I’m a happy Zpacks Arc Haul user but always looking for new gear. I’ve always been curious about ULA’s packs and found Chris to be a great source of information and very responsive to my questions. Like many of you, I’ve got a bit of a gear obsession (Hi, my name is globetruck and I have a problem...). I decided to order both a Circuit and Ohm 2.0, compare the 2 packs, and return the lesser of the 2 packs.
My initial thoughts and quick comparison:
SIMILARITIES:
- Both have the same carbon hoop, waist belt, shoulder straps.
- Both Ohm and Circuit side pockets listed as same volume (400 cubic inches), but...
DIFFERENCES:
- Ohm is narrower than the Circuit
- Ohm is 63L and about 35 oz; Circuit is 68L and about 41 oz.
- Circuit has a removable aluminum stay rod running up the middle of the pack
- Circuit has a standard foam back panel and the Ohm just has the Robic Fabric on the back while using a thin foam sheet on the inside of the pack.
- Ohm’s side pockets angle slightly toward the center of the front panel, which seems to make them more stuffable and more accessible when wearing the pack. I actually fit more stuff in my Ohm’s side pockets even though they’re technically the same total volume as the Circuit.
IMPRESSIONS:
- I thought that the Ohm’s back panel would “round out” when fully loaded (like a frameless pack) since it lacks the Circuit’s full back panel foam panel... but after loading it, I found that the back panel did a good job holding its shape. Looks like the carbon hoop does a good job giving the pack panel just a bit of rigidity. I found the fully loaded Ohm’s back panel to be about 90% as “flat” as the loaded Circuit, which initially surprised me.
- Circuit’s main panel is definitely larger
- You can actually downsize the Circuit to lighten it up and make it very similar to the Ohm... remove the aluminum stay rod and front panel bungee cord, and you’ll save about 3-4 ounces which brings its weight to within about 2-3 ounces of the Ohm. In other words, they’re 90% the same pack other than slight shape differences with a larger main compartment, full back padding, and aluminum stay in the Circuit.
- I tried a 5.5 mile day hike with the Ohm loaded to 25 lbs and I used the hand loops. I thought they were gimmicky but wow, I found that I really liked using the hand loops more than I ever imagined.
I’m still undecided on which one to keep.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk