Rick,

Agreed! Or at least in my few hours of playing, I don't notice much different in terms of the load support without the frame sheet. I do notice the 'stuff poking through into the back' part of it, though. Which i realize is 100 percent on me in terms of learning to pack the gear appropriately.

In fact the Atmos pack I am comparing the Circuit too also uses a perimeter frame for the load as far as I can tell but has that bouncy trampoline like gap between the gear and your back to make packing easier. Then again, moving the load away from your back doesn't seem to make logical sense....