ZPacks Arc Haul

That thing looks great. I like the changes from the other Arc line.

I have the Blast. The most weight I've carried in it thus far is 24lbs with no problems. It felt like it was definitely capable of carrying more.

I ordered mine a month ago…so it should get here within 2 weeks or so and I can take pics and initial first impressions.

An arc blast 60L in dyneema would weigh 20.6 oz from Joe's calculations that he sent me, so the extra features weigh 3.4 oz more. (additional horizontal bar, thicker shoulder straps, hipbelt, v straps, shoulder buckle system, etc).

Actually…the upgrade is less than that. The 24 oz base weight now includes a lumbar pad essentially (it has a full wrap hipbelt now), shoulder straps, etc. If you take a 60L arc blast (20.6 oz), add shoulder straps .2 oz, and lumbar pad .6 oz, that is 21.4 oz….so, now you are only 2.6 oz in additional weight to a comparable arc blast 60L.

Pricing is good too. Arc blast 60L ($289) in dyneema (+$0 upgrade), plus lifter straps $8, plus lumbar pad $12 = $309. Basically…current pricing puts the arc haul cheaper than a comparable arc blast 60L. Don't get me wrong…dyneema is cheaper than cuben hybrid, but current pricing doesn't reflect that (an arc blast in dyneema doesn't cost cheaper than cuben hybrid…that might change though).

Joe does have a slight error on the page…he states:

EDIT: After getting my arc haul in…I can say that Yes, they do come taped!

And….the pictures that he has on the page are a mix of arc haul, arc blast in dyneema, and arc blast in cuben hybrid.

Think it'll carry 40lbs., Dan? You've had a lot of experience with the arc frame.

Edit – Think it will carry 40, comfortably? I've no doubt it will carry 40lbs.

oh man I wish they had come up with this a little earlier.
It's too late for this Spring for me to order. I'm heading out to Silver City, NM
on 4/9 and will start the CDT from Crazy Cook for a Section Hike to Pie Town,
I hiked about 140 miles last spring in NM and another 90 up in WY through the Winds in
late July using an Arc Blast. I think the Torso was a little too long and I couldn't
keep the hip belt carrying the load. I've got some belly, thus not much hips, and it kept
slipping down putting the load on my shoulders. I carried about 34 lbs to start from
the Southern Terminus with 5 1/2 L of water and 6 days food. If I tightened the Hip
Belt enough to keep it from slipping down it cut off blood circulation to my legs.
Not Optimal.
So I sold it and bought an Osprey Exos that seems to carry well with a load for me.
But it's heavy, about 42 oz. as compared to the Zpacks Arc Blast (terrible name BTW)
at about 17oz. I also bought a ULA Circuit to try out. I wore them both this winter and
prefer the Osprey for fit.
ZPacks new Hip Belt looks like it will solve my problem so I may go ahead and place
an order for a new Haul so it'll be ready when I go back out to WY in late July.

Larry (OldnSlow)

Do I think it will carry 40 comfortably? Good question…not sure. I probably won't ever get above 35 or so.

I didn't take an arc blast above 20, and I thought at 20 it still felt like I wasn't really wearing anything. However, I want to carry a packraft, paddles, extra water etc which before I used a different pack and I was not comfortable pushing an arc blast with that load.

Actually…it looks like it just shipped! So, I'll have some initial impressions by next week.

John,

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and experience with this pack. Please do post a review.

It looks like it could be a good compromise of volume, weight, durability and load capacity. I am intrigued by the possibility of replacing both my <25 lb pack and my >25 lb/<35 lb pack with a single unit AND losing 10 oz to boot.

Does Joe sleep?

He's like a painter or something… every month hes got a new toy coming out. Gossamer Picasso

Ok, I just got my new pack in today and loaded it up with whatever I had on hand…still only got to 18lbs…I'll try just throwing in more cans of beans I guess another day.

First, this is how you ship a pack….take two priority mail boxes and stuff one into the other ->

Everything looks great with the pack. Stitching is nice, no flaws that I see. ->

One of the first things that I noticed is the mesh panel. I'm not sure when they made the switch, but they used to have dyneema cord running vertically on both sides and the mesh attached to that. It was slightly uncomfortable b/c I could feel the cord. Now, they use flat fabric on the sides and its quite a bit more comfortable (I don't feel it near as much)

The new load lifters are very secure/strong…definitely effective if you want to really crank on them since they are attached to the frame now. I did notice that it was a bit hard to tighten…I think they switched the type of locks they are using. Its not necessarily a bad thing….they definitely won't slip on you.

Dyneema water pocket holders are great too…I really like the durability of dyneema. It might have been an oversight that I'll ask Joe, but the pockets did not come with a drain hole on the bottom.

You can also see in this picture that I had zpacks add two grosgrain compression straps instead of the dyneema cord system. I much prefer this method.

I also bought two new zpacks hipbelt pockets….in dyneema! (they'll do this at no charge). Cuben hybrid pockets weigh .75 oz (manufacturer spec). One of the pockets weighed 23g (.81 oz) and the other 26g (.91oz). Do I think its worth the weight? Absolutely. Comparing these pockets to …MLD dyneema pockets, its night and day. MLD pockets weigh more (28g) and are much smaller. MLD uses a much larger zipper and have more straps on the back of them. I prefer the zpacks pocket design as well.

Now…for the real surprise…I thought it was an edit mistake on zpacks site, but the Dyneema pack did come taped! I don't know what kind of tape it is, or if its going to stick forever, but even if it doesn't, its just tape…it should be easy to replace.

Zpacks even took the time to tape the hipbelt pockets! (hard to see in pic)

Closing thoughts…really looking forward to using the pack, and now I'm not as worried about having to baby the pack like I did with cuben hyrid. The shoulder straps feel comfortable with a nice s shape, hipbelt is comfortable…I really like the adjustable V straps.

Oh…and the pack came in at 24.3 oz…a tiny bit over spec but probably due to the switch of compression straps over the cord. Very happy with the pack so far.

I look forward to hearing how it does with more weight.

Can you feel the bar on the back of the hipbelt? Do you think you will at heavier loads?

My friend John has the 60L Arc Blast. With a sleeping bag packed loosely on the bottom (no stuff sack), there really seems to be no need for a belt to go all the way across. The sleeping bag works great as the pad.

I do like the additional support of the improved frame on the Arc Haul, it being connected to the belt, and the load lifters connected to it so they actually work. I also like the one posters idea of webbing compression straps because they are so much easier to use. I think this design with the Cuben fabric would be cool. I don't really need the more robust Dyneema fabric. So the Cuben option would shed some ounces. Would like to know what that'd weigh in a 60L size.

I've been thinking of buying the Arc Blast but wondered if a new pack was on the horizon. Now I know there is one and it looks great. Material option with this pack would be a real plus.

From what I saw on the PCT, those using the Arc Blast had stress failures that were tearing out from the heavy bear can carries in the Sierras and this new pack looks like a solution to that and heavy water carries. Personally living in the desert I'm thrilled with the new pack design especially since they kept the airflow mesh and for me it's the most comfortable arrangement. Seems like no matter what long trail I do I have to do heavy water carries anyways….might as well have the lightest pack that can handle the stress.

From the calculations others have made, it looks likes most of the half pound weight increase over the Arc Blast is in the suspension upgrades. In terms of material alone, the Cuben Hybrid saves about 2.5 oz over the Dyneema.

IMHO, that 2.5 oz is a small price to pay for a pack.tbat will probably last three times longer and is probably a lot more quiet in colder weather.

I think I found my new lightweight hunting pack..The Black Dyneema has a nice businesslike "Grim Reaper" look about it…lol.

What do you Desert rats think of the Black color in the heat?

I'm not too concerned about it although I would have liked it in a tan color to blend in for stalking down here. I use an umbrella in the heat of the day and don't carry anything that melts. I was going to order an Arc Blast in green before this new model came out. I'm assuming they've tested it in Florida, so if it worked for them there it's probably fine.

Hey all, I posted my initial thoughts about the arc haul in a different post here at bpl:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=101163&skip_to_post=856579#856579

@John Harper

I am not feeling the bar….I'm just feeling that the bottom is fully supported/rested on my hips/butt..I can move the pack up completely by just shifting my hips up a bit.

I loaded 2 gallons of juice onto the top of the pack (yeah, not loaded well…it pulled back on me b/c of the way I loaded it), but I didn't feel the bar either, but I only wore it for …3 minutes?

Thanks, John. This pack looks really promising (I think it could hit the sweet spot for MANY backpackers), and that bar was my only real concern.

The tramp mesh back reminds me of my Osprey EXOS 58. It does make you back cooler.

But what I REALLY like is the 4-way adjustable hip belt straps. they can be made to exactly fit around your hipbone iliac crest area for a good load distribution and a belt that will stay in place. Plus the hip belt pockets are actually large enough to be useable. What a novel idea. ;o)

@John Jonas

Have you had a chance to put some miles on this pack with a load? Count me among those very interested in this pack, but a tad cautious given it is brand new and "untested" (although I'm certain Joe and company wrung it's neck pretty hard). Any first hand experiences you could provide would be awesome.

I'm sorry..this past week was spring break and I was going to go 8-10 miles in craters of the moon national monument but then 3 out of 5 family members got a stomach virus so that didn't happen…

I'm sorry to hear your family was not well…I hope everyone is back to normal soon.
Re not hiking…family first!

Once you get it out on the trial I'm looking forward to any information you feel like sharing.

When Joe decides to offer this in Hybrid…it's on. I hike in the southwestern deserts and desert sections of the PCT year-round. This pack would melt my chocolate….that ain't hapnin'.
I didn't care for the Blast for all the reasons he's addressed on the Haul. Hope it happens.