Eastern Mountain Sports?? Never heard of em'...

Alright, I never heard of this brand but I like it A LOT!

Eastern Mountain Sports?

When I was at Campmor someone turned me onto it, and best part is its walking distance from the Campmor I was at too. I wanted to see if Campmor had any good ultralight packs, but nothing really fit me right. I walked around with a Go-Lite Jam, but was unimpressed. Not very supportive. I can see if your under 20lbs then yeah, but I have a feeling I will be a little over 20lbs so not a good fit for me. Also tried the pinnacle, felt better, but too big. Little disappointed with their selection...I walked out to EMS.

The store seemed legit from its outer appearance, and the inside was a reflection of the outside as well. Besides a funny smell to the place, they had a decent selection. Packs not so much of a selection, but shoes and other kinds of gear are there with good help to guide you.

I was checking out an Osprey Talon 33 which I liked, but the shoulder straps were a little skimpy for my liking. After taking it off he pulled down another. It was an EMS Trail 30 pack? When he pulled it down I thought it was going to be at least 200 bucks, and some cheapo no-name, knock-off pack that was made with crappy materials. Turns out...120 dollars!!! As soon as I saw that I knew there was a catch with the quality or something. So I loaded it up with 20lbs, threw it on, and made my adjustments. For some reason this pack felt better then anything I have ever tried on(Greggory Palisade 80, Dana Design packs, Osprey packs, Go-Lite, and some arcteryx). I know thats a pretty limited opinion, but after leaving Campmor I was starting to think I was being too picky or a wimp to say the least and had to settle on something that was uncomfortable. I also found out that there having a 20% off sale and today is the last day. So now I'm thinking I could walk out of this place with a pack for my girlfriend and I for less then 200 dollars. Now granted its not the Granite Gear I wanted but for 200 dollars can you go wrong with this pack? Only thing is I can't find a lot of reviews. But what I found was mostly good talk about it.

I'm just curious to see if anyone knows anything about this pack, or this brand for that matter. I am not buying this pack because of price, but because of the comfort. The price/sale was just a bonus after I fell in love with it. Heres a link, http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3655567&cp=3677338.3737363.4058658.

Lemme know what you guys think!

Brand has no bearing on how well a pack fits YOU.

I backpacked for about 5 years with a no-name cheapie that cost me about $45. I modified it rather extensively to make it lighter weight than it came off the shelf, but I still own it and it fits me very comfortably. It can handle a week or a tad more of gear and food and I never had a lick of trouble from it.

EMS is popular in my parts. In fact it is the only real store available for backpacking gear. Quite a few of my friends get their gear from EMS. As others said, the fit is most important. I am not sure who actually designs/manufactures the EMS branded gear as EMS is a store not a manufacturer. If you are worried about quality of brand, EMS is quite respectable. An example, a friend brought in a pack that she has used (abused) for at least 5 years. Since it was an EMS pack they did repairs on the pack in-store at no charge. They also helped her fix a problem with her stove (not EMS brand).

Brought my g/f to check it out as well, the small fit her perfectly and also agrees on how comfy it was compared to a lot of others. You never know until you try it on... I guess I really learned that lesson now. I like researching everything, sometimes I go overboard and drive myself crazy as well as the people around me. I get it from my dad, were very obsessive compulsive, and like having the "best" stuff. I'm slowly learning that price/reviews are no way to buy backpacking equipment. I mean I know its best to try stuff on, but when I get excited and find something I like I tend to get impatient and forget that little rule. Now I think it sunk in. I would have never bought this pack just because it said Eastern Mountain Sport lol.

I've had a synthetic winter bag that I got from EMS that I have used for years.

I've also had a few other pieces of clothing that I have been very happy with.

Tango61

EMS has been around for more than 40 years. If you've never heard of them, you must be new to backpacking. As the name implies, they are a New England company, but like everyone else, they have a web presence now.

I remember them from the days of mail order catalogs, back in the 70's and 80's. Like REI, Patagonia, and many others no longer around, they started out selling climbing gear and stuff imported from Europe. Also like a lot of the stores and brands from the old days, it has undergone a number of owners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Mountain_Sports

I grew up on the east coast but didn't take in the outdoors until living in the Northwest... where REI is king. Living East again I tend to go to EMS for just about everything as there's a store only a few miles away...

to an earlier question about who builds their stuff, i learned from one of their store mgrs that they actually design and build their own stuff which i thought was pretty cool. and I agree - the prices are right... particularly if you're willing to forego the big names and super-high detail builds of some of the other brands.

Patagonia is a live and well my friend. I went to the store in Bar Harbor, wayyyyy over priced. I dont know if it was just cause I was in a tourist trap town...or if thats Patagonia for ya....

I didn't mean to imply that Patagonia was gone, but many others have disappeared altogether or have been bought out. Patagonia was started by Yvon Chouinard who earlier had started Chouinard Equipment which he sold during bankruptcy proceedings due to liability lawsuits involving climbing gear that put the company under. It became Black Diamond Equipment which still makes climbing and ski gear.

Patagonia makes high end clothing. They don't call it Patagucci for nothing. Overpriced? Depends on what item you are talking about, but I agree, their stuff is pricey. I have Capilene thermals that I have owned for over 20 years. Can't remember what I paid for them, but a bargain at twice the price. I still wear them a couple times a year when I go winter camping or skiing. They make great socks as well. I also have an old paddling jacket I haven't worn in a very long time. Can't remember what I paid for it, but probably not that much otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Nowadays though, I would be hard pressed to buy anything unless it was on sale.