I just got my new Granite Gear Vapor Trail yesterday. I loaded it up with about 25 lbs. and took it out for a 7 mile jaunt. My initial impression of this pack is that it is awesome. I think I like it even better than my Gearskin (sorry Rock). It's got an HDPE framesheet backed with foam, as well as a super cushy, precurved hipbelt, anatomical shoulder straps, and a sternum strap. The majority of the pack is made with silicone coated (not impregnated) 70 denier ripstop nylon with rex twill fabric in high-stress and abrasion areas (on the bottom, two strips on the front, and where the hipbelt and shoulder straps attach to the pack body). It has a large extension collar that rolls down, dry-bag style, two durastretch side pockets, and load lifter straps. The listed volume for the pack is 3600 cubic inches, but this must be with the extension collar fully extended, as the actual pack body is much closer in size to something like a Mountainsmith Ghost. The listed weight is 32 oz. On my scale, it came in at 32.5 oz., very close to the listed weight. The pack has a narrow profile and hugs the back extremely well, making the weight seem to disappear. At this early stage, I'm highly impressed. I think the Vapor Trail may have usurped the Gearskin as my pack of choice for my upcoming thru-hike. I'll be using it more in the next couple of weeks and will report back with any new information.

Yedi

Well, from your first report I am pleased to find out that they did indeed listen to our reports. Your pack is 400 cu inches smaller than mine (I told them to make it 3000, but whatever), and sounds like they narrowed the profile. That was a big issue w/me, as before it sometimes pulled back due to the wider profile.
I can't wait to see one.

The other day I was adjusting the load in the Vapor Trail, and one of the little plastic sliders on the compression strap broke. I don't think that's any indication of poor workmanship, probably just a faulty part, but I thought I'd mention it.

Yedi

After trying out this pack this afternoon, I was very impressed. I spent 1/2 hour walking around the store with about 26-28 lbs loaded into it. Very comfy.

For comparison, I also tried on the Go-Lite Speed. With the minimal shoulder straps and hip belt of the Speed vs. the padded harness "system" of the VT, there is no comparison. The Vapor Trail was much more comfortable. I ended up buying the VT.

I brought it home, loaded it with all my gear that I will be taking on my hike plus about 5 days of food, and found that this pack was too big for all my gear. :( I am thinking that maybe getting a big stuff sack for my sleeping bag, both for the purposes of filling up my pack and also so that I don't compress my sleeping bag as much.

Trail Yeti- I wish they would have taken your advice into account. I would love see this pack with less ci.

Well, they did a little bit, its 400 ci less than mine and it has a much better shoulder straps. Some really good advice for the pack is to PACK IT A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS! That way you can find how it fits you best. For me it was with my sleeping bag and clothing bag on the bottom and the food bag UPRIGHT on top of those, with all the extra stuff shoved around it. Then I tightened the compression straps and off I went. but it still looked enormous on me after I saw pics of me in both it and the speed.
However, another good thing....this thing makes a GREAT pack for slacking. The side compression straps can tighten so much, then it really fits your back like a shirt...awsome pack.
Yedi, I agree that it is probably a faulty part, call GG and tell them.
On a side note, I talked to GG the other day and found out that the Vapor Trail won Backpacker's Editors Choice award...they were pretty happy about that.

Coming in very late on this discussion, but ...

This pack has compression straps over its side pockets. Would this not in effect render the side pocket usless or nearly so, at least for water bottles, etc? And the pockets themselves seem to be very tight, which is a complaint I read in a review somewhere.

Since this is its first year out I wonder if any design revision will be made for next year?

This would likely be my frontrunner pack IF it had more usable exterior pocket space.

why not just fix the pockets yourself, If you wait around for the "perfect' anything you might be waiting for a long time.
Just cut a slit in each side of the pocket and run the compression strap through the slit.

Sail13,

Maybe not a bad idea, but even then the pockets appear so tight that I'm not sure how usable they are and that is something I doubt I can fix. Also I have no skill in sewing and wonder if cutting alone would affect the durability, particularly as stress is applied to the pocket? I also imagine that modifying voids the warranty, which isn't the end of the world, but the warranty has saved me on other equipment. Before I personally modify I'd more than likely go with a ULA or Osprey Aether 45 or 60.

As far as why wait, for me I'm in no real hurry. I'm looking to transition to a lighter system, but have no real need to get it done immediately. I have a Bora 80 and by next spring would like to acquire a second, smaller and lighter pack. I'm learning to be patient in my old age and waiting for the perfect pack is helping me to that end. ;)

Anyway, the Vapor Trail pocket design seems very strange to me, and I thought maybe there was a logic to it that I just don't see. Or maybe the functionality of the pocket is greater than I realize. If anybody who owns or has experience with this pack can comment as to this I would appreciate it.

The appeal of this pack to me is the supposed comfort of the suspension system relative to the weight of the pack. In all the reviews I've read it seems like comfort was always stated as a distinguished aspect of this pack.

I just got a VT from a local shop. Can't deside if I want to keep it or not. It is a bit heavy at 2# 4.61oz (1038g) according to my EX5 scale.

Did you folks put your pad on the outside or make a tube inside the pack? What about your bladder?

If I use my pad (wally world special cut to 54") inside of the pack, and place my 2L bladder in that weird space between the pack body and the back pad, I end up with a lump in my back (from the bladder).

I guess I could put the bladder inside the pack and run the tube out through the top since the bag doesn't use a dry bag roll top closure. *** don't all packs at least have a port for bladders?

And there is the issue of the side pockets being blocked by the compression straps (stupid design).

My brother's gearskin (1.9 ripstop with 400d packcloth bottom) weighs in at 1# 6oz. Of course the Gearskin costs a bit more. And I have to wait for it.


Have you folks looked at the Virga? It is smaller?

I have looked at the Virga and Nimbus Ozone and have the same hangup with the compression strap over the pockets.

Lack of a hydration tube port is also concerning if there is no simple way to route the tube out of the bag.

Stuart
I to am in the process of going lightweight, and just got the vapor trail. Cuting holes for the strap was just one of my ideas that I have yet to try for the useless side pockets, but I would not want to void the warranty if that is the case. The Aether 45 and 60 are also realy good packs the 60 might be a little big though. And if you find the reason for the way the side pockets on the V.T. are the way they are please let me know. Maybe I'll call G.G.

Ok, first the pockets....they will stretch enough to fit all sorts of stuff. What I did was put the stuff in them and then compress it. I did use a platypus to drink out of so getting h20 bottles was not a problem for me. I did keep my companion in the side pockets and never had any trouble pulling it out or putting it back in with the straps.
I put my sleeping pad attached to the outside of the pack, if I did put it inside, I would put it in the pack away from my back.
As for the waterbladder. I only used the actual compartment that is designed in the pack for my water bladder when I was dayhiking with it. Other than that I put the bladder inside the main pack against my back and ran the tube out the top. I did mention this to GG when testing and recommended a hole for the tube but it didn't materialize. If you do put the bladder in the "compartment" then don't top it off, or drink it down, it will conform more to your back that way, eliminating that annoying bulge.
hope this helps.
Yeti

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I guess I mainly see side pockets as water bottle pockets or camera pockets, etc. and don't see VT's pockets functioning in this way. Fooling with a compression strap every time I went for a water bottle would not be good.... in general terms I guess I think of the side pocket as a storage space for items that you'd like to have easy access to and having the compression strap over the pocket runs very counter to that notion.

Maybe what needs to change to make this the perfect pack is the way I think about the pockets. Use a bladder instead of bottles and relegate the pockets for items not so frequently needed, like lunch. Uh oh! Darn those straps! :-?

Seriously, some of the lightweight packs, such as the GoLite Breeze, the ULA P-1 and P-2, maybe the GVP packs and the Osprey Aether 45 do not have lower side compression straps, which makes me wonder how necessary, if at all, they may be in the small volume, light packs?

Originally posted by Yedi
The other day I was adjusting the load in the Vapor Trail, and one of the little plastic sliders on the compression strap broke. I don't think that's any indication of poor workmanship, probably just a faulty part, but I thought I'd mention it.

Yedi

hi everyone! another n00b here. ;) in all seriousness tho, i saw an opportunity to jump in the conversation, a little late... but better late than never, right? lol.

i bought a granite gear virga, not too long ago. i've used it on two backpacking trips in the catskills... hunter mt. and windham high peak.

in regards to the buckle breakage -- this *also* happened to me. one of the two top buckles used to secure the "expandable inner liner" (drybag) part of the pack broke on my virga. maybe this was from overtightening the straps after strapping everything down. i e-mailed granite gear promptly for a replacement, they sent one out. unfortunately it must have gotten lost in the mail -- when the plain letter envelope arrived, it had a rip in it and there was no replacement buckle. grrr... on a positive note, i had also purchased a granite gear stuff sack that also doubles as a daypack. this happened to use the same size buckles, therefore i was able to swap one from the daypack to my virga -- problem solved.

the following is what i like about the virga:

1. the expandable drybag liner. this is pretty neat, i haven't thruhiked yet, but i imagine this would come in handy while hiking the a.t. being able to expand the capacity of the pack using this feature is pretty darn cool.

2. the stretch side pockets. i have no trouble accessing my water bottles and fuel bottle using these. i think someone mentioned the side compression straps being a concern. this hasn't interfered with the side pockets.

