You lost me....Originally Posted by Crog Welly
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Oh yeah, I guess I didn't think of the counter balance method...I was thinking only of the PCT method. Also didn't think of the bridges. I don't remember what kind of camp spots were near any of the bridges.
AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
JMT: 2013
An update on their Volt. Tried a test packing tonight. Simply put, there combination of the canister and the sleeping bag just doesn't really work. It's not 100% impossible if you stuff the sleeping bag in the sleeping bag compartment. But I didn't like what it took to stuff tbe bag in the compartment, and the seperator between the compartments is at a very steep angle that doesn't let the canister sit right at the bottom of the main compartment. Plus it seemed to make the sleeping bag occupy more volume than needed and still left little room around the cannister.
Basically, the bag is too narrow (skinny and tall) to fit the canister and bag side by side, then cannister doesn't fit well without leaving lots of wasted space, and you can't pack the cannister or the prestuffed sleeping bag sideways in or on their bag.
Sounds like ur getting picky
If it fits it fits
Stuff clothing and raingear and tent around cannister and call it good
Remove baffle between compartments, insert large plastic bag, and put stuff in.
No one ever needed quick access to a sleeping bag. Idea of sleeping bag compartment is a joke to start with, just another useless marketing gimmick marketed to people that really dont hike, by companies that really dont eithger.
Look at sone photos of people with cannisters.
Sticking out top, strapped to top, back, bottom, etc. Just do it. Whatever it takes
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 06-11-2016 at 11:31.
Stopped by Northeast Expressway REI in Atlanta yesterday to get an opportunity to look at bags with my bear cannister and sleeping bag in tow.
First of all, store employees were NOT very helpful. It took a while before any employee came over askingif I needed any help. The first idea the employee had was basically the carry-on-top idea previously mentioned in this thread. He spent maybe 3 or 4 minutes trying to see how we might fit the cannister on one randomly selected large pack. The a newbie came by looking at packs. What started as a quick question to the newbie shopper from the REI employee quickly led to him totally abandoning me to exclusively help this other customer and then proceed to go on break.
Anyway, my hiking partner had already suggested the idea of stuffing the sleeping bag in the bottom and use the cannister to compels it down. So we at least proceeded to utilize the 'pillow' and 'bean bag' fillers REI has for stuffing backpacks for trying them on... and it looks like I should be able to make the Volt work. I'll just have to forgo prestuffing the sleeping bag, so it is likely to take up more room than hoped... but the Volt is a 75L pack. We'll see (wish it had just a few more external pockets of some sort).
Had a chance to use the Volt and bear cannister on a test hike this weekend.
Was able to put clothes and sleeping bag in compactor bag and stuff them in the bottom of the pack, with the cannister vertically on top. That left room beside the canister for my sleeping pad, some stuff sack, and my Jetboil SOL. Had wanted to use my Jetboil MiniMo, but the pot is too wide to fit comfortably.
Surprisingly there is a perfect spot between the canister and frame to safely store my solar charger. The side mash pockets are plenty big enough for water storage and filter. The brain holds 1st aid and other items you want to reach without taking the pack off, and the hip pockets are large enough for small electronics (point n shot camera).
I had about a 35 pound test load this weekend and the pack felt fine.
Good to know. Which canister are you using?
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
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Bearikade Expedition
Just my 2 cents... I do agree with an earlier post, this is somewhat over-thinking this. I use my ULA OHM 2.0 with my bear canister all the time, it just sticks out the top however far it needs to accommodate all the gear below it. Works great. I'd say it's 1/3rd out the top (2/3rds in the pack), and of course it sits vertically. One little aspect I like is that when I take a short break, I just slide it out, voila, little seat.
Funny, I had always thought carrying weight fairly high was correct? Not sure where I "learned" that.... I really don't think it matters much as long as it's as close to your back as possible.
Anyway, I'm jealous of the Berikade... I really need to replace my old, heavier Bear vault. My wife carried a (borrowed) Berikade on our 2nd JMT thru, I sure liked that one better.
I also agree: 10 days in a 700 CI canister is sporty... I managed 8 in mine, and it was tight. Of course, your 1st day of food doesn't need to be in the canister.
Enjoy this most marvelous trail!
I managed 8 days in my weekender at home.
Under tent at MTR, 7.5 was all I could fit. I just wanted to get out of that zoo of people and back to cooler elevations.
You probably wont want to futz around there trying to squeeze things in, etc. And they will give you bums rush when busy.
As it turned out, only needed 5.5 days food. Not hard hiking. In fact, I carried 2-3 days extra food the entire jmt.
So whens liftoff?
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 06-28-2016 at 14:31.
Haven't taken the time to see just how much I can stuff in the canister. Instead, I spend last night dividing up my food supply between Yosemite, Red's and MTR. I tried to find the foods that packed down the smallest, and put those in the MTR pile. For example, Couscous has a very fine granularity and so while 200 calories of instant rice weights less than 200 calories of Couscous, the 200 calories of Couscous packs smaller. A similar example is that 200 calories of Plain M&M's pack down smaller than 200 calories of Peanut M&M's. So Couscous and Plain M&M's go in the MTR pile, while rice and Peanut M&M's go in the Red's pile.
Shipped the MTR bucket today at lunch. Plan to finish packing and shipping the MTR bucket by the end of the week. In less than two weeks, I'll be on the trail.
...... Yay!
Damn wish I was going again!! I'll settle for 10 days in the collegiate loop...
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