Hey everyone, I had some questions about what kind of pack you used. I don’t want ones of those big top loading hiking backpack things which look really heavy and would probably need to be checked in as opposed to carried on (due to being too long). Right now I am looking at a couple High Sierra packs on amazon, which are roughly carry-on size. They are around 2600-2900ci, or 43-47ish liters.
Here are the links to the two:
http://www.amazon.co…
and
http://www.amazon.co…

Here are what I see as the pros and cons of each:
The 22in (first link):
Pros: definitely within carry-on range**, has hip belt and chest strap, is not super huge
Cons: no daypack with it
The 23in (2nd link):
Pros: has hip belt and chest strap, comes with detachable day pack**, is a little bigger than the other one to allow me a little more packing leeway
Cons: Might be slightly too big for carry-on (although could PROBABLY squeeze through, esp. if separated into the two different bags)

**=the biggest attraction for me

Can you help me make a decision?? Thanks so much!
My eurotrip is probably not going to be until spring/summer 2010 and it will be approx. 5-6 weeks, but I’m going on some smaller trips this spring and summer within the US and I thought one of these would be great for use then too, because I will be in some bigger cities, and I will be flying during one of the trips.