MEC Happy Trails carrier--good buy?

[pillysuss]

Hi,

I am looking for a good affordable frame pack carrier. I have an opportunity to buy a slightly used Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) Happy Trails carrier. I don't have the opportunity to check it out in person, so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this carrier. It retails for CDN$109.00 (second-hand one is CDN$75.00) which seems like a great price compared to Kelty and other brands. But I'm curious to know how it stacks up against the competition. I would like to use it for around town but also for the occasional day-long hike. Anyways, in case anyone would like to check it out, go to:

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=711559&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=16665&bmUID=1112891263031

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[HeatherW]

Seems heavy....if you like Kelty, check out this link...I posted it on another thread, too.

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=226&catalogId=40000000226&langId=-1

[Neatfreak]

My husband bought one of these yesterday and we took our daughter to Banff with it today. He found it quite comfortable,and M seemed to have a great time. They sell a more expensive version at MEC and the salesperson there explained that the only difference between the two models was the price.