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Frog
03-15-2004, 15:57
I am considering buying some golite products mainly the three most used. Pack sleeping bag and tent. I am considering the trig 2 shelter. Anyone used this item or any of the other items by golite. I already use a Osprey aiether60 a walrus zoid 1 and my n.f. sleeping bag. I am curious about there packs holding up there sleeping bags being warm enough and the tents just holding up in wind and rain and snow. Thanks for any help you could offer. Considering the Trek pack for my pack

Speer Carrier
03-15-2004, 16:32
I use the Golite Breeze pack and the Golite Cave tarp, and while I have not used them for a long enough time to judge how well they hold up over the long haul, I have been vey happy with them. I believe they are what they are advertised to be-very light weight alternatives to the traditional pack, and 5-6 pound tent.

I have run into people on the trail who have similar equipment and from what they have said, they are satisfied as well.

I also have found Golite's customer service to be very good.

3oz
03-15-2004, 16:41
I started off my thru hike with the Gust, as well as a pair of there shorts. I was never able to get the gust to be comfortable and it gave me a heat rash on my back. Other hikers I met that used Golite equipment had a lot of problems with seems coming undone, and staps and clips breaking. In addition, Ray Jardine, the man who sold Golite there original pack and tarp designs recently retracted his endorsment of Golite because of the poor pack contstruction. For packs I would recommend on of the Granite Gear packs, or the ULA packs, for a shelter I would look at Henry Shire's TarpTent, and for clothing I would look at Mountain Hardware.

tlbj6142
03-15-2004, 16:59
Ray Jardine, the man who sold Golite there original pack and tarp designs recently retracted his endorsment of Golite because of the poor pack contstruction.
This is an old issue. There is another thread (maybe 3 weeks old??) in which Ray's issues were mentioned as well. They were addressed by GoLite years ago. His website doesn't exactly give you enough date context to see that for yourself. Typical Ray behavior (50% information, 110% alarmist).
Ray only gave license for 1 pack, 1 tarp, 1 pullover (they no longer sell) and an umbrella. He is not "the man" behind every GoLite product. Just a small number of them.
GoLite still sells a few "Ray-Way" items, if Ray truly wanted to drop the relationship, I'm sure he would have done so by now.
Back on topic, check out thier new "Unlimited Series" of packs. I just tried on a Continuum at lunch with 22# of beanbags in it. Wow, what a fit. The curved framesheet makes carrying a load quite a bit more comfortable than the frameless packs I have tried (and own).

hungryhowie
03-15-2004, 23:11
In regards to the quality of construction, Golite's first production run of the Breeze pack included a cheap-grade mesh that tore easily, and a cosmetic enhancement that made it much more likely for shoulder straps to spontaneously rip out. Ray was furious with them then (the "relationship", I think, was never better than extremely fragile), and continues to be so now (especially since they've trademarked his name and don't espouse his ways any longer save to draw in those familiar with the name). Suffice it to say that Golite made up for any problems with awesome customer service and has manufactured products of equal quality as other major manufacturers.

I've used the Breeze and Gust packs extensively and found them to be adequate for my purposes. I used the Breeze to hike the Long Trail in 2001, and really loved that pack. I got, and subsequently modified beyond recognition, a Gust for hikes when I'd need to be gone for longer periods of time between resupplies, and have enjoyed using it over the past couple of years...even though it doesn't handle as well as my Breeze with smaller loads.

Their products, in general, should be as durable as similar products from competing firms. With normal care, pretty much any of their equipment should have no problems making an entire thruhike. And if it should fail due to manufacturing defects, I have confidance that Golite will stand behind their products.

-Howie

tlbj6142
03-19-2004, 15:53
From the backpackinglight Yahoo! group, posted by GoLite...

Ray Jardine's out-of-the-box thinking and innovative design philosophy inspired my husband and I to found GoLite in 1998. GoLite's original product introduction included a collection of Ray's designs which have been marked as "Ray-Way" products in our catalogs and website since then. After five years, GoLite and Ray Jardine have chosen to part company.

GoLite will continue to sell from its existing inventory of items formerly designated as "Ray-Way" gear until these products are sold out.

Please know that Ray-Way products constitute less than 3% of GoLite’s product SKU’s, and GoLite looks forward to continuing to design and offer a wide array of lite and ultra-lite products (including many products to come in the future) that will serve the needs of all of our customers well.

All of us at GoLite are extremely grateful to Ray and Jenny Jardine for being willing to challenge widely held assumptions about outdoor gear, and we wish them well in the future.

There is no more “story” to tell than what I have written here, but if you have questions or concerns, please direct them to kim@g... (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BackpackingLight/post?postID=XyPsqsBF19kq5xTBe4VQl0nTIHrwxhHecvnhVd D4WtjkNG7HF3tMvZpG4f2t5ic1jcDMYF-_).

We are grateful to the many readers of Backpackinglight.com and
Backpackgeartest.com for your years of support and encouragement of our efforts to lighten the loads of backpackers everywhere.

