I'm looking to get my own pack, and would like to hear opinions of those with more experience ...

I borrowed a friend's Deuter Futura Vario 50+10 Backpack. It fit all my gear, plus some items that I no longer plan to take with me. This pack weighs in a 2.24 kg (~ 5lbs)

Consequently, I'm looking for something in the 60 L, or so, range for all my gear.

I do have a Ribz pack that handles up to 8 L of stuff, allowing me to be a bit more flexible with the main pack.

I'm a hammocker with Down Top and Under quilts. I'm pretty new to the scene and don't pretend to know very much.

I tend to take care of my gear, no matter what the sport. On the pack I borrowed, I did treat it with a lot of respect, as I would my own, but I'd like to avoid anything that is really delicate.

I quite liked the airflow design of the Deuter pack, but I'm open to the more traditional style as well. (I tend to have a fair amount of back sweat, based on daypacks I've used)

My base (Back)pack Weight, WITHOUT Food, Water, or the Pack itself is currently around 19 lbs.
- I left out the pack in the measurement to give a universal reference, independant of the pack.
This is assuming some gear would be in the Ribz Pack, weighed separately.

At the moment, I'm not worrying too much about pricing ... I can always take some more time to save up.


From my research, I've made a list of some packs that look interesting:

Maker....................Model ....... Size ...............Weight ..... Max. suggested Carry

ULA ..................... Circuit........ 68 L ............. 1110 g ..... Up To 35 lbs

ULA ..................... OHM 2.0 .... 63 L ............... 822 g ..... Up to 30 lbs

Gossamer Gear ....... Mariposa.... 70 L ............... 808 g ..... Up To 35 lbs

Gossamer Gear ....... Gorilla ....... 47 L ............... 793 g ..... Up To 35 lbs

Osprey .................. Exos 58 .... 58 L ............. 1200 g ..... Up To 40 lbs

Osprey .................. Exos 48 .... 48 L ............. 1130 g ..... Up To 35-40 lbs

ZPacks .................. Arc Blast .. 52 L ............... 468 g ..... Up to 30 lbs

ZPacks .................. Arc Blast .. 45 L ............... 454 g ..... Up to 30 lbs

Elemental Horizons ... Kalais ...... 53 L ............... 882 g ..... Up To 35 lbs

Elemental Horizons ... Kalais ...... 61.5 L ............. 879 g ..... Up To 35 lbs

Six Moon Designs ..... Flight 40 .. 48 L ............... 907 g ..... 35+ lbs

Six Moon Designs ..... Fusion 50 . 50 L ............. 1020 g ..... "whatever gear you need"



I think the Gorilla, smaller Arc Blast, and the Flight 40 are going to be a little small at this point. I figure a slightly bigger pack would also give more room for keeping the down expanded, so the space won't be wasted.


The ULA Circuit seems to have a good following with many users, which is a good selling point. I've been using it like a baseline to compare other lightweight packs against. It does seem a bit bigger than I'd need.

I'm leaning towards the larger Arc Blast, as it has the airflow style suspension, and along with the Ribz will provide about the same volume as the pack I borrowed.

The exos are the others with the airflow suspension, but are quite a bit heavier. On the plus side, I can try them in locally in store.

The mariposa looks fairly decent for one with a solid back and good on weight. Seems like a good compromise on all fronts. Not sure of the durability compared to the circuit though. The extra volume can be cinched down to keep the size reasonable.

I don't know much about the Six moon or Elemental packs. Only what I have read on their websites. They look interesting though.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks!