Starting at around $100, the Kelty Impact 30 backpack offers comfort, durability and lots of clever storage. It’s big enough for a weekend trip outdoors but isn’t too big that you couldn’t use it day ...

Backpacks today look nothing like the metal and canvas contraptions of the 1970s. Removable internal supports made of plastic have replaced external frames, and ripstop nylon now reigns supreme. No ...

Outdoor gear brand Kelty is well-known for its iconic external aluminum frame backpack, but over the years the brand has struggled to remain visible in a competitive field. Now, Kelty's parent company ...

Asher I. “Dick” Kelty, whose innovative aluminum external-framed backpacks with waist straps revolutionized backpacking in the 1950s, has died. He was 84. Kelty, who suffered from congestive heart ...

In this column last month, I covered two major companies, Kelty and JanSport, who will introduce retro-style, external-frame backpacks in 2011. The article pitched external-frame packs as throwbacks — ...

In this column last month I covered two major companies, Kelty and JanSport, who will introduce retro-style, external-frame backpacks in 2011. The article pitched external-frame packs as bulky, ...

Two major outdoors-products companies, Kelty and JanSport, are taking a retro tilt with backpacks for 2011. This month, both companies unveiled backpacks for next year's line that look like models as ...