Introduction

See History of Kelty Spectra Backpacks for lots of information and pictures about the Kelty spectra packs.

I got the Whitney from a pack collector. It is a Kelty spectra pack. I had never heard of it before. The non-spectra pack was manufactuered in 2001. I presume this was a very limited edition, or a prototype of some kind.

Back view

This pack is a simple daypack. The interesting thing about the pack is it is reversable. I am not sure why someone might want to do this, but you can have the specta on the outside (obviously white), or some kind of blue nylon ripston on the outside. It is possible that the blue nylon ripstop grid is spectra, but I can't be sure. The main pack opens via a zipper that wraps around the top of the pack. In order to turn inside-out, the shoulder straps come off completely. There are metal attachment points on the top edge of the pack, and the shoulder straps go through the metal attachment point and secure to themselves via velcro. On the 'inside' are also metal attachment points for the shoulder straps. Also on the 'inside' are straps that attach to the bottom of the shoulder straps when on the outside. The top compartment is perminantly attached to the pack and has a zipper closure.

The waist strap is wide but unpadded, and comes out of a zippered area on either side of the pack which can be used to store the waist straps. On the blue side, there is no waist strap. There is a robust blue webbing handle on top of the pack, and its black twin on the inside. There are two blue daisy chains running up and down the back of the pack along with an ice axe loop at the bottom of each. They are not present on the blue side. There are two water bottle holders on the sides of the pack made out of spectra on the bottom 1/3 and nylon mesh on the top 2/3 with some elastic on top. Their twins are present on the blue side of the pack so when reversed the blue pack also has two water bottle holders.

Front view

Here you can see how the shoulder straps attach to the pack via a metal double D ring sewn to the pack. There are two sets of double D rings, one on the inside, and one on the outside. The strap that goes through the D ring has lots of velcro on the end which secures it to the shoulder strap. When the pack is white side out, it has a hip belt, though it can be stowed away via the vertical zippers on either side of the pack. There are two pouches that can be attached to the waist strap and are made mostly of spectra and have zipper closures. They are big enough for a wallet. They secure to the waist strap by going around it, and secure to the waist strap with velcro. They have some padding on the back, so when they are on, the waist straps has some padding. They are visible as the black area on the hip belt.

Lid view

This is a view inside the lid. Inside are two pieces of nylon to help organize the top area. Inside the pack is another zipper access to the top compartment as well with the same nylon dividers.

Blue top view

There is a small zippered compartment on the bottom on the pack, whose purpose is unknown to me. There is a clip on the inside of the lid, which clearly is designed to mate to something. It is not present on the blue side. I heard from the guy I got it from that it might have been for a pack cover, which is now missing. The blue ripstop fabric is a bit sticky which indicates that the waterproofing treatment is getting old. There is no internal frame, simply some padding on the back area of the pack.

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