chris
09-02-2003, 13:50
Reviewer Name: Chris Willett aka Suge aka Sugarmonkey
Age: 29
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 190 lbs
Experience: The review is based upon my 105 day thru hike of the 2658 mile long Pacific Crest trail this summer.
Similar Products Used: None.
Similar Products on the Market: GVP G4.
Locations/Conditions Tested: The deserts of southern California, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, mountains and ridges of northern California, volcanoes and rain forests of Oregon and Washington.
Weight (as advertised): 19 oz.
Weight (as tested): 19.5 oz.
Price: $125
Manufacturer Web Address: www.ula-equipment.com
E-mail Address: ula-equipment@hotmail.com
Capacity: 2700 ci (main body), 600 ci (extension collar), 600 ci (superpocket).
Weight Issues: Without food, water, or fuel, my packweight was around 12 lbs. I tended to carry about 3 lbs of food per day. With 3.5 days of food and a normal load of water (i.e, less that 2.5 liters), the pack was comfortable enough for all day travel. With a larger amount of water or food, the pack was not comfortable, but was tolerable. ULA asserts that the pack is good for loads of 25 lbs of less and I believe this to be accurate. The heaviest my pack was at any point was around 40 lbs, when I had a 9 day supply of food.
Construction and Design: The Zenith is one of the few packs on the market (the GVP G4 being the other) that utilizes a Z-rest as a partial frame sheet. Without the Z-rest as a frame, the Zenith is simply a frameless rucksack. There is a detachable, padded hipbelt and the shoulder straps are padded as well. The padding looks relatively thin when compared with the monster padding found on most large, traditional packs, but is more than adequate for lightweight loads. The pack is built using lightweight nylon cloth with Spectra in heavy wear places like the bottom. The Z-rest attaches to the pack via two straps which run parallel to the user's back. The Z-rest is slipped in between them and then the straps are tightened, providing enough of a framesheet to allow transfer of weight to the hips. The Z-rest also provides a cushion between the user's back and the contents of the pack, so that hard, non-crushable items (such as a pot) are not felt. I began using my 3 year old, 3/4 length Z-rest but switched after 1,200 miles to a new, 3/4 length one. The new Z-rest provided better weight transfer and stability than the old one, not surprisingly.
The large mesh superpocket on the outside is not divided into two sections, as it might appear in pictures. Snap cords keep everything in place. The pack does not adjust for torso length, but the hipbelt and shoulder straps are adjustable and allow the user to alter the way the pack carries throughout the course of the hiking day. The pack top and extension collar close down via draw cords and a strap on top keeps everything in place when the pack is not filled to capacity. The Zenith has a single ice axe loop and a daisy chain, which I mostly used to hold dirty and drying socks.
Initial Impression: I very much liked the concept of a lightweight pack with a hipbelt and plenty of external storage capability for my water bottles. I was thrilled when I found the ULA website. The GoLite Breeze does not use a hipbelt and the Gust was just too large and had too little outside storage options. The other main option was the GVP G4, which I decided against because I did not believe that the method of attaching the Z-rest to the pack as a framesheet would work well. I was originally interested in the ULA P1, but shortly before the 2002 Gathering, ULA introduced the Zenith. The owner and sewer at ULA, Brian Frankle, was at the Gathering with his packs and it didn't take long for me to become convinced that the Zenith was the way to go for my upcoming Pacific Crest trail thru hike. Brian has thru hiked the PCT and done other interesting trips, such as a traverse of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It inspires confidence when your gear is made by an experienced long distance hiker.
Initial Tests: I took the Zenith out on two shakedown hikes before leaving for the PCT.The first was a 38 mile trek, 3 day trip into the Grand Canyon. While the distance traveled was fairly short (I was with college friends), the elevation gain was rather extreme at times. The Zenith carried my load well and I had no problems with the pack. It certainly did not feel like the first time using it. That is, it had a certain familiarity to it. The second trip was a 45 mile, 1.5 day trip into the Smoky Mountains. The Zenith performed very well on this longer mileage, even larger elevation trip. As with any ultralight pack, however, the main question would be durability on an extended trip. These two shorter trips did not test durability, but rather convinced me that the design of the pack was a good one.
Fit: I have an approximately 19" torso, which is short for my 6'4" height. The pack fit me very well and I believe it would be quite acceptable for people within 1-2 " of my torso length. By adjusting the shoulder straps, I could make the pack ride higher or lower on my torso, with more or less weight going to the hips. Riding high, most of the weight of the pack was centered on my shoulders, going down wards. However, this meant that the hipbelt was higher than optimal, so I would tend not to use it in this configuration (note that the hipbelt is removable). With the pack riding lower, the main force was on my chest/front part of my shoulders and I could get the hipbelt to ride properly on top of my hipbones. The hipbelt padding is a bit too long, however, and I found that for the last 900 miles of so of the trip, the hipbelt was slightly too large to get cinched down completely. I started with a 36" waist and ended with a 33" waist.
Durability: Any gear that you take on a 2658 mile, 105 day trip is going to take a beating, so durability was the main problem that I expected with this ultralight pack. On the whole, I believe the durability of the pack was fine, but there were two points that I would like to see built better. Around mile 1500, I noticed that the left hipbelt attachment point was beginning to come loose. The thread that connects the hipbelt webbing to the Spectra bottom was fraying. By mile 2000, it was half way undone and by mile 2200, I was down to less than 20% of the original amount. Since the webbing is very tough, I had a difficult time sewing it back on and was only able to reinforce it with five or six stitches. These pulled out as well. The hipbelt never came off, but with another 300-500 miles, it probably would have. The other durability problem was where the back panel meets the Spectra top flap that helps secure the Z-rest to the back of the pack. This started to open up around mile 1500 and was a 5 inch hold by mile 2150. A friend easily sewed this up and it didn't come loose the rest of the trip. The bottom Spectra took a beating, as might be expected, from my frequent sliding over rocks and tumbling down scree fields. There are some abrasions that will become holes in the future. The mesh superpocket came through in fine shape, with only one small, 1/4 diameter hole in it. The stitching on the side panels looks worn, but is in tact. Overall, I think the durability to be good for an ultralight pack, but the hipbelt does need to be reinforced.
Trail Test: On May 9th, 2003, I left the Mexican border near Campo, CA to begin my 2658 mile hike of the Pacific Crest trail. The PCT begins in southern California, which many people simply refer to as the "desert". It is desert like, with many 25-35 mile waterless stretches, but also contains several large mountain ranges (up to around 10,000 feet) such as the San Jacinto, San Bernadino, and San Gabriel ranges. From the start, I got used to carrying 7.2 liters of water (my maximum capacity), which certainly tested the comfort rating of the pack. For the first 700 miles (Southern California), I averaged around 22 miles a day, covered in about 12-13 hours a day. In the mountainous Sierra Nevada region (roughly the next 400 miles), I also averaged about 22 miles a day, but had to work much harder to do so. From Lake Tahoe north to the Canadian border, I averaged about 30 miles a day, covered over about 14 hours, including breaks. My pace was well above the average PCT pace, although I never felt rushed or overly broken down at the end of the end. I believe that carrying the light load in an efficient backpack was at least part of the reason why I was able to hike for such long periods of time without getting excessively tired.
For the first 1,100 miles (roughly to Lake Tahoe), I usually had to carry more weight than I would have preferred. In southern California, it was necessary to haul water. In the Sierra, this wasn't necessary, but the distances between resupply points and the difficulty of the terrain forced me to carry large amounts of food. After Lake Tahoe, resupply points were no more than 5 days apart and water was plentiful (mostly). When packed correctly (i.e, a solid column of gear), the Zenith is extremely stable when carried with the hip belt. No excessive side-to-side movement during scrambling, despite the lack of a sternum strap. I tended to carry the Zenith in one of several positions, depending on my load and the terrain. With the shoulder straps loosened a bit, the weight of the pack transfered very well to my hips, although I could not completely remove the weight from my shoulders. With two full water bags (4.8 liters of water) in the superpocket, the weight would pull backwards against the front part of my shoulders, although not painfully so. To relieve my shoulders when they would tire, I would carry the pack slightly off one shoulder. That is, I would move the shoulder strap from my shoulder down to the upper part of my arm and walk down the trail with my hands clasped in front of me. This turned out to be one of my favorite positions to walk in. When the load was lighter, I would cinch down the shoulder straps which caused the pack to ride higher on my back, taking most of the weight off my hips and placing it on my shoulders. In this set up, the main force of the pack was directed down, rather than back, my body. This would cause the hipbelt to ride higher than optimal, so I would frequently disengage the hipbelt when using the pack this way. Beltless carry is comfortable with lower loads (i.e, 1-2 days of supplies), although stability is compromised.
