Framed Vs Frameless Backpacks for Thru-Hiking
Choosing between a framed vs frameless backpack is one of the biggest decisions when putting together a thru-hiking setup. A framed backpack generally carries heavier loads more comfortably and transfers weight into the hip belt more effectively. A frameless backpack is usually lighter, simpler and easier to compress, but works best when the rest of your gear is already lightweight.
Your backpack is one of the most important pieces of equipment you will buy for a long hike. Along with footwear, it can have a massive effect on how comfortable you feel at the end of a long day and how much energy you have left for the next one.
The right pack needs to fit your body properly, carry your normal load comfortably and suit the type of gear you bring. One of the biggest differences between backpacks is whether they have a frame, so let’s look at what that actually means and whether you need one.
Different Types of Backpack Frames
Backpack frames have been used for generations to give packs structure and help transfer weight away from the shoulders and into the hips. Older designs often used heavy steel or aluminium frameworks, while modern backpacking packs use much lighter aluminium stays, composite structures, plastic framesheets or combinations of these materials.
There are three broad categories worth understanding: internal-frame, external-frame and frameless backpacks.
Internal Frame Backpacks
Internal frames are now by far the most common style for backpacking. The structure is hidden inside the pack and normally uses aluminium stays, a framesheet or another stiffening system to keep the load stable and help transfer weight to the hip belt.
They are much slimmer than old external-frame packs, which makes them easier to use on narrow trails, scrambling routes and anywhere you don’t want a large metal frame catching on branches or rocks.
The amount of structure varies enormously. Some ultralight framed packs use a single removable aluminium stay, while heavier load-hauling packs can have substantial frames designed to carry very large loads.
External Frame Backpacks
The big visible frame of an external-frame backpack is immediately recognizable and nowadays can feel a little like seeing a relic on the trail. They’re nowhere near as common as internal frames, but they still have some genuine advantages.
External frames can be excellent for carrying bulky or unusually shaped loads because gear can be lashed directly to the framework. They can also create a large gap between the pack bag and your back, which gives excellent airflow.
I wouldn’t say they automatically distribute weight better than every internal-frame pack because a good modern internal frame can carry serious loads extremely well. External frames simply approach the problem differently and can still be very effective for hunting, load hauling and traditional backpacking.
Frameless Backpacks
A frameless backpack has no rigid internal frame or external framework. Some use a removable foam pad or padded back panel to give the pack a little shape, while the most minimalist versions are essentially a well-designed fabric sack with shoulder straps and sometimes a hip belt.
The big advantage is obvious: remove the frame and you remove weight. When the rest of your hiking kit is already ultralight, a heavy load-transfer system becomes less necessary.
Benefits of Framed Backpacks
There are good arguments on both sides of the framed vs frameless backpack debate. For most hikers carrying conventional camping gear, however, a frame still offers several major advantages.
Better Load Transfer
This is the biggest reason to choose a framed backpack. A properly fitted frame helps transfer a significant amount of pack weight into the hip belt instead of leaving your shoulders to carry everything.
That becomes increasingly noticeable as your food, water and equipment get heavier. A pack carrying 15 lb doesn’t need much engineering, but once you start loading it with several days of food and litres of water, good load transfer becomes extremely valuable.
Comfort With Heavier Loads
A framed pack creates a consistent structure between the contents of the bag and your back. You still need to pack sensibly, but you are much less likely to feel a cooking pot or oddly shaped item digging directly into you.
A good frame also keeps the load more stable while you walk. On long climbs and descents, having the weight move with your body instead of slumping around inside the pack can make a noticeable difference.
Ventilation Can Be Better
Some framed backpacks provide excellent ventilation by holding the pack body away from your back. Suspended mesh systems are particularly good at creating a visible air gap that allows heat and sweat to escape.
This isn’t an automatic benefit of every framed backpack, though. Plenty of internal-frame packs still sit directly against your back, while some frameless packs use clever foam channels or breathable padding.
External frames usually provide the greatest natural airflow because the structure creates a permanent gap between you and the pack bag.
Carry More Weight
This is where the difference becomes most obvious. Frames allow the backpack and hip belt to work together as a load-carrying system instead of relying mainly on your shoulders and the shape of the packed contents.
The exact comfortable limit depends on the pack and the person wearing it, but if you regularly carry heavier food loads, lots of water or bulky winter gear, I would usually choose a framed backpack.
More Useful With Larger Pack Volumes
Large-capacity packs are often framed because a big bag encourages you to put more stuff inside it. Once volume and weight increase together, some kind of structure becomes much more useful.
The size, shape and frame design of a backpack can all influence how comfortably a load is carried, along with your own body shape and fitness.
They Keep Their Shape
A framed backpack maintains roughly the same structure whether it is half empty or stuffed full. This makes packing more predictable and reduces the chance of one awkwardly shaped item creating a big lump against your back.
That doesn’t mean you can throw everything inside randomly. Keeping dense items close to your back and balancing the load from side to side still improves comfort.
Downsides of Framed Backpacks
The benefits of a frame aren’t free. You pay for them in extra weight, complexity and sometimes cost.
Extra Weight
Even a lightweight frame adds something to the total pack weight. Aluminium stays, framesheets, suspended back panels and heavier hip belts all add grams compared with a minimalist frameless bag.
The important question is whether that extra pack weight makes the total load feel easier to carry. Once the load gets heavy enough, carrying an extra few ounces of frame can be well worth it.
Extra Cost
Frames and adjustable suspension systems add more components and manufacturing complexity. Premium framed packs can therefore be expensive, although there are plenty of inexpensive framed packs and some extremely expensive frameless ultralight ones.
So I wouldn’t use price alone to distinguish the two categories anymore. Specialist ultralight fabrics and cottage-industry construction can make a frameless backpack cost as much as a premium framed model.
Harder to Pack Away
A rigid backpack doesn’t collapse particularly well. This won’t matter on a normal thru-hike where the pack is on your back almost every day, but it can be annoying if you need to put the pack inside airline luggage, a kayak, vehicle storage or another larger bag.
Some lightweight internal frames are removable, which gives you a useful middle ground if packability matters.
Benefits of Frameless Backpacks
Frameless packs appeal to a slightly different type of hiker. Once your entire equipment list becomes lighter and smaller, getting rid of the backpack frame starts to make much more sense.
Lightweight
The main benefit is weight. If you’re the kind of hiker who trims down their toothbrush and weighs their oats, removing a few hundred grams from the backpack itself is an obvious place to save weight.
Some frameless packs contain little more than the pack fabric, straps, pockets and a thin back pad. When your whole load is already light, that can be all the structure you need.
The important part is that a lighter backpack doesn’t magically make a heavy load comfortable. The total weight on your back still matters far more than shaving a few ounces from the pack itself.
Excellent for Lightweight Loads
You will often hear around 20-25 lb quoted as the point where frameless packs become less comfortable. I still think that’s a useful rough guide, but it isn’t a hard limit.
A strong hiker with a well-packed frameless bag may comfortably carry more, while someone else may prefer a frame at 20 lb. Pack design, hip belt, torso length, food and water weight and personal preference all matter.
The real sweet spot is when your normal load is light enough that you no longer need a rigid frame to transfer large amounts of weight.
Simple
There is something nice about a backpack without lots of moving parts, adjustment rails and complicated suspension. You load it, tighten the straps and start walking.
That simplicity also means there are fewer frame components that can bend, crack or start squeaking after thousands of miles.
Easy to Pack Down
A frameless backpack can usually be flattened, rolled or folded into a surprisingly small space. This is useful for international travel, packrafting trips or any journey where your hiking pack needs to disappear inside something else for part of the trip.
They’re also useful for basecamp trips. You can carry a larger load into camp, then use a lightweight frameless pack for day hikes once you’ve dumped the heavy equipment.
Can Be Very Durable
A frameless backpack has fewer rigid components to break, but that doesn’t automatically make every frameless pack tougher than a framed one. Fabric, stitching, zippers and buckles still determine how much abuse the bag can withstand.
Many modern ultralight packs use very strong fabrics for their weight, but an ultralight design is still an ultralight design. Dragging it across granite because “it has fewer moving parts” is a good way to test that theory fairly quickly.
Read our review of the Montane Medusa backpack featured above.
Downsides of Frameless Backpacks
Frameless packs can be brilliant when used as intended, but they become much less appealing when the load gets heavy or awkward.
Less Comfortable With Heavy Loads
This is the main limitation. Once the total pack weight climbs, there is no rigid structure helping transfer that load into the hip belt.
You start relying more heavily on the shoulder straps and the stiffness created by your packed gear. That can still work extremely well with a light load, but the difference becomes obvious once food and water start piling up.
Usually Lower Capacity
Many frameless backpacks are deliberately designed for lightweight equipment, so capacities are often smaller than conventional expedition packs. There are larger frameless packs, but there is little point carrying a huge bag if filling it pushes the weight beyond what the suspension handles comfortably.
In other words, the lower capacity is often a feature rather than a flaw. It stops you bringing half the contents of your house onto the trail.
Less Ventilation
Many ultralight frameless packs sit directly against your back. Without a suspended mesh system or shaped frame, there is less room for air to circulate and your back can get sweaty.
Some manufacturers use foam panels, ridges and breathable padding to improve airflow, but there is only so much you can do when the whole point of the design is to remove unnecessary weight.
Packing Matters More
A frameless backpack makes your packing technique part of the suspension system. Hard or awkwardly shaped objects need to be positioned carefully so they don’t dig into your back.
Some hikers use a folded or rolled sleeping pad as a makeshift framesheet. This adds structure without requiring a permanent backpack frame and is a clever way of making one piece of gear perform two jobs.
Can Lose Their Shape
A badly packed frameless backpack can become lumpy, slump away from your back or feel heavier on one side than the other. Packing one well becomes a bit of an art form, especially when your food bag changes size throughout a long trip.
Once you’ve learned where everything belongs, though, this becomes much less of an issue.
Framed Vs Frameless Backpack Weight
The difference in empty pack weight can be significant. Frameless ultralight backpacks can weigh well under 2 lb, while conventional framed backpacking packs may weigh several pounds depending on volume and suspension.
But empty pack weight is only part of the equation. A 1.5 lb frameless backpack carrying 30 lb uncomfortably may feel much worse than a 3 lb framed pack carrying the same load properly through your hips.
I would therefore choose the lightest backpack that still carries your realistic maximum load comfortably, rather than simply choosing whichever pack weighs least on a spreadsheet.
Who Should Use a Frameless Backpack?
Frameless backpacks make the most sense for hikers who already have a lightweight or ultralight equipment list. If your shelter, sleeping system, clothing and cooking kit are all small and light, a large framed pack can start to feel like unnecessary machinery.
Thru-hikers are obvious candidates because every bit of weight matters over thousands of miles. But remember that a thru-hiker’s pack can occasionally become much heavier after resupplying food or carrying several litres of water through a dry section.
Day hikers can also use frameless backpacks without any problem because their loads are usually small enough that a frame offers little benefit.
Who Should Use a Framed Backpack?
If you regularly carry heavier loads, a framed backpack is probably the safer choice. This includes hikers carrying bulky camping gear, large food loads, extra water, winter equipment or family gear for more than one person.
Framed packs are also a sensible option if you simply value carrying comfort more than saving the last few ounces. Modern lightweight frames mean you no longer have to choose between a six-pound expedition monster and a completely frameless sack.
Are Framed Backpacks Better for Thru-Hiking?
Not automatically. Plenty of experienced thru-hikers use frameless packs, while plenty of others deliberately choose lightweight framed models.
A framed pack makes sense if long food carries regularly push your total load above the point where a frameless pack feels comfortable. A frameless pack makes more sense when your base weight is low enough that even a fresh resupply doesn’t create an unpleasant load.
This is why I would choose the backpack near the end of an ultralight gear overhaul rather than at the beginning. Get the weight of everything else under control first and then you know how much suspension you actually need.
Frame Vs Frameless Backpack: Which Is Better?
For most traditional backpackers, I would choose a lightweight internal-frame backpack. The extra weight is relatively small compared with the benefit of better load transfer when food and water make the pack heavy.
For genuinely lightweight hikers, a frameless backpack can be brilliant. Once your base weight is low enough, carrying a substantial frame simply to support a load that isn’t very heavy starts to defeat the point.
So the answer isn’t really framed vs frameless. It’s how heavy is your pack when it is at its heaviest? Choose the simplest, lightest backpack that can comfortably carry that load and you won’t go far wrong.
