What size backpack for spike camping?

[bugs11]

For those that hump it back into the boonies for 4-5 days at a time, what size backpack do you use, in cubic inches?

I'm looking at getting something in the 4500 cubic inch range. Either a Lowe Alpine or Vortex backpack internal frame. I looked at the Cabelas external frame packs and while they look like they'ed work, they don't look all that comfortable. And if I'm gunna be hauling my house on my back, I want it to be comfortable.

-Bugs

[bugs11]

So there I was last night, early evening to be precise, sitting in a comfortable chair on my back deck waiting for the grill to heat up, drinking an ice cold pilsner andleafing throughthe latest Cabelas Archery catalog; when what do I spy on the glossy colored pages, the Badlands 4500 Internal Frame Pack ($350). Hmmm... the Badlands 4500 Internal Frame Pack looks suspiciously like the Vortex 4500 Internal Frame Backpack that I saw on sale at Sierra Trading Post early in the day. I log on and find that the two packs are indeed one and the same, the only difference is the fabric color (camo vs. non-camo) and price ($350 vs. $108).

Badlands 4500 at Cabelas
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20712&id=0039329 517390a&navCount=1&podId=0039329&paren tId=cat20770&navAction=push&catalogCode=QT &rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat2077 0&hasJS=true

Vortex 4500 at Sierra Trading Post
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/311,85628_Vortex-4500-Series-Backpack.html

Take a wild guess on which one I ordered.

[stinkbelly]

We are using about 4500 in3. Any more than that and you will use the space and not be able to carry it.

[Buckshot]

Man!!! your going to pass up on the "free" headlamp?

[ShatoDavis]

external frames are the way to go. they may not look more comfortable but when loaded they are. 4500 In. is big enough, the tough part will be narrowing down your gear to under 75 lbs. a 50 lb pack is heavy a 75 lb pack is a back breaker. JMHO

[bugs11]

I see this morning that STP has bumped the price of the Vortex 4500 to $119, still cheaper than the Badlands (even with the free headlamp).