The capacity of the pack is perfect for ultralight (or even lightweight hiking). I would usually put my sleeping bag (in its stuff sack) in the bottom of the pack and then place my dinner bag or clothes bag next to it. Around these I would stuff things like my rain jacket, rain cover, fuel and oil bottles, ground cloth, and journaling bag. On top, I would put my dinner bag or clothes bag, main food bag, pot and stove, map bag, and tobacco pouch. With 1-3 days of food, the extension collar was not necessary and the pack looked microscopic. With 3-5 days of food, I would use part of the extension collar and with more than 5 days I would have it mostly deployed. With 9 days of food (actually more like 11), I had the pack at its maximum capacity. In the superpocket I would tend to carry my water bags, my tarp pole, compass, DEET, and sometimes bits of food. Occasionally the fuel and oil bottles would go on the outside as well. If you are using a warm synthetic bag (read, bulky) and carrying a 2 person tent, you may have problems getting all of your stuff in the pack. As mentioned above, ULA recommends that you carry 25 lbs or less with the pack, and this is accurate. Above 25 lbs, the Z-restframesheet starts to become overwhelmed and stability and comfort are compromised. Many times I carried more than 25 lbs with the pack (maxing out around 40 lbs). This was tolerable, but not comfortable. My shoulders never bruised, nor did I develop any sores on my back or hips, even with heavy loads. In short, the design works and works well.
Conclusions: The strongest thing that I can say about the ULA Zenith is that if I were to return to the PCT for another thru hike, this pack would go with me. I think it would do even better on the AT where there are no long resupply stretches. If I were to head out for a CDT thru hike, I would take this pack. If you have reduced most of your gear and are looking for a new pack to carry it in, this may work for you. If your base weight is about 18 lbs, you should probably look into another pack, like the ULA P1 or P2. The partial frame works well in conjunction with the hipbelt, neither of which are offered on the GoLite Breeze. The GVP G4 also uses a Z-rest as a partial frame sheet, but secures via a pocket which, in my opinion, probably does not work as well in transferring the load. Plus, the G4 lacks padding on the hipbelt. The GoLite Gust has no frame, poor padding at best, and has little external storage possibilities. I do not think there is a better ultralight pack on the market, although some might argue the ULA P1 is even better and the Golite and GVP packs are more popular.
Recommendations: Brian Frankle, the main man at ULA, is extremely busy sewing packs. Packs are back ordered by 2-3 months at the time of this review. So, order your packs early if you intend to use one on a thru hike. He gives good advice, explains things well, and answers email questions quickly, despite his busy schedule. Last year he was at the Gathering and I believe will be there again. I need a lightweight pack with a greater capacity for winter backpacking. I better get my P1 order in to ULA soon, as winter is approaching.
Age: 29
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 190 lbs
Experience: The review is based upon my 105 day thru hike of the 2658 mile long Pacific Crest trail this summer.
Similar Products Used: None.
Similar Products on the Market: GVP G4.
Locations/Conditions Tested: The deserts of southern California, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, mountains and ridges of northern California, volcanoes and rain forests of Oregon and Washington.
Weight (as advertised): 19 oz.
Weight (as tested): 19.5 oz.
Price: $125
Manufacturer Web Address: www.ula-equipment.com
E-mail Address: ula-equipment@hotmail.com
Capacity: 2700 ci (main body), 600 ci (extension collar), 600 ci (superpocket).
Weight Issues: Without food, water, or fuel, my packweight was around 12 lbs. I tended to carry about 3 lbs of food per day. With 3.5 days of food and a normal load of water (i.e, less that 2.5 liters), the pack was comfortable enough for all day travel. With a larger amount of water or food, the pack was not comfortable, but was tolerable. ULA asserts that the pack is good for loads of 25 lbs of less and I believe this to be accurate. The heaviest my pack was at any point was around 40 lbs, when I had a 9 day supply of food.
Construction and Design: The Zenith is one of the few packs on the market (the GVP G4 being the other) that utilizes a Z-rest as a partial frame sheet. Without the Z-rest as a frame, the Zenith is simply a frameless rucksack. There is a detachable, padded hipbelt and the shoulder straps are padded as well. The padding looks relatively thin when compared with the monster padding found on most large, traditional packs, but is more than adequate for lightweight loads. The pack is built using lightweight nylon cloth with Spectra in heavy wear places like the bottom. The Z-rest attaches to the pack via two straps which run parallel to the user's back. The Z-rest is slipped in between them and then the straps are tightened, providing enough of a framesheet to allow transfer of weight to the hips. The Z-rest also provides a cushion between the user's back and the contents of the pack, so that hard, non-crushable items (such as a pot) are not felt. I began using my 3 year old, 3/4 length Z-rest but switched after 1,200 miles to a new, 3/4 length one. The new Z-rest provided better weight transfer and stability than the old one, not surprisingly.
The large mesh superpocket on the outside is not divided into two sections, as it might appear in pictures. Snap cords keep everything in place. The pack does not adjust for torso length, but the hipbelt and shoulder straps are adjustable and allow the user to alter the way the pack carries throughout the course of the hiking day. The pack top and extension collar close down via draw cords and a strap on top keeps everything in place when the pack is not filled to capacity. The Zenith has a single ice axe loop and a daisy chain, which I mostly used to hold dirty and drying socks.
Initial Impression: I very much liked the concept of a lightweight pack with a hipbelt and plenty of external storage capability for my water bottles. I was thrilled when I found the ULA website. The GoLite Breeze does not use a hipbelt and the Gust was just too large and had too little outside storage options. The other main option was the GVP G4, which I decided against because I did not believe that the method of attaching the Z-rest to the pack as a framesheet would work well. I was originally interested in the ULA P1, but shortly before the 2002 Gathering, ULA introduced the Zenith. The owner and sewer at ULA, Brian Frankle, was at the Gathering with his packs and it didn't take long for me to become convinced that the Zenith was the way to go for my upcoming Pacific Crest trail thru hike. Brian has thru hiked the PCT and done other interesting trips, such as a traverse of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It inspires confidence when your gear is made by an experienced long distance hiker.
Initial Tests: I took the Zenith out on two shakedown hikes before leaving for the PCT.The first was a 38 mile trek, 3 day trip into the Grand Canyon. While the distance traveled was fairly short (I was with college friends), the elevation gain was rather extreme at times. The Zenith carried my load well and I had no problems with the pack. It certainly did not feel like the first time using it. That is, it had a certain familiarity to it. The second trip was a 45 mile, 1.5 day trip into the Smoky Mountains. The Zenith performed very well on this longer mileage, even larger elevation trip. As with any ultralight pack, however, the main question would be durability on an extended trip. These two shorter trips did not test durability, but rather convinced me that the design of the pack was a good one.
Fit: I have an approximately 19" torso, which is short for my 6'4" height. The pack fit me very well and I believe it would be quite acceptable for people within 1-2 " of my torso length. By adjusting the shoulder straps, I could make the pack ride higher or lower on my torso, with more or less weight going to the hips. Riding high, most of the weight of the pack was centered on my shoulders, going down wards. However, this meant that the hipbelt was higher than optimal, so I would tend not to use it in this configuration (note that the hipbelt is removable). With the pack riding lower, the main force was on my chest/front part of my shoulders and I could get the hipbelt to ride properly on top of my hipbones. The hipbelt padding is a bit too long, however, and I found that for the last 900 miles of so of the trip, the hipbelt was slightly too large to get cinched down completely. I started with a 36" waist and ended with a 33" waist.
Durability: Any gear that you take on a 2658 mile, 105 day trip is going to take a beating, so durability was the main problem that I expected with this ultralight pack. On the whole, I believe the durability of the pack was fine, but there were two points that I would like to see built better. Around mile 1500, I noticed that the left hipbelt attachment point was beginning to come loose. The thread that connects the hipbelt webbing to the Spectra bottom was fraying. By mile 2000, it was half way undone and by mile 2200, I was down to less than 20% of the original amount. Since the webbing is very tough, I had a difficult time sewing it back on and was only able to reinforce it with five or six stitches. These pulled out as well. The hipbelt never came off, but with another 300-500 miles, it probably would have. The other durability problem was where the back panel meets the Spectra top flap that helps secure the Z-rest to the back of the pack. This started to open up around mile 1500 and was a 5 inch hold by mile 2150. A friend easily sewed this up and it didn't come loose the rest of the trip. The bottom Spectra took a beating, as might be expected, from my frequent sliding over rocks and tumbling down scree fields. There are some abrasions that will become holes in the future. The mesh superpocket came through in fine shape, with only one small, 1/4 diameter hole in it. The stitching on the side panels looks worn, but is in tact. Overall, I think the durability to be good for an ultralight pack, but the hipbelt does need to be reinforced.
Trail Test: On May 9th, 2003, I left the Mexican border near Campo, CA to begin my 2658 mile hike of the Pacific Crest trail. The PCT begins in southern California, which many people simply refer to as the "desert". It is desert like, with many 25-35 mile waterless stretches, but also contains several large mountain ranges (up to around 10,000 feet) such as the San Jacinto, San Bernadino, and San Gabriel ranges. From the start, I got used to carrying 7.2 liters of water (my maximum capacity), which certainly tested the comfort rating of the pack. For the first 700 miles (Southern California), I averaged around 22 miles a day, covered in about 12-13 hours a day. In the mountainous Sierra Nevada region (roughly the next 400 miles), I also averaged about 22 miles a day, but had to work much harder to do so. From Lake Tahoe north to the Canadian border, I averaged about 30 miles a day, covered over about 14 hours, including breaks. My pace was well above the average PCT pace, although I never felt rushed or overly broken down at the end of the end. I believe that carrying the light load in an efficient backpack was at least part of the reason why I was able to hike for such long periods of time without getting excessively tired.
