UPDATE: OCT 18, 2025 — Sometime in the past couple of months Kelty removed the replacement parts (shoulder straps and waist belt) from their website. I’ll leave this post intact as it contains useful information. I’ll also leave the links to the replacement items incase Kelty starts selling them again.

There has been a lot of interest in this post on Vintage Kelty External Frame Backpacks.  Seems many folks have figured out these backpacks are fairly light and extremely durable, not to mention several companies are starting to bring new versions of external frame backpacks to market. Yes, as things often go, the old stuff works and marketing people think they have come up with something extra-ordinary, when in fact, they are just re-inventing the wheel. Although I mostly use a couple of internal frame backpacks most of the time theses day, I still use my old Kelty external frame backpacks. They just work and are fun to hike with. Often these old Kelty packs can be found pretty cheap in thrift stores and on eBay.

One problem with these old Kelty packs is the foam in the shoulder straps and hipbelts get rock-hard after several decades. Several folks have told me they would have bought a used one, but the foam was too hard.

Now there is a solution. 

In fact the solution has been around for a long time! Order a replacement shoulder strap set and hipbelt for Kelty’s current Trekker 65 external frame backpack. In this post I will show you how to install them on an old-school Kelty backpack.

Continue reading Update Your Old Kelty External Frame Backpack →