Pack Frustration

San Francisco, California, USA

So I decided to start looking around for a pack to take traveling with me. Technically speaking, I've already got an older North Face pack that is probably adequate, but I was hoping to find something less "extreme" and more geared towards traveling. Sadly, that's proving to be harder to find then I thought. I'm looking for something along the following lines:

• Minimal outside pockets. Pockets that are advertised as providing "excellent access" are just no good when you're traveling. The last thing you want to worry about is someone taking advantage of those easy access pockets while on a crowded bus or train to help themselves to stuff in your pack.
• Minimal straps, hooks, mesh pockets, etc... Sadly, I don't need hooks for crampons, ropes, climbing gear or anything else that this things are designed for. They get caught in luggage shoots and just plain get in the way the rest of the time. I just want the basic straps to hold the bag together, nothing more since everything is going to be *inside* the bag while traveling.
• Basic colors. That bright yellow or red pack probably looks cool at the base of Everest, but frankly I'd rather be a bit more low-key myself while traveling through certain countries. I'm already going to stand out like a lighthouse, no need to compound the problem with a 4 foot tall bright yellow back on my pack. Ideal would be plain black, with no logo suggesting how expensive the pack is. Let me worry about grabbing the right pack off the baggage carousel.
• Bonus points for any of the following: Uses lightweight material, has inner pockets and has built-in rain or travel cover.

My current plan is to get one large pack, then get a smaller day pack that will fit inside the larger pack for point-to-point trips, but that I can easily pull out for day use. This leads me to my second complaint... Why are "day use" bags so damn technical? I'd like to see how people are using some of these packs because frankly, I don't understand why they need such big waistbelts, or have as many (and in some cases more) straps, mesh pockets and loops then the expedition packs! And if you thought the larger packs had lots of "easily accessible pockets", well you haven't seen the half of it when it comes to day packs.

Finally, what's up with having a lame website in 2005? I realize not every company can have a site as clean as Apple's, but come on people a little effort goes a long way to making your company not look so clueless. There's no way I'm going to order a pack from a website if I can't see what the back of it looks like, or the inside, or it on someone for height comparisons, let along what it looks like in the different colors. Given that you can't even get many of these packs in local stores (and I live in the Bay Area with plenty of expedition shops), it makes me wonder how these companies plan on selling their gear. I'm also tempted to just do website work for some of these companies when I come back from traveling... /sigh

Props to Timbuk2 for possibly the best website for a company that makes bags. 360 degree pictures, a build-your-own interface, pictures of the bag for each color (as opposed to just a color swatch) and a bunch of other nice touches that make you want to purchase from them, assuming you were in the market for a messenger back.

Kenny