Originally Posted by gnat
if you go to the store to try one on, keep in mind that once broken in, it will seem smaller. when they are new and stiff, they look absolutely enormous and don't conform all that well. give it a year (or i guess less if you're messing) and it will begin to wrap really well and seem smaller. i think anyway.
This definitely seemed true for my deluxe. At first I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to use it because it seemed so huge and didn't conform. But maybe that's because I was used to my small civilian. I loved my small civilian, but it just couldn't comfortably handle all the stuff I wanted to put in it. I think erring on the large size is a good idea. But trying one on first is always a good idea.