View Full Version : Looking for input on good Ultralight Pack
g8trh8tr
07-16-2005, 22:48
Guys/Gals,
I am new to the forum and and have recently begun ultralight hiking. I am looking for some experienced input on a good ultralight backpack. The 2 I have been looking at are the Gossamer Gear G4 and the Golite Gust. Currently I am leaning toward the G4 due to the versatility and outside pocket space. Are there any other packs that I should be considering and does anyone have experience with the 2 I mentioned? Any input would be appreciated.
SGT Rock
07-16-2005, 22:59
I'm trying out the G6 and like it OK. The material concerns me for long term durability.
I received my Gossamer Gear Mariposa last week. It felt okay during a test run. I'm going to hike the Northville Placid Trail, and that will be a good ten-day test. I'll report back. My current light pack is the GoLite Race, which I like. It is heavy compared to Mariposa, and of course everything is heavy compared to the G6 :)
flyfisher
07-17-2005, 07:35
I built a G4 variant and it worked great. (I don't use a Zrest so I left that feature out and use a piece of foam as a barrel frame inside.)
However, I am very impressed with the Fanatic Fringe Thompson Peak pack. It is half the weight of the Gust right out the box and has worked out very well, especially for summer hiking. I have now carried it for about 480 miles of AT trail.
A series of reviews I wrote on the pack are here:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Packs/Frameless%20Backpacks%20and%20Day%20Packs/Fanatic%20Fringe%20Thompson%20Peak%20Pack/Rick%20Allnutt%20III
this is my favorite long haul lite wieght pack:cool: neo
http://www.equinoxltd.com/
http://www.equinoxltd.com/Cart/images/8610.jpg
The picture looks good except that they stuck a quart Nalgene in the side pocket. Makes me question their concept of ultralight.
this is my favorite long haul lite wieght pack:cool: neo
http://www.equinoxltd.com/
http://www.equinoxltd.com/Cart/images/8610.jpg
Kerosene
07-17-2005, 11:21
I'm going to hike the Northville Placid Trail, and that will be a good ten-day test. I'll report back. It would be great if you could give a trip report also, Frosty. The Northville Placid Trail is one of the trails on my list to knock off once I finish sectioning the AT.
SGT Rock
07-17-2005, 11:27
The picture looks good except that they stuck a quart Nalgene in the side pocket. Makes me question their concept of ultralight.
LOL, yes. But they didn't want a rooty-poot re-used soda bottle in their nice ad photo :p
LOL, yes. But they didn't want a rooty-poot re-used soda bottle in their nice ad photo :pYou know, I thought of this afterwards. What did I think they were going to do? Put a used Gatorade bottle in there? Still, it looked goofy. All they needed was an old PeakOne white gas stove to make a complete picture.
It would be great if you could give a trip report also, Frosty. The Northville Placid Trail is one of the trails on my list to knock off once I finish sectioning the AT.Will do. I'm starting July 30 and have a plan for ten days. Still favoring my right knee a bit. I had wanted to do the Long Trail, but am afraid of all the steep downhills. The NPT pretty much stays in the valleys, by which I mean bogs :)
I plan on re-supplying at Long Lake Village on Day 7. I may send a mail drop to Piseco, but I will be passing through on the third day and wonder if it is worth it.
I"m nowhere near ultralight but I love my Golite Gust. Packed properly, thirty pounds is nothing to carry in it. Truth be told, it's probably too big for a true ultralight load. It's just a big sack. It has to be properly filled up (read:taut) to carry well. It has no compression straps except the top one.
g8trh8tr
07-17-2005, 22:42
Thanks for all of the input. I am researching now and will let everyone know what I end up with.
Godspeed,
Lloyd
littlelaurel59
07-17-2005, 22:43
I purchased a GoLite Gust about a year ago. It is FAR superior to the aluminum external frame pack from the mid 1970's it replaced (not hard to do). I have used it only for weekend trips so far (It's a shame I have to work for a living).
