What is the best way to figure out the size/volume of an old pack?
I have a North Face Big Shot backpack that I purchased around 2003. It was a great general purpose backpack that I used for day hikes, rock climbing, and traveling. Unfortunately time and the abuse I've inflicted on the pack have taken their toll and the pack needed to be replaced. I've replaced it with a REI Trail 40 pack since I didn't like the current evolution of the North Face Big Shot pack.
I'm curious if I've gained or lost any space with my replacement pack. While I know I can try to cram as much stuff into both packs to see if one pack fits more, I'd prefer to have something more quantifiable than an "X shirt increase." So what is the best way to get a proper volume measurement on an old pack? I tried to google the older pack but I kept finding newer versions of my pack. The different newer versions all hovered around 2,000 cubic inches, which is quite a bit smaller than the 3,000 cubic inch volume I seem to recall. My memory isn't perfect though so maybe my old pack really is smaller than I recall.
Here is a pic of my old pack for reference. While I currently want an answer for this specific pack I'd prefer a more general solution. Also while I'm sure it would be the most accurate I don't know if I'd be able to handle the math needed to calculate the volume based on the complex curves and angles that make up most packs.
One option is to take the backpack to an outdoors store like REI or LL Bean and compare it to backpacks that list their …
6y ago
You need to fill the backpack with something and and then measure the volume of that filler. It would probably be easie …
6y ago
While water works and is precise, I strong suggest doing this outside or in the bathtub. A much easier way is to get …
5y ago
If you have some dry-bags handy, seal them up full of air and check how differently they fit in each bag respectively. I …
6y ago
There's zero industry standardization for calculating the volume of a bag, and there are numerous factors that affect th …
6y ago
Put a garbage bag in the pack, with the open top of the garbage bag sticking out of the pack. Pour water into the gar …
6y ago
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One option is to take the backpack to an outdoors store like REI or LL Bean and compare it to backpacks that list their volume.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18896. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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You need to fill the backpack with something and and then measure the volume of that filler.
It would probably be easiest to to stuff the backpack full with t-shirts until you can't fit anymore, then take them out and stuff them into a shoe box which is a nice cubic shape. Then you multiply the height x width x length to get the cubic size.
I am also seeing ping pong balls, beans and small plastic balls used, where one fills the backpack with them, dumps them out and then calculates the volume of the filling. At least one site claims 20mm plastic balls are the standard.
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While water works and is precise, I strong suggest doing this outside or in the bathtub.
A much easier way is to get a bag of packing peanuts, either by scrounging from your local receiving department, or buy a bag at a shipping supply company. You may even be able to borrow some from your shipping department.
This won't be as precise. The peanuts don't fill all the voids as well as water.
Measure using a white 5 gallon pail. Calibrate the pail with 1 liter container, putting the marks on the outside. A strong light on the inside will show you the level inside the pail. After you have done the calibration, you can transfer the marks to the inside. Nominal 5 gallon pails will usually have between 19.6 and 21 liters volume. (Gotta love standards -- so many to choose from)
Fill the pail with peanuts. Dump into the pack. Repeat until full. Note the amount left in the pail. If you have a 20 liter pail, and you did 3 pails and have 8 left over in the pail, you have a 3 * 20 + (20 - 8) = 72 liters.
If you are in an outdoor club you can do this as an evening activity, and see how companies lie.
You may want to track exterior pockets separately.
Compare to doing your best estimate using L x W x H with it hold a sleeping bag.
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If you have some dry-bags handy, seal them up full of air and check how differently they fit in each bag respectively. It won't give you an exact measure, but it should be a good enough (and easy enough) way to solve your problem.
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Put a garbage bag in the pack, with the open top of the garbage bag sticking out of the pack.
Pour water into the garbage bag one liter at a time, keep track of how many liters of water you use.
Use Google to convert the number of liters to any measurement you prefer.
Empty the water from the garbage bag.
P.S. You might want to do this outside or in a bathtub.
EDIT There have been some concerns in the comments about the backpack holding a full load of water.
Related: Why are backpacks sized in liters?. While it is unlikely that a backpack will be filled with water, it is likely it will be filled with school books, tools or canned food, all of which are roughly equivalent or greater in density to water. It would be a poorly designed backpack that is not able to carry weight equal to its volume of water without failing. While I do suggest volume testing occur someplace water-safe, if you really have fears the bag will not survive the test, I can't see taking the pack to school or the trail.
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There's zero industry standardization for calculating the volume of a bag, and there are numerous factors that affect the total volume - like how many pockets/compartments are in the bag and, and the overall non-uniform shape of the bag.
Most companies just do an approximation by stuffing a bag full, then measuring its length, width, and height and doing a simple calculation for volume (L x W x H = V), and rounding to the nearest Litre/5 Litres (1,000cm3 = 1 Litre).
You can quickly measure the approximate volume of your bag by stuffing it with pillows or a sleeping bag, then taking your three measurements with a tape measure. You don't have to be exact, because not a single bag on the market is, which is why you can fit more stuff in some brands of 30L bags than you can into other's.
From your picture I'm guessing that's a 20-30L bag. Odds are you'll measure the volume of your bag and it'll come out to some odd measurement like 26.87L, in which case your bag would probably have been marketed as either a 25L bag, or a 30L bag.
You can take the time to try and figure out the exact volume of your bag, but what is that really going to benefit you aside from satisfying your curiosity? All that matters is how much stuff you can fit in it. The sizes in Litres are just meant to help you get you into the ballpark of what you're looking for in size when shopping for bags.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18875. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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