The ILBE is a great general purpose pack. It excels at bulky and heavy loads. It does not break down into a smaller pack. It is also very good for carrying a rifle and tripod strapped to the sides, sticking out of the side bottom pouches. IMO, if you want a pack that carries weight as well as an ILBE, but want it to weigh 3 lbs less, you need to spend $400. If 3 lbs meant that much to me, I should push my gut away from the french fries ...
That said, with the very generous requirements given by the OP, craiglist may be the way to go. There are a lot of solid packs there if you live in a semi-large city, or near one. Another good source is Goodwill. My go-to pack for general purpose stuff, including an overnight or two, is a Kelty Coyote scammed from Goodwill, new with tags, for about $10. Just got a North Face Blue Kazoo down bag in perfect condition for $6. Paid $3 each for a pair of Ortleib panniers, new with REI paperwork still inside. Sold them on eBay for $140. I figure someone got pissed off at their boyfriend/hubby and chucked his stuff at Goodwill ... You can get good stuff there if you work at it. If you require matching camo patterns, Goodwill isn't the place to hunt.
So my answer to the OP is the used market or an ILBE. If you are strong enough to fill up an ILBE with heavy stuff and still walk at all, you are a stud.
