Pack Pockets Yes or No?

[Dale Wambaugh]

Pocketsess? Must have pocketsess for precccious things.

I like a pocket on the front for rain gear and hygiene kit and side pockets for water bottles and rolled map. As much as they weigh, a top pocket is handy for all kinds of stuff and saves digging around in the main pack body. I'm built wide enough that I get in the way before the pockets do :)

[jason quick]

At first I disliked pack pockets…now…I love them. You see, I do not like putting anything whatsoever in my clothes pockets.

I do love the concept of pocketless hiking, but for what I do most of the time, pockets actually add value to my hiking style.

I have two hipbelt pockets which store Map, snacks, gloves/CF mitts etc. I also have two shoulder strap pockets which hold my sunnies (when not worn), GPS and my zebra light. I have a front mesh pocket for wet weather gear, PLB and Steripen.

I will often mix and match depending on how many accessible items I am carrying. If I'm not taking the GPS, I'll generally remove a shoulder strap pouch.

This really works well for me. Rarely do I need to enter my pack, unless getting out food for lunch or gearing up for camp during a longer rest stop.

For 3 season, wet weather hiking (Tasmania etc. in Australia for example): Inside my pack I have my Hexamid in a dry bag or CF stuff sack…this sits on the top. The middle dry bag holds food, cooking gear and ditty bag. My bottom dry bag has my sleeping bag, mat, pillow and spare clothes.

At this stage, my dry bag set up weighs in at approx 100 grams, or about 3 ounces….which is acceptable for me.

For drier climes: I simply use one zpacks CF pack liner and that is it.

Hope this helps?
Jase in Australia

[Roger Caffin]

> you have the pack cinched closed and your shelter is under the lid and lying on top
> of the cinched pack closure.
Sort of. Under the lid there is a 'throat': an extension sleeve of light but WP fabric, often silnylon. This gets closed over the gear inside the pack. The tent sits on top of that, with a strap going from the front of the pack to the back, over the tent. (Your choice which is the front and the back.)
Sorry – no pics of that right now.

Cheers

[mik matra]

Tent; Inside and centre (helps with stiffening of the load carried)
Water Bottle; Outside side pockets where I can reach them
Frequently used items; Hip pockets for camera/phone, nibblies and pants pockets for monocular, map and compass.

[Mary D]

"Pocketsess? Must have pocketsess for precccious things."

Unfortunately the pockets on most women's clothing, even hiking clothing, are pretty useless. They are too shallow and the contents fall out easily. We therefore can't rely on our clothing for storage!

[Dean F.]

When I first started this UL thing like most converts I became a zealot, and thus had very minimal packs without exterior pockets. I also used a hanky as my sleep system and sucked water from my socks. I've sort of stepped back from the ledge, though. (See Skurka and "stupid light.") There are now a few things that I think are worth hauling an extra ounce or two, and exterior pockets are one of them.

Like others, I detest carrying anything in my pants pockets, so a hipbelt pocket carries my pocketknife, chapstick, snack, compass, etc.

I prefer bottles to bladders because I always seem to lose track of how much is left in a bladder hidden away in my pack, and I like to carry the bottles in side pockets. Maybe someday I'll try a shoulder-strap pocket (the concept certainly worked well when I tried an Aarn pack). I've seen water bottle holders that are just straps designed to hold the neck of a bottle securely, and they look interesting, but I've yet to try one.

My raingear and shelter go in the front pocket for quick access when needed- all the wet stuff stays together.

For durability reasons I do admit that I like pockets made of solid fabric rather than made of mesh (ounces, again)- GoLite does it this way, as does MLD and others- at least as options. The Osprey Exos uses mesh, but it is very heavy-gauge mesh, not the tissue-thin stuff most UL cottage manufacturers favor in their more fanatically-marketed packs. But this is more important for the hipbelt and side pockets, not so much the front pocket. (My favorite MLD pack has a mesh front pocket.)

[Jim Colten]

Dean,

Stop it man, you're killing me! One question though … what's your preferred method for treating sock water?

Back on topic … I'm also a pocket fan. Most of my pocket experience has been with the relatively sturdy stretch material on my Granite Gear Virga and I used a similar material when I de-ionized a Golite Ion.

I also dislike using pants pockets (unless they close somewhat securely) … more so after losing a camera on a snowshoe outing last winter.

[Nick Gatel]

I generally don't care for pockets, other than water pockets if I need to carry more than a liter of water. I actually prefer to carry a small P&S camera in my hiking short pockets.

I have tried hiking with pocket-less shorts and don't like the lack of them.

I guess the bottom line is if pockets make you more efficient and happy, then use them!

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