bag is the other. I have two small children, and when the family travels, I cannot carry my own bag as well. The backpack is the easy solution, that lets me drag their stuff too.

I initially bought the sm/med version, at ~2500cc. It is only about 10% bigger than a typical school backpack. I sent it back because it was too small for what I needed.

The Large model is perfect for 3-5 days of travel. I use it every time I travel.

Can't say enough about the positive attributes of this KELTY Redwing 50 M/L backpack that works great on my long upper bodied 6'4', 180 lb frame. Great midweight pack, especially for the price. If you like the classic American book backpacks we've used, this is the same basic design but larger in size, added bells & whistles, and most importantly, a sturdy, padded hip belt to distribute load to your hips and OFF your shoulders. I carry an 8 lb laptop, 10 lb textbook, 10 lb notebook, plus supplies to school everyday--which has created problems in my upper back. Walking 1.5 miles to school each day, this pack has eliminated those problems, making it feel like I am carrying 1/3 of that load and allowing airflow across my back in the heat.

It is bigger than most school backpacks, if you do use it for school, but ease of use and a pain free back = priceless.

On weekend getaways, this is converted (emptied) rapidly to my weekend bag for hitting the road or dayhikes.

No complaints about this pack but one: If you bend, break, or misplace the aluminum stay that provides support, KELTY will not get you a new one. You can't even pay for one?!? I hope that changes as the popularity of this backpack makes it a classic. (To be fair: KELTY just repaired and resewed my 20 year old duffel bag to my satisfaction, so they are still providing great service of yesteryear!)

I've used this bag twice now, once for camping and the second time for "urban camping" which is like camping and hiking but around civilization. This bag has a good deal of space for clothes, equipment and food. I also carried around a full sized SLR camera and two lenses in this bag comfortably. I'm a six foot tall woman with large hips and I find this bag to be comfortable after the spine support has been bent to fit. I hiked through eight towns with this bag with a sleeping bag attached to the outside of it and did just fine. The Kelty 50 is large enough to fit everything I could need while being small enough to take comfortably onto public transportation. I had no problems taking this onto a metro bus, a gray hound as well as an amtrak train. My only complaint comes from the side mesh bags, the stitching around the elastic of the mesh came undone and I've had to stitch it back together. The Kelty 40 was also used by my partner on this trip and we've found that the 50 is much better suited.

I've gone back and taken pictures of both the bags side by side in case someone is looking to buy one or the other. When I was shopping bags I had a hard time finding pictures comparing these bags which made it hard to figure out what would be better. My sister is the owner of the Kelty 40 which was borrowed for "Urban camping" and intends to use it to back pack through Europe. I am the owner of the Kelty 50 and intend to use it for random travel. The main complaint with the Kelty 40 aside from it being too small for my taste, is the length of the bag. The Kelty 40 has a max length of 18.5 which is fine for most people but not the over six foot tall person it was used on. The Kelty 50 has two size options and works better for a longer torso-ed person. The Kelty 40 seems to be a better "light" packing bag, it doesn't have room for food or many other things when it's packed up. The Kelty 50 has room for everything you'd need for a few days. I carried enough food for two people in that bag for three days.