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Has anyone put some miles of the Specter by Mountainsmith? I am looking for a new pack for extended hiking that will hold up. Let me know what you think!
Thanks!!
I used a Specter on the AT for 8 days this past April, and on an earlier 3 day Ark hike and several day-long conditioning hikes in Waco, TX. It is a great pack. For what seems to be a relatively larger pack than the light weight folks carry (5,100 cc?) it is lighter than comparable packs of the same size. I bought mine because I didn't want to worry about cramming stuff in a smaller pack. It did a fine job as a cavarn. I removed the lid and replaced it with a piece of silnylon. The lid seems like it will channel water to the top main compartment opening. I also removed the zip off day/fanny pack. I didn't need the space or the weight of the lid or fanny pack. I estimate it still had 100 or 200 more cubes in its stripped down condition than the Mountainsmith Auspex. The pack has some nice touches. These are exits on both sides of the main compartment for the hose of your hydration bladder so that you can have the hose on either the left or the right side. The internal pocket for the water bladder comfortably handled my 3 liter bladder. There is a big J zipper on the back for accessing the main compartment. The pack rode well. There are lots of adjustment points. I found the Mountainsmith folks to be friendly and responsive to my questions. Bob
What was your total weight?
I started at 38#. The weight included 2 1/2 l of water and 4 1/2 days of food. I think that I stayed at that weight over the 8 AT days. A couple of timess I filled up with 3 l of water, but had a day or so less food. I carried my Henry Shires Tarptent with one pole on the outside of the pack. My Croc camp shoes went inside the pack. I'll carry the Crocs on the outside via a caribeener on my next hike just for the convenience. Alcohol, sun screen and cup went in the right side external mesh pocket. TP, hand sanitizer, wet wipes and trowel went in the left side external mesh pocket. Bob