ZPacks Arc Haul

Black is beautiful. And in my experience makes no difference what color your pack is. It's how you pack that chocolate.

Concur on chocolate packing…also…pack more :-)

One of the problems with the hybrid is that its pulling through on some people with heavier weighted pack loads on long trips. See above in this thread and plenty of other places its mentioned online. Going to the dyneema alleviates that issue, mostly. More careful construction methods (ie, carefully designed reinforcement patches/cuben laminates) could also alleviate the issue, but I imagine for Joe and Co its not worth their time/it would increase the cost beyond what they think is easily sell-able.

If you email ZPacks, they might make you an Arc Haul in hybrid cuben. Or offer to mail them some other fabric of your choice and see if they would use that to make your pack. I haven't found pack color to be a big modulator of whether or not my chocolate melts though.

Since fabric does not retain heat like metal does. Black tarps make the most shade.

Dark chocolate melts at a higher temp.

Sweet looking pack John.

In reality, there is so much white Dyneema thread in the "Black" fabric the cumulative effect is just a Dark grey, not really a true jet Black like the Black polyester Cuben Hybrids or the Xpacs. …

I have a feeling these oacks will be popular enough that Zpacks will wind up offering them in just about every Dyneema color they can source. Certainly, the Blue, Evergreen and the Grey would be welcome options for many.

Bam! Ordered today in gray with black trim. Been carrying a ULA in cuben hybrid for over 2200 miles…No problems so far. We'll see how this goes…

Ok, first trip with the arc haul. Took my brother and 2 of my kids to Echo Crater at Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Unfortunately…still only had a 23lb pack weight, even with carrying all the food and 5 liters of water. That pack weight was of course no problem at all.

Some observations:

1. I already knew this with having an arc blast before, but the mesh back makes a huge difference. 30 minutes into the hike I noticed my back getting hot…then realized I forgot to tension the frame. No issues with back sweat after that.

2. The load lifter straps are a bit tough to tighten/loosen. However, they work very well and….b/c they are a bit hard to adjust, it just means that once adjusted, they are not coming lose.

3. I've said this on a different thread where someone was suggesting putting webbing straps on the bottom instead of cord/cordlocks like default…..but I strongly suggest against it. More than likely the webbing will be too short for some items you want to strap on, and you can't add more without sewing. But with cord…you can just change the cord to have longer glowire on it.

In the pictures above I have a 3/4 length ridgerest…and that barely fit. A hassle to reattach and get out. I'll simply remove the straps and add new cord and problem solved. I do like a ridgerest in this location….I can still access the top of the pack, and if I set down the pack its almost never tipping over b/c of the wide base with the pad. And, ….with new cord that makes it trivial to put the pad back on, the pad is easy access for breaks to sit on.

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts that stood out to me. Everything else was perfect and comfortable…and no, I never felt the new horizontal bottom rod, and the hipbelt felt very supportive so I know it can handle quite a bit more weight.

Thanks, Dan! My daughter was interested in the Blast. I am glad to hear that this pack carries well even being new.

Like so many before me, I succumbed to the new gear bug and ordered an Arc Haul yesterday. Starting to wonder if I need to join GA (Gearaholics Anonymous).

Should be here in 6 weeks. I specified 3 customizations:
1. Dual top straps. I really like this feature on my GG Crown VC and didn't think the stock single strap would work as well for those few times when you need to lash something to the top.
2. Roll top clips down to the side (like the Arc Haul ZIP). Again, this is a design feature of the Crown VC that I really like. Offers great compression as your load shrinks and facilitates external lashing as it cleans up the top of the pack.
3. On the Dynema cord side compression, I asked that each "V" be made independently adjustable. That simply means the addition of an LL3 at the middle lashing point on each side turning the "W" arrangement into two "V"s. The cord compression of the Crown VC (again) has proven very effective and versatile so I chose to stay that route rather than ask for side compression straps. Dan's argument for the staying with the bottom compression cords resonated with me, so kept them as-is.

