Pack Decisions, ventilation

[ReillyDavidson]

Hi, I have been getting some very handy information over the past few months about organising myself for my first serious hiking trip, to Bougainville (PNG).
Am looking around at the moment for a suitable pack, at first I was focussed on getting a fancy new ventilated one for the extremely humid conditions , but am starting to think I would be better off with a reputable Australian designed (and preferably, made) hardy canvas pack with a traditional harness.
The ventilated packs I have been looking are basically those featured on this ventilated pack review

http://www.8264.net/html/Outdoor_News/I ... -6297.html

Am worried about the thin straps on these types of packs and their efficiency with heavy loads, but the ventilation would be perfect for PNG conditions.

On the other hand at the moment I am being swayed by the hardy design of the One Planet range, particularly the Mungo, Stiletto and WBA. My personal favourite at the moment is probably the WBA 65, but I'm not sure it would be practical as a travel pack as well as a hiking pack, having only on pocket etc, but love the idea of a lighter pack with the Exact-Fit Harness. The Mungo also seems like a great balance between weight and functionality. But will the lack of ventilation on these packs affect my hiking badly in the tropics?

Was wondering if any anybody on the forum owned any of the packs I've mentioned and could give me some practical advice and more detailed information on any of these models. Particularly the new Gregory z65 and WBA.


Thanks!

[Moondog55]

Hmmm? Have you done any research on the pros and cons of actually carrying your own pack?? The Melanesian culture is totally different, while we would often consider paying some-one to carry our gear effete or as condoning semi-slavery my experience in Mt Hagen and surrounds says to hire a local guide and a porter.
Remember too. In Melanesian culture gift exchange is often done first, so depending on what you intend to do pack something small and both useful and difficult to get in Bougainville.
Doesn't matter what pack you take; you and the pack are going to get soaked, so use a PVC liner for the important stuff

[nickL]

hi reilly

i have made some wonderful buying mistakes and have learnt to not listen to the gear marketers and brand makers - the one thing they seem to get us to do is buy heavy gear where the weight is due to excessive bells and whistles or no reason at all - you dont need a very heavy pack to carry less than 10kg - if you buy a light pack you can save 2.5kg before anything is even in it - once you start walking you will be grateful for the reduced weight.

also no pack is waterproof only the inner liner you use so dont fall for that one

i ended up with a golite quest and golite jam pack, which i alternate depending on the trip distance - the quest is a great pack but still a little heavy - tha jam is about right

i am about to go to PNG in july and will probably take the golite jam to carry some of my gear (5kg) while a porter will carry the rest (5-8kg) - its not very airy in the harness but i figure i will be soaking in sweat anyway - it is however reasonably light and comfortable

as with what moondog said i am happy for the porters to get the work involved with our walking groups trip in PNG - if no one wanted to be a porter i would be happy to carry my own pack

enjoy the trip and i look forward to your trip report here

cheers

nick

[ReillyDavidson]

Am going to Bougainville with 6 other fellows to visit the relatives of one who live in Arawa. Expecting to have some relatives show us around, hadn't thought of porters, think I'll be carrying my own gear as far as I know. Don't know if I could get my gear down light enough to travel with a superlight pack, will have to haul the lot around on the way there and back anyway, have ordered a neoair from overseas to take to save weight, and a thin foam mat if that fails..

Thanks for the tip on the gifts moondog, was thinking of taking some deflated rugby balls or somethings, perhaps something even smaller though....

Need to get to the city to try some packs on, living in the country is the worst.

[ReillyDavidson]

Had a look at the golite quest, looks pretty good especially being able to compress it to day pack size.
Saw a worrying review showing how the hipbelt could snap though...., bit scary.

[nickL]

hey reilly

the quest has been a great pack - done about 400k in it and it has done well - comfy and great features - can get the weight down further by trimming bits and taking off lid and using roll down sleeve - hip belts are good with zippered pockets on them and comfy enough

re the compactor system - it certainly reduces the size of the pack but i wouldnt say it gets down to day pack size - the jam which has a similar system will end up closer to this size - what the compactor system does though is get the pack thinner and therefore more weight is kept closer to your body so your centre of gravity doesnt get pushed too far away from your base of support (space between your feet) therefore less leaning forward - this does depend on how you pack it though

the feature that defines the quest from the other golite packs is the aluminium stays (still not really beefy) and a rigid plastic sheet behind the harness, which both are meant to give the harness some rigidity and therefore allow the pack to maintain shape when carrying heavier loads

i haul my climbing gear around to the local crags in it (heavier than my 7 day pack) and its really comfy but that is really a personal opinion

i had a look at the WBA and shadow and really like them - good harness and low weight so i thought and worth considering

i went for the quest because of the size of pack for the weight and the options this gave and also the ability to carry least amount of stuff on the outside

hope this helps in your search

[blacksheep]

if you are considering a lighterweight pack then the Macpac Amprace 40 should also be considered http://www.macpac.com.au/shop/en_au/gea ... 05ca8328c7. I have used this for several multi-day walks- it carries really welll as the back panel has a framesheet which (when loaded) forms a stiff spine to transfer load onto a decent waist belt.
Thoough they are designed for multiday adventure racing (and used by many international AR teams), they work well for light and fast backpacking trips equally well. (Also, for the next week they are on sale- $199 including a 2L TPU water reservoir.)

