MeritBadge.Net

My son is going to Philmont next summer.

I'm leaning to an external frame (Kelty), since, I'm old school. What size of pack does he need?

go to an outfitter that will fit the pack for you. Try several on. Load them up with equipment and walk around. I know an Outfitter In Harpers ferry WV that really takes alot of time to make sure you get the correct fit. But I do not know where you are from so I will suggest REI if there is one close.Each type of pack has good points and Bad points you have do personally decise which is best for you.

Find out if Philmont has a packing list before buying anything so you don't have to rebuy anything.

if he's an experienced hiker you may want to look into adventure racing packs. i prefer golite.
www.golite.com

Internal packs are good if you have reached adult size. Packs are measured for fit in Torso length. If the scout has not reached what you assume is full hieght the pack may not fit latter on. I have seen this with aq few younger scous who bought a pack and 2 years later they out grew it . packs can be expensive . Check out REI website or go to the store. REI also rents gear. You may want to rent instead of purchase or just rent a few different model to see how your son likes it.

Some external frame packs have extra frame sections you cna purchase as the scout grows. See your local scout shop or check out scoutstuff.org.

Another site is Alpsmountaineering .com

Another is capacity.Packs are rated in cubic inches. 5000 cu in and up are probably a good start point.

Boys Life Magazine had an article earlier this year along with a reccomendation. Another site for info is Backpacker magazine website.

Hope this helps you and have a great trip.

Deweylure

I dont know about that. my pack is 3200 cu and i have never had any trouble getting my gear in.

The one I use and took to Philmont is accually pretty small (and I carried more than my fair share of equipment).

Well What Manufacture? and what model?. That would help.
I like APLS mountaineering Packs I have been very happy with what I have from them.

I took my son to the local outdoor supply store and they fitted him up with a Kelty Youth Yukon (2900 ci).

Took may son and pack to our troop's Philmont planning meeting. They said is wasn't big enough and told us to go back and get a bigger pack.

Ended up buying the Kelty Trekker (3950 ci).

Another old thread, but if you have lightweight equipment you can get by fine with 2900 cu in. Having too big a pack encourages packing too much. IMHO a Scout should never have more than 4000 cu in. What burns me are leaders that penalize their Scouts that do pack light and carry their fair share of troop gear with even more troop gear (or other Scout's gear) so they are closer to be "equal".

Philmont food is heavy and big - can't do too much about that. Philmont supplied gear is heavy and big - take your own lightweight gear so you don't need their's.

Slightly off topic, but. If you bring your own tents & dining fly to Philmont, it greatly speeds the check in & check out process because you do not have to inspect them.

ok so i must be missing something here... Why would you need to pack a dining fly?

Dining fly is a bit mis-named because we rarely dined under it at Philmont, unless it happened to rain during dinner. Philmont's bear protocol calls for no food or smellables in tents so retreating into tents for meals when it raining is not an option. We used a 12x12 lightweight tarp. We set it every evening and stored our packs under it. (Standard Philmont practice of so our Ranger taught us.)

What is Philmont food? Canned food?

Why not your own lightweight food?

They strongly suggest (require?) you use their's. You do NOT get a refund if you use your own. I believe allergies are the only reason they let you bring your own, but you still have to pay for their's.

It's mostly dry/freeze dried stuff, but still takes a lot of space. You can see a typical dinner meal and the volume an 8-person crew's food for 4 days looks like in this post.