And so the arduous wait for delivery begins…

Nice mods. I also have a Crown VC 60 and I love those features in particular. It's such a nice pack that I am having a hard time purchasing something else… like an Arc Haul. Please update this thread with some pics when you get yours!

I have had an Arc Blast for a while and and love it. I use it every chance I get. When I go on trips that require a lot more volume I pull out my McHale pack and load it up to the gills. For me, it is either spartan weight with the Blast or let-it-rip, all-bets-are-off, petal-to-the-metal, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink weight with the McHale.

It fits both standing up and sideways on top inside.

Bearikade weekender. In all I'm very pleased with the Arc Haul. The new shoulder strap adjustment system is really cool. The waistbbelt works well, but I don't tighten it tightly, yet the load transfer is hardly felt on the shoulders. Once you get the shoulder straps at the best level for you it all works very well together. It is of course not as light as the Arc Blast, but the bigger/heavier capacity more than makes up for it.

OK, I'm pretty well convinced this will replace my old Circuit, which has held up well but will head into retirement this year.

What I don't know is how to decide what size frame. I'm only 6-1, but my height is in my torso and I have always used Long or Large packs (the Circuit is a Large). I guess I need to carefully measure the Circuit and try to figure out where the top of the Arc Haul frame would be in relation to my shoulders?

If I get the standard compression cord, is there enough extra that I can carry a tent vertically in the side pocket, and use the compression cord to hold it in? Or do I need to get longer cord or the two-strap compression option? I have had both types of compression and don't have a preference otherwise.

So mine arrived a couple of weeks ago in the mail, and last night I finally had a chance to test it out, on a 1 hour training circuit on a favourite local loop of mine (hard technical trail with a very steep summit climb).

I loaded it up to 21kg, 46 pounds. SO 6 pounds over Zpacks' recommendation.

It carried superbly! I'd hazard a guess and say better than my current other pack for those sorts of loads, and probably as comfortable as anything I've worn, really.

I have little doubt that it will carry more than 46 pounds for me, comfortably. YMMV. At the moment, although I'm heavier than I'd like to be (see below), I have a very strong upper body, far stronger than the average backpacker. I'm no string bean. 46 pounds may as well be 4 pounds to me. Anyway, I hazard that I could take it to 50 or 55 pounds no worries before the harness starts to cause me any discomfort, ie, straps digging in. Maybe a couple of more pounds beyond that where I wish it had better hip load transfer.

The shoulder straps are superb. I love them. Wider than anything I've used (barring maybe a G4, but they are rediculous and not curved that great). The curves in them are just perfect for me. I can't fault them.

I went with a long. I haven't adjusted shoulder strap length-they are on the bottom stops just out the mailbag…and this is perfect for me. I'm about 178 cm, but probably have a shorter torso for my height.

The hipbelt is great. I've said it many times, double back type hipbelt straps do wonders. This one does too. Looking at it, there isn't much padding there at all, its pretty lightweight. But the dimensions are all just right, and with those straps, it hugs perfectly. The way they've attached it, its attached quite centrally which is also always good; this means that it has the ability to mould to you the entire way around. If anything, I could personally have the padded section maybe 1cm longer. But I could also lose a few kilograms right now, and if I do, then it will be perfect. In use, I didn't notice the shortness at all, just when I first put it on. My hipbelt is a medium. No way I'd need the extra four inches of a large.

Its a stable pack. I didn't really cinch things down (I had two 10L water bladders inside). On technical trail this wasn't really a problem.

The bottle pockets were very very easy for me to get to, and get bottles in and out of. YMMV if you aren't very flexible, but these are much easier than any other full-size pack I've ever tried.

I got the optional, detachable hipbelt pockets, and they are very good. I'm glad I went with Dyneema, as I can see them copping a lot of abuse where they are.

