Kelty Outskirt 50 Backpack

The Kelty Outskirt 50 Backpack is very light and reliable with its strong frame and exceptionally durable fabric, with a unique sternum strap design, and with an incredible price. 

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Key features & benefits

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What this is about

This Kelty Outskirt 50 pack is one out of three packs from the series that also includes Outskirt 35 and Outskirt 70 packs. This is a classic design with an internal frame and a collar covered with a fixed lid. 

But you also have a zippered bottom compartment for a sleeping bag, see the picture below. The pack is hydration compatible, you have an attachment point for a bladder and a sleeve inside of the main compartment.

The suspension

I already mentioned its internal frame, so this is a metal construction but there is no information about it. This is one of those packs that are designed to stay close to your body, so the back panel is padded and with a central vertical chimney for ventilation, see it below.

It comes with the usual load lifter straps that are visible in the picture above. There is no torso length adjustability, just to know. But such an adjustability is available in the larger Outskirt 70 pack.

The waist belt allows for the range which is probably 26-48 inches and this is a lot. You have a pull-forward straps, and this is how I like it. The padding on the belt is wide but much softer than what you would expect from packs of such a size. The same feeling is about the padding on the shoulder harness.

Unique sternum strap: I guess you probably know that packs usually have either a ladder type or sliding sternum strap. The former implies several fixed positions and the latter continuous positions. Both of these imply adjustability, and both have some good and bad sides of their design.

But here you have a unique combination of both. Namely, you can slide the sternum strap anywhere, and then you lock it on your desired position. This is good to have as it allows the maximum adjustability but the strap indeed remains in place where you put it. The picture below shows how it looks:

Pockets

• The lid has a very large zippered pocket on the top, here you can store a lot of stuff that you need at hand when you are on the move.
• The front pocket is with a strap and a hook on its top (the picture below), to cinch it and secure stuff which you keep there. The stretchy fabric is U-shaped on the perimeter of the pocket, but it is taffeta on the front, I like this design. The strap can be extended a lot to accommodate extra stuff in the pocket.

• You also have two large side pockets, they are taffeta and not stretchy.

• The hip belt has only one stretch mesh pocket shown below, the other side is an empty space, pity. So I am not really impressed with any of the sides of the belt.

Attachment elements, straps and loops

You have the usual dual side cinch straps shown in the picture below. The lower is inside the side pocket.

You can use these straps together with side pockets to store your trekking poles as in the picture below.

The pack comes with two bottom loops that you can use for axe or for trekking poles. You also have dual straps on the bottom, equipped with clips, so here you can attach your sleeping pad or perhaps your tent.

Materials

They use extraordinary strong fabric here, so you have a combination of a primary 600D Oxford polyester and secondary 420D Small Back Stafford polyester. So these seem to be the same materials used in their Kelty Asher 55 Backpack for Men & Women.

You can compare this with Deuter Futura Air Trek 50 + 10 Backpack where primary fabric is a durable and abrasion-resistant 210D polyamide and exposed areas are a 600D polyester. 

I find it surprising that the pack is so light with such a strong fabric. But when you inspect the padding on the hip belt and on the shoulder harness, you see what makes it light.

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Who is this Kelty Outskirt 50 Backpack for

Regarding the capacity and best use, in view of its 3051 in³ (50 L), this is a pack that can be used for weekend adventures in any environment. It has enough space for your outdoor sleeping stuff.

But It can be used also as a large daypack if you carry lots of stuff like crampons, ferrata equipment, helmet, etc. I use my Deuter Futura Vario 50+10 sometimes for such day tours.

Regarding the weight, the pack can be described as ultra light with its 2.9 lb (1.32 kg). Note that the Volume/Weight ratio here is around 38 liters/kg, so this is indeed remarkable.

So if you want a light pack that has almost everything you need on the trail, this is it. You can compare it with the Deuter Futura Air Trek 50 + 10 Backpack for Men that weighs 4.52 lb (2050 g), but this pack has more features and a rain cover as well.

Regarding the price, it is simply unbelievable. You can follows the links below to check the updated prices at some online sellers.

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Specifications

• Volume: 3051 in³ (50 L).
• Weight: 2.9 lb (1.32 kg).
• Dimensions (H x W x L): 27 x 17.5 x 1o in (68 x 45 x 25 cm).
• Frame: metal.

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Final thoughts & rating

Below you can see how I rate it against my usual rating criteria so that you can easily compare it with other items of this type:

 

BEST PLACEs TO BUY

Kelty

Bass Pro Shops

Cabelas

Camping World

For more options, please check under the category Mid Size Packs.

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