For the first 1,100 miles (roughly to Lake Tahoe), I usually had to carry more weight than I would have preferred. In southern California, it was necessary to haul water. In the Sierra, this wasn't necessary, but the distances between resupply points and the difficulty of the terrain forced me to carry large amounts of food. After Lake Tahoe, resupply points were no more than 5 days apart and water was plentiful (mostly). When packed correctly (i.e, a solid column of gear), the Zenith is extremely stable when carried with the hip belt. No excessive side-to-side movement during scrambling, despite the lack of a sternum strap. I tended to carry the Zenith in one of several positions, depending on my load and the terrain. With the shoulder straps loosened a bit, the weight of the pack transfered very well to my hips, although I could not completely remove the weight from my shoulders. With two full water bags (4.8 liters of water) in the superpocket, the weight would pull backwards against the front part of my shoulders, although not painfully so. To relieve my shoulders when they would tire, I would carry the pack slightly off one shoulder. That is, I would move the shoulder strap from my shoulder down to the upper part of my arm and walk down the trail with my hands clasped in front of me. This turned out to be one of my favorite positions to walk in. When the load was lighter, I would cinch down the shoulder straps which caused the pack to ride higher on my back, taking most of the weight off my hips and placing it on my shoulders. In this set up, the main force of the pack was directed down, rather than back, my body. This would cause the hipbelt to ride higher than optimal, so I would frequently disengage the hipbelt when using the pack this way. Beltless carry is comfortable with lower loads (i.e, 1-2 days of supplies), although stability is compromised.
The capacity of the pack is perfect for ultralight (or even lightweight hiking). I would usually put my sleeping bag (in its stuff sack) in the bottom of the pack and then place my dinner bag or clothes bag next to it. Around these I would stuff things like my rain jacket, rain cover, fuel and oil bottles, ground cloth, and journaling bag. On top, I would put my dinner bag or clothes bag, main food bag, pot and stove, map bag, and tobacco pouch. With 1-3 days of food, the extension collar was not necessary and the pack looked microscopic. With 3-5 days of food, I would use part of the extension collar and with more than 5 days I would have it mostly deployed. With 9 days of food (actually more like 11), I had the pack at its maximum capacity. In the superpocket I would tend to carry my water bags, my tarp pole, compass, DEET, and sometimes bits of food. Occasionally the fuel and oil bottles would go on the outside as well. If you are using a warm synthetic bag (read, bulky) and carrying a 2 person tent, you may have problems getting all of your stuff in the pack. As mentioned above, ULA recommends that you carry 25 lbs or less with the pack, and this is accurate. Above 25 lbs, the Z-restframesheet starts to become overwhelmed and stability and comfort are compromised. Many times I carried more than 25 lbs with the pack (maxing out around 40 lbs). This was tolerable, but not comfortable. My shoulders never bruised, nor did I develop any sores on my back or hips, even with heavy loads. In short, the design works and works well.
Conclusions: The strongest thing that I can say about the ULA Zenith is that if I were to return to the PCT for another thru hike, this pack would go with me. I think it would do even better on the AT where there are no long resupply stretches. If I were to head out for a CDT thru hike, I would take this pack. If you have reduced most of your gear and are looking for a new pack to carry it in, this may work for you. If your base weight is about 18 lbs, you should probably look into another pack, like the ULA P1 or P2. The partial frame works well in conjunction with the hipbelt, neither of which are offered on the GoLite Breeze. The GVP G4 also uses a Z-rest as a partial frame sheet, but secures via a pocket which, in my opinion, probably does not work as well in transferring the load. Plus, the G4 lacks padding on the hipbelt. The GoLite Gust has no frame, poor padding at best, and has little external storage possibilities. I do not think there is a better ultralight pack on the market, although some might argue the ULA P1 is even better and the Golite and GVP packs are more popular.
Recommendations: Brian Frankle, the main man at ULA, is extremely busy sewing packs. Packs are back ordered by 2-3 months at the time of this review. So, order your packs early if you intend to use one on a thru hike. He gives good advice, explains things well, and answers email questions quickly, despite his busy schedule. Last year he was at the Gathering and I believe will be there again. I need a lightweight pack with a greater capacity for winter backpacking. I better get my P1 order in to ULA soon, as winter is approaching.