Help loading a frameless pack

[ERIC PAYNE]

After 3 hours of trying to find the best way to load my MLD Zip, I figured I'd ask for advice here. I called Ron a few hrs ago, but I can't keep hassling him on the phone when he's in the busiest time of the year!

GG NightLite, torso length, is folded up according style and placed against the back, not as a cylinder with gear inside it. This is advice I received from Ron, and works quite nicely. I've been loading my quilt and insulating jacket loosely inside my bivy sack at the bottom of the pack. On top of this, I've put a ziploc of my extra clothing, with my pot/bushbuddy beside it. This is where things get muddy. I"m trying to find a way to load the rest of my food and 3L platy bladder as well. I've tried standing the platy upright, and packing around it. Laying it down on its side and packing on top a time before too. Should the water be on top, food on bottom? Probably not because who wants to crust their food. Would it be better to be using 2 L bladders instead of the long and awkward 3L? 2 Gatorade bottles of water in each side pocket.

My initial thoughts are that the pack is a bit too big, even with 5 L of water and 4 days of food. Whenever I engage the compression system on the very bottom of the bag (Golite Compaktor style), this makes the hipbelt wings contort with the odd empty space created in the corners, which I've tried filling by stuffing the quilt into.

This is obviously my first frameless pack but really want to make it work since my base weight is under 9 lbs.

[Jonathan Ryan]

My packing system is similar to yours. I put in my sleep pad/quilt/clothing and other gear like you noted with the food on top. I place my 70 oz platty on the left side with the taller pocket and a 32 oz platty on the right with the shortened pocket. I then compress the pack as much as possible without shrinking my quilt too much and it works wonderfully.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: The Super Zip is indeed super durable. This past weekend I ended up climbing Whiteface up in NH. With the snowpack being 4-6ft in places I was up scraping around in the tree's and glissading down the steeps all day. No physical damage to be found on the pack amazingly…

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