Review on Kelty Coyote Backpack: Unleash Your Adventure With 2020 Upgrade - Men'S And Women'S, 60-105 Liters For Hiking, Backpacking And Travel by Chris Shields

I had a Kelty external frame pack in the early 90s when I was in Boy Scouts. Afterwards I went in the military and have carried an ALICE pack since, until now. I got the 85L in Asphalt. A Major selling point for me was that it has external pockets for gear I’ll need quick access to such as water bottle, rain gear, compass, pocketknife, headlamp, firestarters, first aid kid, bug spray, and sunscreen. It doesn’t have a bunch of stupid zippers going to the main pack and making weak points that will fail.I will go over what I don’t like. First the color, it is pictured as being a dark grey, in reality it is a lighter medium grey. Asphalt is almost black so that’s a bit of false advertisement there. It is for this reason I am on the fence about sending it back and starting my pack search all over again. Second I think Kelty erred on the side of lightweight over durability. Coming from an ALICE pack it feels cheap and flimsy. There’s no pack cover provided, this just screams low budget junk to me, seriously a pack cover is a cheap way to say we thought of our customers, apparently Kelty doesn’t care. The pockets on the hip belt, the one on the left is fine but the one on the right is mesh, given that is the side I carry my water bottle on I would prefer it to be somewhat water resistant. It is also elastic so I hesitate to put anything of any kind of value to me into it. Basically it’s worthless. Being right handed I would prefer the pocket that I will be keeping everything in to be on my right side instead of my left. The top flap could have been made with an outside zip pocket for a pack cover, some straps on top for additional storage, and a pocket on the inside for valuables. Instead we are stuck with one dysfunctional side entry pocket on the lid. The sleeping bag storage compartment is a bit small for an 85L pack, my 3 season sleeping bag fits no problem, but my winter weight bag will not. The partition between the sleeping bag compartment is an afterthought at best and is not sturdy enough to hold your gear on top of it or your sleeping bag below it while you pack the other compartment. The compression straps hold your sleeping mat or whatever behind the sleeping bag compartment. The sleeping bag compartment could have been made bigger and the compression straps on the bottom to eliminate this problem. The side pockets could have been made a bit taller on the 85L pack, and the back pockets could have been one pocket instead of two like on the 65L pack. The gear attachment loops on the back are pretty much useless to me, I don’t like things hanging off my pack I want everything secured. If some bungee cord or netting of some kind could have been used instead it would have made the back of the pack far more usable. Lastly a total lack of elastic bands or Velcro loops to tame loose straps and keep them from dangling, flopping, swinging around or annoying you.Overall it is one of the better packs on the market (doesn’t mean it’s good or well thought out, only better than most.) It does show a lack of thought and a disregard for customers that will use it. It certainly lowers my once high opinion of Kelty considerably.