For Sale: McHale Backpack

“I have for sale a used McHale backpack. This is the Alpineer model, which is the bayonet”” system which converts from a very large daypack to a full expedition backpack, utilizing state of the art 7075 T6 aluminum stays, or “”bayonets””. This model also has the bypass harness system and full wrap “”Critical Mass”” hip belt. Dan McHale makes state of the art custom packs in his shop in Shilshole and if you are not familar with them you can read about them on his web site at: http://www.mchalepacks.com/.^^I bought this pack used but it is too small for me in the shoulders and hip belt. Although I am short I have a fairly long torso (20-21″”) and this pack is more suited to a person with a 17″”-18″” torso. Likewise, the critical mass hipbelt is more suited to a waistline of 30″”-32″”, rather than my burgeoning 35″” waist. I met with dan in his shop and although a larger hip belt really helped, the shoulder straps strangled me and he was not willing (didn’t have the time) to rip the pack part and try to rebuild it to fit me. Why did I buy this pack? Because I was greedy. The lure of buying a real McHale pack for $250 rather than the $650 new price tag was just too tempting. The pack felt fine with no weight in it, but with 35 lbs (and up) I get strangled. The pack itself is in good shape, with the exception of some soiling on the cover of the removeable top pocket/fanny pack. The color is royal blue with maroon compression straps. I’m asking $225 for the pack. I can bring it to one of the Trailblazer meetings if anyone would like to try it out. I’m attaching a couple of .jpg files to this message – hope they turn out. They seem kind of dark to me. Anyway, please drop me an email if you have any questions about this pack. Thank you.^^^^Cliff Church^^salish@foxinternet.com”””