Pros- It has lots of room. More than enough for a weekend trip.
It weighs nothing (or very little)
It has been quite comfortable carrying loads up to about 25 pounds.
It cost me much less than the other really ultralight packs I considered (I managed to find it on sale).
Cons- It requires an organizational strategy when packing. Since it is essentially one big sack, you must devise a system for organizing inside. I use a series of lightweight stuffsacks and mesh bags.
It has only 1 outside pocket for those items you want quickly (rain gear, TP, etc). I rigged a mesh bag to one side for a little more room.
All in all, not perfect, but I would do it again assuming it holds up (I haven't been too tough on it yet.)
It would be great if you could give a trip report also, Frosty. The Northville Placid Trail is one of the trails on my list to knock off once I finish sectioning the AT.It was a great hike, what I finished of it. Got sick as a dog three days in, hung out at a great inn for four days, finally saw a doctor and came home. Severe stomach intestinal cramps, shivering in 90* weather, and sweating gallons at night. No squirts or vomiting, though.
The trial is awesome. follows the valleys mostly, so all shelters/campsites are on streams or lakes. Heard a lot of loons and coyotes. The ADKs have a weird typoe of bog, callled a vlei (fhymes with fly). beautiful, but make me very glad for bog bridges!
i'll post a trip report when I can organize my notes. I just now got home.
Kerosene
08-05-2005, 17:27
Hope you're feeling better, Frosty. Too bad that you couldn't do more, but it will be there waiting for you!
wacocelt
08-05-2005, 19:57
I like the looks of the ULA packs. Haven't carried one yet, but look forward to testing one soon.
The Northville Placid Trail is one of the trails on my list to knock off once I finish sectioning the AT.
I bought the guidebook which includes the map - but moved south before I could hike it. Someday... maybe. I love the Adirondacks.
Hope you're feeling better, Frosty. Too bad that you couldn't do more, but it will be there waiting for you!Yes, it'll be there, but you know, I'm starting to wonder. I started four backpacking trips this year and all of them were cut short. One wasn't my fault, but I'm getting tired of planning trips, spending the $$$ to get to the trailhead, and having not much to show for it but a ton of leftover stovetop stuffing mix, instant potaotes, etc etc. If it wasn't for the fact that I meet such interesting people on these trips, I chuck it, I think. Though maybe I'll beel better about hiking when my stomach starts to behave again :)
Kerosene
08-05-2005, 22:16
I went through a similar string of section hikes that ended early, each for a different reason. The good thing is that the string ended several years ago, and my past 5 trips have gone smoothly, with several even ending a day early since I beat my schedule.
I like the ULA P-2 because it has an internal frame and a suspension system. At 2.5 lbs, it's able to carry up to 40 lbs comfortably, if need be. The need be was on the CDT with a couple long stretches over 150 miles between resupply and many waterless stretches of 20 miles or more.
I like the ULA P-2 because it has an internal frame and a suspension system. At 2.5 lbs, it's able to carry up to 40 lbs comfortably, if need be. The need be was on the CDT with a couple long stretches over 150 miles between resupply and many waterless stretches of 20 miles or more.Sorry if I seemed to highjack this thread. I think I took it awry when I talked about the Mariposa on the NPT.
The Mariposa performed exceptionally well. Only 17 ounces. I used a Big Anges pad which I folded to fit into the exterior pocket. This pocket with pad inside (it could be a z-rest or 20 inch thermarest) gives the pack plenty of stability and enough body to stand up on its own for loading.
I was concerned because there was no large size, only S and M/L and I am 6'5" tall. But it fit fine. It actually was a bit too large if anything, and i put my sleeping bag in the bottom without a stuff sack to take up spacein hte pack. I kept a lot outside the pack in the mesh pockets. It is rated for up to 40 pounds. I had thirty pounds and it was very cmfortable. The shoulder straps are wider than any other pack I own and that probably helped.