Top Selling Kelty Hiking Backpacks

Kelty has been building quality outdoor gear since 1952, when Dick Kelty began making external frame backpacks in his garage. Dick hand-constructed the aircraft-aluminum frames, and his wife sewed the nylon pack bags. The first backpacks included shoulder straps padded with wool carpeting. By 1956, the backpacks were selling so well that Dick quit his carpentry business to build backpacks fulltime.

Early Kelty packs were used on expeditions to Mt. Everest and Antartica. With the growth of the outdoor industry in the 1970s, Kelty expanded their line of equipment to include everything from internal frame backpacks and luggage to tents, sleeping bags, child carriers, and hydration packs. Even so, Kelty remains best known for its quality backpacks.

Recommended by Eagle Scouts, the Kelty Coyote 4750 backpack has an incredible range of adjustment for torsos from 14" to 22." It can adjust so widely and still maintain the ability to carry loads comfortably because of the dual attachment points for the load-lifter straps. One set of attachments is for shorter torsos, and the other for longer torsos; combined with the rip-and-stick Velcro adjustment for the shoulder harness, you can obtain a truly custom fit.

With 4,750 cubic inches of capacity, the Coyote 4750 outdoor backpack can handle all your gear for trips of a week or even longer. The top-loading main compartment also has front panel access, so you can reach gear in any part of the pack. A reservoir sleeve and tube ports make the pack hydration compatible with your hydration bladder. Stash even more gear in the floating top pocket, which detaches for use as a waistpack, and the large front pocket, two zippered side pockets, and two water bottle pockets. The hipbelt pockets are a favorite with many hikers for keeping the small things close at hand.

Comfort is a given when you carry the load in a Kelty Coyote 4750 internal frame backpack. The shaped shoulder straps are padded and contoured to fit without rubbing or chafing. Hip pressure is dispersed by a heavy-duty foam hipbelt for comfortable load support. Compression straps stabilize the load, and a variety of adjustment points at the sternum strap, load-lifters, and belt stabilizers keep your gear balanced for even greater comfort and safety.

You're sure to earn yourself a special trail name with the Kelty Cloud backpack. Made of dye-resistant Spectra fabric with reinforcing Kevlar threads, its white color will stand out in the crowd, and you'll be known all along the trail.

Spectra fabric is stronger than steel and more durable than polyester, so this is a pack that will last a lifetime. The strength of the fabric allows a thinner material in the pack body, so even at 5,250 cubic inches, the weight of the Kelty Cloud backpack is only 4 pounds, 7 ounces. That weight and capacity includes the external pockets. If you need less space or want an even lighter pack, all three pockets are detachable, as are the lid and the hipbelt. So you can customize this pack for the situation. You can even haul all your gear into base camp, then remove the pockets and have a smaller pack for day hikes or climbing.

A pre-curved plastic framesheet and two aluminum stays provide suspension for the Kelty Cloud climbing backpack, and padding keeps you comfortable under the load. Two ice axe loops and four gear loops allow you to strap on bulky gear. It's hydration compatible and top-loading, with three external pockets. It comes in two sizes, with a torso adjustment range of two inches in each size. It's recommended for use in mountaineering and alpine climbing, but it's perfectly at home on the trail, too. Just don't set it down on the snow and ice, or you might lose it.

Here's a mid-size backpack for shorter trips or for longer, lightweight backpacking. The Kelty Pawnee 3300 offers 3,300 cubic inches of gear space in its main compartment. It keeps the weight of the pack itself down to 3 pounds, 9 ounces by minimizing outside pockets and by making use of a single aluminum stay and a soft frame sheet for body. If you're going even lighter, the waist belt can be removed.

Lightweight doesn't mean light-duty with the Pawnee 3300 backpack, though. Its 600-denier polyester ripstop and polyester oxford with a reinforcement of cordura on the bottom shrugs off rock scrapes, tree pokes, and muddy rest breaks. It'll handle up to 40 pounds with ease.

Load the Pawnee 3300 hiking backpack from the top and access the load through the zippered front panel. Small items stash in the front pocket and top lid; there are bottle pockets on the sides and a hydration sleeve inside the main compartment. Comfort features include shaped shoulder straps; cross ventilation within the hipbelt, back panel and shoulder straps; good padding and all the usual adjusting and stabilizing straps.

For big loads, the Kelty Red Cloud 5600 backpack has the space to carry it all. The main compartment loads from the top, but there is also front-panel access to all your gear. The sleeping bag compartment on the bottom has a zip-out divider if you don't want to keep it separate from the main compartment, and straps on the outside hold your sleeping pad. Hydration compatible with tube ports, the pack boasts two side pockets, two mesh bottle pockeets, and a front pocket with organizers to keep all your small items handy. And for short trips in town or away from camp, the floating top pocket detaches for use as a fanny pack.

The suspension on the Red Cloud outdoor backpack is adjustable, which has caused problems for some hikers. At some settings, there is not enough overlapping Velcro in the adjustment system. With only a couple inches of Velcro engaged, the suspension under a heavy load tends to slip. Some have also had trouble with pack sway and instability due to the way the pack is attached to the aluminum stays. If you are interested in this pack, make sure the Velcro is secure when adjusted for your body, and be aware that the pack may perform better with lighter loads.

That said, at lighter load weights and with a good fit, the Kelty Red Cloud 5600 backpack will haul your gear comfortably. It has all the usual Kelty padding and features, like curved shoulder straps, contoured hipbelt, and stabilizing straps. A pack body of polyester ripstop with cordura reinforcement makes for a tough, durable pack.

See more top-selling backpacks for hiking from Kelty and other makers