Sierra Designs Jubilee 50 Women's Backpack

I bought this pack elsewhere, for less, but that site doesn't provide a place for reviews. I've owned it for almost a week, and I still cannot decide whether I will keep it. As I am petite and small-framed, I do need a pack designed specifically for women. But Sierra Designs has seemed to want to reinvent Backpacks, just for women, with this particular design. I will first discuss the things that I definitely don't like. Firstly, the clips I find that they are too small and very hard to use. It's hard to get a good hold of them, and depressing them to release requires a lot of pressure from the tips of your fingers, which is awkward. They are rounded and streamlined so that the spring release part is not that well differentiated from the rest of the clip, and somehow requires a lot more pressure to depress less distance than a normal sized clip. One of the clips, just below the zipper, which holds the "super-size-me" pocket closed, is nearly impossible to get open because the body of the clip is affixed solidly to the pack material itself (and not from even the shortest of straps. So you literally have to use your finger tips to attempt to get it open. Add to that the slightest bit of fingernail, and forget it! It's a struggle, and I finally conceded that I would just have to lengthen the strap to access the pocket, rather than open that clip. But what if that clips breaks? how can it be replaced when it is mounted onto the pack body? My other peeve is with that same pocket. I've noticed that many of the packs for women now have this large outer pocket which has a clip and not a zipper, so that it is completely open to the elements. I don't get it... what should I keep in there? My fleece? My map and guide book? I hike in New England it's wet often.

Things I'm undecided and unsure about are 1)the highly molded hip belt and lumbar/back supports. I keep trying it on, filled and empty, and I can get it to feel OK, until I bend over. I guess it just might take getting used to but what if I can't? 2) the exposed central stay: I guess it's just bizarre seeing the internal mechanics of a pack exposed, and I wonder whether it'll increase the chances of the stay getting damaged. 3) A minor issue, but why must all women's packs come in girlie colors?

Things I do like: the way it fits around my shoulders, the support of the pack on my hips. The bottom isn't flat, which at first I wasn't sure about, but it does bring the weight higher up to the middle of the back which is good.

Things I would have liked: compression cord on the outside; clips that are easy to manipulate and use; more external pockets that CLOSE with zippers or that have flaps and clips. Traditional styling, yes but I don't agree that because one redesigns a pack to FIT women, that it has to abandon the tried-and-true features that make a pack user-friendly.

In all honesty, though I change my mind about it several times a day and have left the tags on just in case, I will probably keep it. If I had paid any more than I did ($99), It'd be going back. Hopefully it'll grow on me.

Happy trails!