With best wishes,
Kim Coupounas
CEO
GoLite
Boulder, Colorad

snarbles
04-29-2004, 17:17
I am also thinking about getting the Trig 2 for myself and my girlfriend to sleep in together. I am wondering how well it will hold up to rain and humidity since alot of its use will be in and around Houston TX as well as other parts of TX. I will probably also get a trekking pole with a camera mount too.

Any experience with either of these?

Thanks

Mags
04-29-2004, 17:31
GoLite always struck me as the North Face of the light weight backpacking world : their products run from decent to good BUT there are better and/or less expensive products out there that perform the same function. And like North Face they have a slick marketing campaign.

They are based in Boulder, you will see their Subaru Outback often at the local trail heads. Have to grimmace at all the Granola Yuppies here in town embracing their products. More and more people are embracing the lightweight philosophy in general...it is becoming mainstream. Look how many manufacturers are selling the products that are "lightweight". SilNylon is something known to a lot of people now. Many "adventure racing" packs are being sold. They look like highly expensive GVP type packs...but with a cooler label on them. :-?


In any case the upside is that is offers more options for those who want to persue those options.

SGT Rock
04-29-2004, 18:00
Look for the cottage industries. Better service (personalized), great quality for the most part, and a lot of good ideas going out there, not just smaller, lighter packs and stuff.

Nunatak for bags.

GVP, Moonbow, LWgear, butt to name only a few now specializing in good quality, lightweigh packs.

Henry Shires for tarp tents plus a bunch of others for good tarp designs. Personally I like a hammock.

For clothing, there are some new companies getting going to sell lightweight parkas and other parts & pieces like CedarTree and his Packa.

Brasslight or homemade stoves for ultralight stoves.

A lot of other ultralight stuff is easy to do by yourself with no more skill than shoping at Wal-Mart.

Jack Tarlin
04-29-2004, 19:09
Any liteweight pack will only work for you as long as you don't abuse it and make it do things it wasn't intended or designed to do. Make sure BEFORE purchase exactly how much weight the pack was intended to carry and make sure you don't go too heavy, or you WILL have problems.

The problem is either many liteweight backpackers either don't know this or don't care. One sees a different side of things working in an Outfitter's: In just a few short weeks, I've seen half a dozen folks come in with blown-out liteweight packs and expected the manufacturers (or a convenient Outfitter) to replace therir stuff no questions asked. All of them stoutly maintained that they never abused or over-packed their packs. In at least three cases, their packs when they walked into the store outweighed the specs for their packs, and keep in mind, most people's packs are pretty well food-empty when they arrive in town; if they pulled into town with 33 pounds crammed into one built to hold 25, one could only guess at what the pack weighed when they left Gatlinburg or Davenport Gap. Oh, and in a few cases, the hikers exclaimed that they knew EXACTLY how much their pack could hold and that they NEVER exceeded this, and were indignant when I pointed out, even BEFORE weighing their packs, that they were very much mistaken.

Outfitters on the Trail will do everything in their power to help hikers with gear problems, and will bend over backwars to help these folks, but hikers have to realize that they should expect the manufacturer, and not the retailer, to replace their damaged goods. And even more importantly, there'd be fewer hikers with gear problems if hikers took better care of their stuff and didn't make their gear do things that it wasn't designed to do, and can't realistically be expected to do for any length of time. Abused or mistreated gear will fall apart on you, usually at the worst possible time. People should remember this, especially if they plan to go with a "liteweight" mentality.

If you can't commit to staying liteweight once you decide to hike this way, then you're going to have problems, regardless of which pack you ultimately decide on. These items generally work great when they're used properly and not abused; otherwise, all bets are off.

Brushy Sage
04-29-2004, 20:40
A hiker from Australia looked at my Kelty pack, which was by no means ultralite equipment, and said "That wouldn't last long in the outback." I'm sure he was right. The Kelty was maxed out at around 30-32 pounds, and when I tried to carry more, it didn't close up right and didn't ride on my back where it was supposed to. So I was fortunate to be on the AT instead of the outback of Australia, where that size of backpack wouldn't take me very far.

snarbles
05-01-2004, 00:20
so what about this trig 2 ultralight tent....guess it's pretty new. I'm also considering getting this tent and will post my review of it after a few trips here in Texas. I am planning it to be my 1 and 2 person tent. Hopefully it will handle the Houston area humidity (hard rain). One day I hope to have the skills and the gear to do the AT.

What are the pros and cons of a tent like this?

http://www.backcountry-equipment.com/golite_trig2.php

SGT Rock
05-01-2004, 01:12
looks like something I sketched once after spending a couple of weeks in a pup tent. It should have good ventalation and room. This actually looks very similar to an ID Silshelter.

snarbles
05-01-2004, 11:29
I'm probably going to order it within the next 2 weeks. One thing is for sure. If it can handle Houston rain, its a definite keeper.....but it will have to run the Texas Lone Star Trail.....extremely high humidity.