3. the ability to use your sleeping pad as a frame-sheet/pack stiffener. i think this is one of the coolest features. i can insert my thermarest ultralight 3/4 pad folded over to form a rectangle -- by adding or removing air from the sleeping pad, i can customize the feel of the pack. it seems to be more comfortable than most setups i've tried in the past.

4. the backpack shoulder straps are pretty beefy. i imagine they'll hold up for quite some time. unlike one of my lowe packs where the foam within the straps seemed to break-down over time.

things i don't like about my virga:

1. the small hipbelt. i guess this wouldn't be an issue with the two larger packs by granite gear -- vapor trail/ozone? i think those packs have a beefer hipbelt setup. the virga uses a simple nylon strap. it's not bad, considering the pack is only designed to carry minimal loads. but i would have liked a fatter hipbelt for more comfort. i don't think this would have added that much weight to the overall pack design.

things i'm undecided on:

1. the lightweight nylon ripstop material used in the pack construction. i realize this makes for a nice lightweight setup, but after a few snags on tree branches it looks easy to damage.

all-in-all i feel the virga/vapor trail/ozone? are great ultralight packs. i don't regret my purchase. just wish i bought the vapor trail for the added benefit of a padded hipbelt. ;)

hope this info helps someone.

a BIG thanks goes out to everyone who makes this place such a cool place to hang. i visit the site almost daily, although i haven't posted up a storm. hopefully you'll see more of me in the months to come. especially since i'm in the planning stages of my own a.t. thruhike. date to be determined. ;) what's the hold-up? my job, my car. once i figure out what to do as far as those two things are concerned. i should be able to get on my way!

talk about a.t. on the brain! ;)

This thread has been very helpful in my efforts to replace my heavy-but-comfy Dana Designs Terraplane with a lighter weight pack. I'm leaning towards the Granite Gear Vapor Trail or possibly the Nimbus Ozone since there will be times that extra food, water and cold-weather gear could push me over the 30-pound mark. Even so, the 3-lb. Ozone would cut over 4.5 pounds off my load!

Does anyone have any extended trip experience with the Vapor Trail or Nimbus Ozone? Also, was it pretty easy to configure to your body after purchase?

I had a VT for a week before I returned it (pocket and pad vs. bladder issues). It fit like a glove. Lots of nice padding. You can't adjust anything on it. The Nimbus is fully adjustable.

[QUOTE=Kerosene]This thread has been very helpful in my efforts to replace my heavy-but-comfy Dana Designs Terraplane with a lighter weight pack.

I hear ya, Kerosene. I've gone light weight. But I put my light weight gear in my Terraplane. Fully loaded it is as comfortable as a jacket. Heck, I just lost 8 pounds of body weight to justify the weight of my Terraplane. It is that comfortable.

I, that is "ME" used the Vapor Trail on an '03 thru-hike. The pack rocks! You'll have to tweek the load on a daily basis but there is almost no break in time for this pack. I did toast out the side pockets with water bottles and break the top buckle but the pack was used everyday for 5 months. An outfitter contacted GG and they replaced the pack no questions.

I'm a satisfied Vapor Trail user myself. Carried it for 3/4 of my thru in 2003. Recently added the "Lid" option from Granite Gear, which I think will all a lot of utility to the pack.

'Slogger
AT 2003

I, that is "ME" used the Vapor Trail on an '03 thru-hike. The pack rocks! You'll have to tweek the load on a daily basis but there is almost no break in time for this pack. I did toast out the side pockets with water bottles and break the top buckle but the pack was used everyday for 5 months. An outfitter contacted GG and they replaced the pack no questions.Whoa, whoa, "U's" just getting the coffee flowing and "ME" is goin to town! You got to love a chick committed!!
We named our packs on the trail (MF & Lola). Lola being the Vapor Trail. Often I woke up to noises unerneath our hammocks that I'm not sure we can talk about here! We had this whole Tom Hanks/Wilson thing going on during our hike and still our packs talk to us!
You should see our "hip packs"
By the way, didn't see any Mt Smith users there. I'm their biggest fan! MF is an auspex but a bit big. I just bought a phatom and so far he rocks! I like the bombproof fabric, minimal weighted yet oriental scaffolding strong sus system, weight of 3 lbs/3000cubes, and all around shape. It's very thin, stout, and load capable. It carries well and even though he's new, he has attitude! He beat out MF for a recent trip ice climbing/camping in NH. Winer!

A whole lot of talk over the VT and the Nimbus, but what are you all thinking about the not quite so lght, but still considered ultralight packs?

what about the lattitude vapor? has anyone out there tried it out?

Glory Bound
NOBO 'O5 (MAY 1st, here I come!!)