Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

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R11
Posts: 313
Joined: June 22nd, 2011, 12:27 pm
Location: PDX

Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

Post by R11 » June 3rd, 2013, 10:48 am

Realizing that this is of no interest to the large majority of the frequent posters on this site ;), there are some that still prefer external frame packs with decent volume. Kelty has made a special limited run of their venerable Tioga 5500 which just became available through a couple vendors. I've been using one of these for 30 years and it's been a great pack. Of course the new units have modern high end suspension for hauling weight with ultimate comfort. At 5500 cu. in. these are about 40% larger volume (and better suspension) than the Trekker models from their current/regular external line.

On sale now while they last:
http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Tioga-Class ... B00CQ9L2X2

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The pics are very dark but in talking to Kelty it sounds like they are about this color
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ron

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Crusak
Posts: 3617
Joined: August 6th, 2009, 7:33 pm
Location: Oregon

Re: Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

Post by Crusak » June 3rd, 2013, 8:14 pm

Thanks for sharing that info!

My brother and brother-in-law still use their Kelty Tioga packs every summer on our backpacking trips. Great to use in hot weather, nice organization options and super load haulers. I admit that there are times I wish I had one too.
Jim's Hikes

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R11
Posts: 313
Joined: June 22nd, 2011, 12:27 pm
Location: PDX

Re: Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

Post by R11 » June 4th, 2013, 10:37 am

There are still some of us left! It's kind of funny; for many, many years I had been doing almost all of my backpacking up in Washington just because there are so many amazing places to go and explore. I very seldom ever saw someone else with an external frame pack. In the last few years I've been making more trips back here in Oregon and have been kind of surprised to see that there are actually a fair number of people still using them. Not sure if it was the trendy, imported californian population that had flooded Washington, or maybe just some cheap Oregonians still using old equipment or what :lol:.

I've got a number of internal frame packs that I use for dayhikes or training purposes, but when it comes to actual backpacking I'll take the external every time. Even setting aside the better weight hauling characteristics/comfort, I really like the convenience of having an easy access pack/pockets that I can just lean against a tree or a rock in camp up out of the wet and dirt. They really are lighter than most people probably imagine, and they do carry higher levels of weight more comfortably than any internal frame pack. I can appreciate the compact, stream lined form factor of a smaller internal for climbing/scrambling use, but I think the "disadvantage" of an external in off trail use is kind of overblown for the most part. I've used mine in all kinds of terrain over the years and it's done very well except in some extreme situations. Different strokes...


ron

Steve20050
Posts: 395
Joined: November 12th, 2009, 8:06 pm

Re: Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

Post by Steve20050 » June 7th, 2013, 10:32 pm

I've had 3 of these over the years. Everyone got "loved to death". Seriously, the only time I used an internal pack was in South American travel. Much of the travel there persons travel by bus and you don't want all the external stuff getting hung up on other luggage, etc. in the transit. I've done years of off trail with mine. Used to be my hitchhiking partner as well. The second compartment was what originally sold me. That was/is my Photo gear/gadget compartment for easy access.

I bought one 3 years? ago before discontinued, REI had to get one of the last they had from Seattle and I got a great deal. I liked the weight distribution with newer straps than the old stuff. The fact even when top loaded, the newest model seems to require less bending down. (Maybe I'm just getting shorter with age and carrying these things for decades). No they sold me on this pack along time ago. The biggest gripe I have is with the grommets in the shoulder straps. I buy this pack to carry heavy loads and expect these to hold up. Newer model has not.

Wow. Just took a look. Naw that won't due. That second compartment is now the sleeping bag area?. Everyone knows that the sleeping bag goes under that. Strapped on the bottom so when you have to shove it out onto the cedar boughs over the cliff, once it falls through, it will land upright with the sleeping bag acting like an airbag. Course when I did this in Goat Rocks, I had to reload the bag. These things are pretty indestructible. Not sure about the titanium welds myth and throwing it into a fire for emergency signal?

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wildcat
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Joined: September 14th, 2021, 4:48 pm
Location: CN85RP

Re: Kelty Tioga 5500 (old school! external)

Post by wildcat » September 26th, 2021, 3:50 pm

Necroposting yet again as I seem to love to do but I'm happy to report the Tioga 5.5K is still available in 2021! Vendor "Enwild" via the Amazon link given above.

I acquired mine in summer of 2020 and replaced the harness and waistbelt with MOLLE II components since I don't like the way the stock ones fit my huge torso, even after constant adjustment (and there are no grommets to fail). It's my hiking pack and daily-driver to/from-work crap-hauler. It easily carries my ~35-50 pound grocery orders home on the Mondays when I take the bike to work. Couldn't be happier. My poor overloaded bike, though.... but that's why we use full-suspension mountain bikes in the city innit.
Life in Chacos
nwhikers.net: thewildcat

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