TETON Sports Scout 55L Internal Frame Backpack

Great backpack for travelling. We went to Vietnam for 3 weeks, and I picked this bag up for the trip… We didn’t do a lot of hiking or foot travel, however the bag did haul all my stuff for the full 3 weeks from the airplane (checked baggage) to a taxi, on trains, buses, back of motorbikes, scooters and of course lugging it on my back.

It is comfortable, especially with the hip straps, and very light weight.

There are many pockets for all your stuff; two on each side for a water bottle, and two zipper pockets for other quick access items.

The build quality so far is very good. The only things that snapped off (and quickly at that) were the plastic clips on the hip straps that hold the excess slack in the strap. They were very flimsy and broke right in half with little pressure.

My only wish for this bag, is that it could be accessed or opened up from the side (main compartment). It is a “top load” bag, so if you have your clothes packed in there, you have to either dig for items at the bottom or pull it all out.

Great value for the money…

So I went out to several stores and tried on several different packs in the 100- 200 dollar range. This one was about 75 in the stores so I thought what the heck let’s try it on and give it shot. It fit me well and overall was very comfortable. I am fairly short by guy standards; 5’6 160. So I hoped on Amazon and saw it was just about 50 bucks. Well like most, I was expecting some of the problems I have read about here. However, I have yet to have any of them. Since buying this, I have hiked Mt Washington in NH, Mt Davis in Pa, and Back Bone Mountain in. I have also taken this pack on multiple climbing excursions. I must say this things has held up amazingly. I have had zero problems with it thus far. For my local climbing trips, it has handled my full climbing gear (200 ft rope, harness, helmet, carabiner, belay, etc…) plus food water etc for the day. For my hike up Mount Washington, which anyone who has done that knows how crazy it can get, it performed very well… I ended up having to use the handy dandy waterproof “sheath” that came with the pack. It has endured some serious abuse and keeps on taking it. I would recommend this pack to anyone at this point. As to the pack itself, it has tons of little features. It has locking mechanisms on the lumbar straps, 2 outside pockets that are literally the perfect size for a Nalgene, It has a pocket on the top for random things (I used it for flint and my back up plan of 9V battery and steel wool), At the bottom it has a place for your sleeping bag. All in all a fantastic pack for the price, until I wear this one out I do not anticipate needing another one. Well at least not until I learn how to ice climb and knock out Mt Rainier!
All in all this is a great pack for the price and I would recommend this to anyone who is just starting out in their hiking career

UPDATES!!! 6/22/2011
So over the last week I did 3 more high points with this pack where the use of a ultra-lightweight tent was required (i have the Seedhouse SL-1 in case you are in the market for a tent). And again this performed more than adequately. I trekked up the Appalachian trail to Mt rogers in VA and then drove to Black Mtn. in KY and then spent 3 days hiking on and around Spruce knob in WV. Once again the rain fly came in handy mt Rogers was under severe winds the entire time i was there… This pack hold everything I needed. I have added some D-ring accessories to it my self for easy access to food and my camera, but otherwise it is the pack as I bought it. I am not sure if I am missing something the other reviewers are saying, but the side pockets (the ones about mid way up the pack) are large enough to Hold my 32oz Nalgenes, but you just can’t zip them shut (mostly because of the lid), if you need clarification on this I can send some pictures to you. The only down side I can see thus far is the eventual need for space for longer duration and technical climbs… But as i am using this for 2-4 days trips, it works great.

Likely My Last update! 11/28/2011
As the winter approaches and my hiking time is slowly replaced by strip mall and market time. Since my last update I have used this pack extensively. I hiked a 30 mile portion of the Appalachian trail on my way to Clingmans Dome in TN and then in once that was completed I did about a 10 mile hike on my way to the top of Mt Mitchell in NC. I must stress that I am very much the minimalist… I take very little extra that one could safely do without. That means a couple sets of clothes, cold gear, tent, bag, food, water, and obviously first aide and water purification. I keep a small multi-tool on me and a rather large knife I was issued in the desert… That’s about it… I have yet to come across i situation where the pack is more than maybe 2/3rds of the way full… But at any rate, I have had very little issues with this pack aside from the chest strap… The clasp did give way finally, about mid way through my 30 miler to clingmans… Luckily I came across a nice woman who was willing to give me one of her extras… I made on modification to the pack it’s self. The mid-side pouches sewed on some netting so over the top of them and got ride of the zipper so I could fit my nalgenes there. But other than that the thing has been flawless… I likely will not need a new pack for some time… Hope this info has been helpful

Gut verarbeitet, viel Platz, schöne Farbe. Die Rückpolsterung für mich nicht bequem. Ich habe ein andere gekauft für backpacking in Thailand und würde es nicht kaufen.

**2 YR UPDATE**
Bag is still in great shape. I’ve taken it up several mountains and to several lakes in several weather conditions. It is a quality bag for the price, no question. It is a bit heavy and not so ergo, but I have zero complaints for what I paid, not a single one. I lost my first zipper on my last summit, but other than that the entirety of the bags functionality is as advertised and as presented day one. It still looks good too 🙂

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First off, if you are budget shopping and want to stretch your dollar the farthest, this is the pack for you. JUST BUY IT

I’ve had this pack for over a year now and it hold everything I need to live indefinitely in the wild. I have routinely done 3 day hikes with it all year and had it in everything from desert heat, to tropical rain, and a little snow here and there.

The bag is constructed of pretty tough ripstop fabric and has just enough compartments to organize me. There is a great sleeping bag pocket that perfectly holds a Featherlite +0 Ultra Light, Ultra Compact, RED and still leave plenty of room for the rest of your gear. Another nice feature is the rainfly that stuffs into a pocket in the bottom of the bag, it has been used a couple times and works well.

Pro’s:
-tough ripstop fabric
-solid construction, stitching, and clips
-sleeping bag pocket
-two cup holders
-fully adjustable straps (all of them, not just shoulder and waist)
-high and low sets of straps for attaching oversized items (like a tent) to pack
-camelback storage
-many small, nice things I can’t think of at the moment
-stretchable pole holders on each side, 2ea above the cup holders (holds SOG Specialty Knives & Tools F01T Tactical Tomahawk, Black perfect)

Con’s:
-not an XL sized pack (but that should be obvious)
-Not ergonomically perfect (leans back a bit when fully loaded)
-nowhere to store my machete reasonably
-No MOLLE hookups for clipping canteens, cups, etc onto pack (still can do it, but less orderly)

Overall I would, and likely will, buy another one of these without much thought. They are the best deal on amazon right now bar none.