Deuter ACT 90+10 Program Pack

excellent price/performance
June 07, 2011

I have just gotten this backpack and only used it to carry stuff around hotel, airport and home so far. I am planning to use it for overnight camping and expeditions as well. I think it came already set for my height (177cm, 5.8ft) however it has a very nice setup to customize to your back height. I usually carry a lot of relatively bulky but light stuff around (down sleeping bag, down parka, insulated jacket, small aluminum pot, bottles, stove, etc.): I found Deuter got an ideal combination of how tall and large this should be and how I can distribute the weight of my gear while maintaining a good balance on my feet or while maneuvering. I have seen others commenting on Deuter backpacks being "small" but I have never understood what they meant... if you look for a 40 L or 90 L backpack you cannot really talk about small or big... maybe those persons did not like the Deuter usual proportions where more is allocated to the height rather than the width of the pack. I found that shorter but larger backpacks would interfere a bit with my elbows. Nice pros: removable lid with decent capacity, possibility to expand on top from 90 to 100 liters, very adjustable (I bet it can fit taller and heavier persons), 3 well positioned compression slings Cons: so far I only miss one small zipped pouch on the belt