Hydration tube port is very well placed.

Only a couple of things I would personally do differently;

1. Attach the load lifter straps to the shoulder straps with an adjustable mechanism. I realise this adds weight (probably 5grams total). I was really lucky, and they happen to be in the perfect spot for me. But if you are someone who is pushing the length, ie very tall, its possible that they will end up being too far back for you. If you are very tall, talk to Zpacks about this issue…you will probably need a custom longer pack anyway.

2. I ordered the optional internal key pocket. Looks good. Only issue is, and I should have read their notes on it and thought harder about it (they describe where it sits), it sits rather high in the pack. I haven't tested yet, but I envisage that it is high enough to affect the roll top. I might be wrong. With just keys and/or cash it wouldn't matter. But I was thinking of putting a wallet (UL one with cards, cash) and/or passport in there (for OS trips). With those stiff things in there, it might be dicey. However I really need to try this out, and if I'm wrong I'll come back and delete this point, I promise!

3. Some of the buckles…gosh they are so lightweight I don't know how they'll fair long term. The sternum buckle is so damn small that every time I go to use it, I miss! I literally stuff it up and have to pull it out. Hmmm. I might look for something slightly beefier to try, not that I think this one needs the strength, the super wide and conforming shoulder straps make it almost superflous (they just don't shift on me), but I'm just scared that I'll keep stuffing it up until I snap a side arm! The hipbelt buckle is definitely pushing it. The 40lb load limit, long term, might really be the limit. I don't know. I might again build up an alternative to try myself, at least for trips with heavier loads/training.

4. I'm so used to having sternum strap whistle buckles on all my packs these days, that it was a shock not to have on on this pack. Seems weird. I don't want to have to think about putting one back in or around my neck like I did in the dark-ages, so I'll probably swap the buckle out for one anyway.

Anyway, in summary this is definitely my go-to pack. Its so comfortable at this weight it makes the notion of having other multiple packs seem pointless. The minor points above really are pretty minor and I'm being very nit-picky. Its superb, and I don't regret a cent I paid for it, now that I've used it, I'd happily pay more for it, again.

Quick question, received my Arc today.. can anyone tell me the secret to adjusting the shoulder adjustment straps? They are so tight I almost cannot open them..

Take hold of the webbing where it joins the top of the shoulder strap padding. If you want to lower the height, just pull straight down and they should adjust fairly smoothly. To raise the height, pull upwards but also lift the upper buckle with your other hand at the same time.

They are much stiffer than commonly used buckles, however I quite like them. They are light and also shouldn't self adjust under load.

The ergonomics of the harness work well, I've found so far once adjusted, no need to readjust them. Sometimes on a harness, its easier to loosen shoulder straps, position hipbelt, fix and tighten hipbelt in position, then tighten shoulder straps again (sometimes with some readjustment). However this is one of those few packs where I can set and forget the shoulder straps.

Now available to order.
Just took a look at ZPacks' web site – black, blue, green, and orange.

DM… How hard was it to get that Bearikade weekender in horizontal like in the pic?
By my measurements the distance around the outside of a horizontal weekender is about the same as the circumference of the pack opening. Joe says it is would be extremely tight, it it fits at all.

thanks,

Billy

The blue and orange don't really work for me.
If the green were darker, I would go for that.
Still happy with the black. Hoping my Arc Haul arrives soon.

Anyone try the zip version? If so any feedback?

Idan Y wrote this March 14 Zpacks “Arc Haul – Zip” in Cuben first impressions and said in his post
(will write comprehensive review with comparisons in future)
You could try PMing him and see if he is ready for a more comprehensive review.

Fantastic. Thanks.

Just received notice that my custom Arc Haul shipped.
Jumping up and down like a child on Christmas morning.

These packs have been out for about (3) months now. Any reviews with some heavy weight and multiple days? I know some of the SW crew has to be carrying a lot of water weight right now. Anyone?

Ryan