I have a fully rigged NICE OK frame with a 6500 bag and DP Lid, Long Pockets, etc, etc. It is a heavy pack, but, VERY comfortable under heavy loads.
I also have one of if not the first original Gen. 1 NICE frames sold into Canada, rigged with a Wolf bag and all the above. I have now had this since 2006 and often pack a total of 80+ lbs. in it during training hikes.
I am 66+ years old and carried my first pack at age 10, here in BC, started actual backpack camping in June, 1964 and have owned many packs, including two Kifarus.
I find my MR packs, the two NICE units, the BDSB I waited about nine months to receive in 2006 and my Deluxe from that time to be outstanding, as my several Dana Design packs have also been.
I also find that MR's QC and materials are superior to any other commercial maker I have seen, but, that comes at the cost of weight, you can't have it both ways.
I might well buy a full-on "Dyneema" McHale this year and that is IT, but, if you can get the fit dialed, the MR packs WILL do the job and last like no others I have seen. My oldest one is an original DD Bomb Pack, bought in 1978, used as a work pack in some of my years working in the BC and Alberta wilderness and it is STILL rocksolid....wish to hell I was!
All that said, I have scored three of the Dana Terraframes, got some good advice from "Vek" here some years ago and I now have two "Shortbeds", which convert to bare frames and one "longbed Loadmaster" which is a neat green colour and is going to be my mountain lake fishing pack for the next several years.
You pretty much have to try packs out to find what works best for you, but, there are lots of "used" items out there to experiment with until you know what works for you under major loads.
If, I were young, again, I would just buy a used older, solid Kelty or CampTrails frame pack, put my basic gear in stuff sacks lashed to this and get out and hike, hunt, fish and learn by doing, which is more fun and a better "school" than the internet....blisters, bugs, spinters and all!