Pencil Pusher
06-03-2004, 22:37
Didn't want to start a new thread, here's a good ultralight backpack reference: http://www.verber.com/mark/outdoors/gear/pack.html Lots of different packs and manufacturers.
Also, http://www.northernmountain.com (http://www.northernmountain.com/) is selling the Golite Dawn pack for $39.

Got it today, it's pretty roomy, more than enough for an AT thru hike (I think). Hip belt, sternum strap, ice axe loop and keeper, funky bungee cord setup and a zipper for the big mesh sack. Plus good ideas for making a lighter/less-frills pack with thru-hiker.com materials.

dje97001
06-04-2004, 09:49
Can't say that I've used any of those. But, I do have a GoLite Wisp wind shirt. It is ridiculously light (2.5oz.) for a long sleeve windbreaker with a zipper. The construction is fantastic. I've taken it out for a couple of short day hikes and it has performed admirably. The wind no longer whips through me (which keeps me warm)... it is wind proof and water resistant, but it doesn't really breathe--so the inside gets slick with sweat--but then again, I don't think windbreakers are supposed to! Anyway, I'm impressed with this one.

firefly
06-04-2004, 11:09
I own a Golite Breeze Pack and a Golite Hex 3 tent. Both are excellent. Sometimes I run out of room with the Breeze so I did check out the Golite Gust. The Gust pack is larger but causes the center of gravity to be lower reguardless of how you pack it. I am very short so this will not work for me. I had an issue with the design of the Hex tent. The tent is advertized as a 3 person tent. It is when you tie the top off to a tree branch. It is not if you have to pitch it using a center pole which you do if you are using the bug nest. I asked Golite to put a thru strap on the tent for me so I could attach the bug nest without needing a pole. I was advised they did not modify their products BUT was reffered to several people who could do this for me. Their customer service is excellent. If anybody out there has purchased this tent please let me know how it works out.

neo
12-28-2004, 06:52
golite products are ok,but i no longer use any of them,they are to commercial overrated,over priced,i prefer gear from,jacksrbetter,dancing light gear,anti gravity gear,fanatic fringe,and so forth:sun neo

HikeLite
12-28-2004, 12:05
Coup himself (co-owner) wore the gust on his alpine triple crown hikes this summer, at one time carrying over 50 pounds in the thang. I don't think most would want to do that though.

Footslogger
12-28-2004, 12:29
From my experience, the load rating of ALL of the "lighweight" pack companies are somewhat optomistic ...GoLite included. I saw countless shoulder strap and pack seam blow-outs in 2003. I would highly recommend that anyone looking at a light weight back NOT plan to load it to the advertised maximum. Example ...I now carry a Granite Gear Vapor Trail that is rated to carry 32 - 34 lbs. Ain't no way that pack can be carried "comfortably" with that kind of load and my guess is that if you did load it to that level the seams would start to let go. I carry 24 - 25 lbs in it and that is its "comfort zone".

Listen to Baltimore Jack ...not that he's a lightweight backpacker himself, but that (like me) he's seen countless numbers of hikers who push the envelope in terms of backpack load. The gear companies are excellent in responding to clear evidence of pack failure due to manufacturing defects but I doubt that they are going to repair/replace packs that are subjected to loads/conditions outside their intended ratings.

'Slogger
AT 2003

SGT Rock
12-28-2004, 12:37
Excellent point. Seems like the first review I ever read about the Golight pack was you better keep it below the 20 pound reccomended load or it won't be comfortable and it won't last. If you are going to try and go light, the last thing I reccomend for anyone to change is their pack - don't get a smaller pack until you are sure what you need, then get one that carries what ou have trimmed down to.

Ramble~On
12-29-2004, 02:38
I bought a Trig II last this past spring. I love it.

I searched around and the best price I could find at the time was through
C&C Outfitters in California...shipping was free and the price was about $15 under all others. (facts, I'm not advertising for an outfitter)

The tent (Trig II)
I was about to buy one of Henry Shires' Tarptents but liked the features on the Trig better. Personal preference. My Trig is green and has a "huge" full vestibule. The Trig is basically two tarps joined together with mesh..one forms a bathtub floor and the other makes up the roof. It sets up about as quick as you can throw it on the ground, stake it out and insert a hiking staff or stick.

The rear of the tent has to be guyed out...a second hikng staff or stick works fine.

I like the ventilation...there's about 18 inches of mesh running the perimeter of the tent and a back window. You can have it full open, or any possible number of configurations part way closed.
I've used it on exposed balds at 5,000+ feet in heat, cold, high wind and rain.
It is more than good for just me and plenty of room for two.
If you use it for two (as with any single wall tent or tarp) you have to be careful to not contact the surface or water will seep through.

Pooja Blue
12-29-2004, 03:20
I loved my Golite Gust so much that when a bear shredded mine in NH I bought another. I loaded it up to 40 pounds with cold weather gear and it was still comfortable, rode fine, no seam pulling.

neo
12-29-2004, 15:23
my golite gust is great,but never have had more than 25 lbs in it.:sun neo