Pack for when GG Gorilla overburdened?

Take a close look at the Kalais as well, made by Elemental Horizons.

I've used backpacks for 50 years, a bunch of them, both while living in Europe and in the US, and this is on top of my list as far as comfort of wearing with 27-28 lbs load gets.

Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter. Proven in the field by hardcore users. 2 lbs and can carry into the 40 lb range.

In August, HMG is coming out with a line of full Dyneema packs when coupled with the excellent suspension may be the best new packs on the market.

For a cost, of course.

Perhaps an Exped Lightning 45?

Other options might be the Seek Outside Unaweep 3900 (probably the best load hauler), ZPacks Arc Haul, HMG Porter, Cilogear WorkSack 45.

If you know you love the Gorilla/ GG suspension why change it?

The Mariposa is proven winner and it's suspension works for you…

I'll second Ivo K's recommendation of the EH Kalais. I've been using packs for nearly 70 years and would place the Kalais at the top of the list for loads up to 35 pounds. I used my Kalais for a SOBO thru of the JMT and it handled the bear canister and heavy, eleven-day, resupply out of Muir Trail Ranch beautifully. If you want a bit more room with the same suspension look at the EH Aquilo.

Edit to add: I'm recently back from walking the West Highland Way. I had a great time sampling the beers of Scotland and walking the lovely Highlands.

The new katabatic packs are good in that weight range. I've been out on a couple ski traverses over the the winter with loads in that range, and was quite happy with how mine carried. This is coming from an hmg ice pack (full dyneema), and i like my artemis quite a bit more.

Great, thanks for all your suggestions! Some of those packs I've heard of, others not, and we have a limited opportunity to try out non-mainstream US packs here in the UK. There are a couple of retailers who stock ULA, Gossamer Gear, Granite Gear and some SMD, but that's about it. That makes it an expensive risk to buy the likes of HMG, MLD and so on. It also means I can at least try out those packs, and I've heard such praise for ULA that it (Circuit/Catalyst) could be a good bet.
There is a small community of lightweight packers who trade some of these, and among them ZPacks seems popular, presumably due to the water-resistance of cuben fibre.
The introduction of a dyneema Porter sounds very interesting, maybe similar to the ZPacks Arc Haul (dyneema)? I think the Paradox packs may be off my scale of affordability.

As for the Gorilla, I most certainly will stick with it! But as mentioned, it hits its limit with the 30-35lb range, and doesn't have the capacity for when I need to use 4 season shelter, sleeping bag, extra thermal layers, or when needing to carry extra food, water and fuel. Saying that, I don't need a big load hauler and am unlikely to go over 35lbs.

Glad you enjoyed the West Highland Way Charles, hope the midgies didn't bother you too much?

The new dyneema HMG packs are full woven dyneema and are not the same as the dyneema grid used by Z-Packs, ULA, Golite, Exped Lightning, etc. Only the white "grid" pattern is dyneema fibers, the rest of the colored fabric is regular nylon. The full woven dyneema that will be used by HMG will be white (its virtually impossible to dye) and very expensive. The only other pack makers I know that use it are McHale and Cilogear. I would expect them to be in the $700 range.

I just bought a Unaweep 4800 for $405, so they aren't that far out of your preferred range.

"This is coming from an hmg ice pack (full dyneema), and i like my artemis quite a bit more."

If your pack was the 50d or 150d hybrid cuben it was NOT the new full dyneema fabric that will be available as an option via HMG. These packs will likely be over $500. It will also make the fabric almost indestructible (evidenced by the dyneema on my Mchale).

Unless, of course, yours was some one off custom job and then I stand corrected….; )

Mike, I would agree with Jeffs Eleven. If you know the pack already, then you can eliminate most of the risk by simply upgrading to the Mariposa.

While other packs are usually good, if the Gorilla suits you then you can simply swap out the internal frame into the Mariposa. They are interchangeable. Or you can apply a different bend for heavy loads and replace the stay as needed. It can carry the 35 pounds you mention, but you may wish to mod it a bit.

Look at flipping the stay over and bending it as needed. (It will fit just under the pad keeper mesh.) Hot knife a couple holes for the stay and stitch in some nylon strapping as reinforcement. Then, add some loops to the hip belt to mount it solidly to the frame. Finaly, stitch the top of the nylon reinforcements closed with a couple heavy duty bar tacks. You can easily take it to 40+ pounds, not that I would ever need that weight. The newest iteration from GG probably has the best of all the features in a fairly light pack, around 29oz (depending on the size you need.)

I usually use a Murmur for UL trips up to about two weeks. I use the Gorilla or older MiniPosa for hauling fishing gear, extra fuel and a frying pan. The 60L Mariposa is simply too big for me. But if you have a need for such volume, you really cannot go wrong. The Mariposa has much the same feel, just in a larger volume.

Yes, I am an unpaid Trail Ambassador for GG. This is not only my opinion, though I get to play with their gear. I would suggest you read the reviews on the GossamerGear.com web site. Note that it was this years BPL pick, also, though this was for last years model (the new type 5 is a much nicer pack.)

I've carried around 30# in my Circuit and 35# comfortably in my Catalyst. The latter has more volume than you mentioned in the OP but it fills up nicely if you leave your quilt unstuffed.

Dave, mine is that same super burly full dyneema that mchale and cilogear uses. Its very tough. It was a custom job from a couple years ago when I asked about getting a tougher material then the regular hybrid.

I stand corrected Serge.

James – about the stay you mention above. This sounds an interesting proposition. Do you mean to add an extra stay to the Mariposa so it can handle more weight? Any more details on how to do this? And even with an extra stay, isn't it also the hipbelt and shoulder straps that would determine how comfortable the pack is? The pack may handle 40lbs, but if the hipbelts doesn't transfer the weight and the shoulder straps are not designed for such weight…
If, after adding an extra stay, I need to beef up hipbelt and straps, then my pack weight is creeping up. Maybe worth it for what might turn out to be still a lightweight and comfortable carry.
Potentially an interesting…