I swore by my cheap Walmart backpack for 5 years until the John Muir Trail broke it

Last summer I finally hiked the JMT and figured my old $40 pack would hold up fine since it worked on weekend trips. 100 miles in, the hip belt started shredding the foam inside and I was carrying the weight on my shoulders for the next 100 miles. Borrowed a friend's Osprey on the last section and realized a proper fit makes a huge difference. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has had a cheap pack fail on a long thru-hike and what you switched to?

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river_fox181mo ago

The real issue nobody talks about is how cheap packs change the way you walk. On my first long hike my budget bag had me hiking with my shoulders hunched forward to keep the weight balanced, which gave me terrible shin splints after a week. Ended up messing up my gait so bad that my knees started hurting too. Switched to a Gregory with a frame that actually puts the weight on your hips and suddenly I was walking straight again. Your body compensates for a bad pack in weird ways that don't show up until you're 50 miles deep.