[adventurerichard]

without wanting to pick a fight, I have to disagree a little with the weight comments; sometimes a little weight can be more than offset if the weight is what I call 'good weight', by that i mean in the harness. The simplest harness would be two bits of string, right? that'd be extremely light yet not very comfortable. So you'd add foam and fabric and yes the weight would go up but so would comfort and therefore your ability to carry the load. One Planet's have an awesome harness that may contribute to a higher unpacked weight but that stiffness in the harness means load is well supported so overall it feels lighter.
Plus canvas bags, whilst heavier than synthetic will take the rigors of bush bashing better. I'm not familiar with the flora of PNG or the terrain (other than hilly!) but if you're scraping through bush, jungle, etc, i'd sacrifice 300gms for a fabric that doesn't tear and drop all my gear onto the trail.

Disclosure: I have a Mungo

On the issue of being hot, I find that almost by accident there's a gap above the lumbar that gets a bit of air around the back but i can't say it's vented as such. Those systems that hold the pack away from your back, as found in a lot of daypacks these days, hold weight further away so are a little less stable when heavy. Now at 3-4kg in a daypack it doesn't matter but upwards of that and those systems stop working well, which is, as far as i know, why nobody makes a 60L+ pack with that ventilation system on it.

[Moondog55]

Just a comment on other gear, don't take DOWN sleeping bag or anything, I ruined a down bag in PNG, to moist even up high it went mouldy in the stuff sac almost immediately, and bugs , lots and lots of bugs,bed bugs, ticks, mosquitoes, centipedes scorpions spiders ants and more ants millipedes more spiders, flies ( really bad kinds like screw-worm) leeches, all depending on where you are.
So make sure your tent or hammock is well screened and you cover up, painting your legs with Iodine or soaking your sox in Iodine helps with the leeches as does really slippery nylon under-sox up to the knee.

Take a comprehensive first-aid kit with prescribed anti-biotics included and check with your doctor about the latest treatment and prophylaxis for Malaria, take care of any cuts and scratches immediately and wash twice a day if you can especially in the groin area.

[ReillyDavidson]

Wow, yeah looks like there are lots of awful critters in PNG thanks for the info, definitely getting gaiters, and one of my friends Dad's is a doctor so he's sorting us out with a bunch of drugs and stuff, even a scalpel and things for stitching each other up!

Recently bought a Hubba Hubba off ebay for $400 dollars secondhand with footprint, hope that'll keep off the bugs, took it out for a camping trip the other day for the first time, even rained for the occasion, worked a treat.

Signed up to the MacPac wilderness club on the net the other day and saw that deal for the Amprace, great deal, but bit small for me I think, not that competent at organising myself for a pack that small.

Went hiking with my friend yesterday who has a Gregory z65 (with mesh), by the end of the trip he had noticeably sore shoulders, whereas I, using a Vango Pumori 60+ I got at a secondhand shop ages ago, had no problems at all. The only reason I am not going to use this pack in PNG is because of the hipbelt which has hard unpadded plastic that big into my hips.....especially on inclines. Don't think I'll worry too much about the ventilation side of things anymore.

Richard would you mind giving me some info about how your Mungo performs, am kind of tossing up between that and the WBA at the moment. Does your pack allow you to hold tent poles on the outside?

Have also been sussing out some different goretex boots on the net for a while now also, especially the Scarpa Nangpa-la on the Macpac site, Asolo Fugitives(or flame) and AKU Slope's (on the Snowgum website) anybody have experience with these boots?

Thanks All

Reilly

[Ent]

On a walk a fellow walker took a OP Shadow at 56 litres on a three night walk. Lovely pack providing you have compact stuff and keep the weight down to so say 15 kilograms. Only issue he found was no provision for a drinking bottle or bladder which could be a big issue in hotter climates. The OP Stiletto has the Exact Fit Plus harness which is a step up from the Exact fit one mentioned and this gives provision and ready access to two drinking bottle pouches that unlike some are not affected no matter how much stuff you cram into the pack. Also it sits a bit off the back so never had a problem but then again warm weather in Tassie? So I will defer to our warm weather friends for their opinion. I have a mesh backed Deuter pack and honestly found it no better or worse than the OP harness for ventilation but not nearly as comfortable as a harness system. Also have a smaller MD day pack that I cycle with that has the stand off mesh backing and that works better than say the OP Traverse day pack for ventilation but it is a heavy harness system. The Shadow uses a beefed up version of the OP Traverse harness. The Traverse is a remarkable little pack at 38 litres the harness has proven to be extremely comfortable even when the weight hits fifteen kilograms.

Cheers Brett