New GG Gorilla Pack

[William Puckett]

I received a new Gossamer Gear Gorilla Pack today, and I'm very pleased with what I got! It has sufficient volume for weekend+ trips (with my gear) and is small enough with compression options for "well-geared" day travel. Based on a quick examination, the construction is good with no obvious flaws. GG's service was extraordinary with shipment the same day I ordered.

Here are some photos with the pack loaded at "weekend" level gear (including food).

Side view

Rear View

Detail of hip belt with accessory pockets

[Dan Cunningham]

William – it looks nice and tidy… I like it!

I see how you got it all loaded up, hydration and all. Good to know I'm not the only gear geek in MN – I get crazy looks from my wife wondering my I'm packing up all my gear in the middle of winter for no reason. :)

Also – nice house, I love the trim work.

[William Puckett]

RE: the trim work

The roof beams were the product of 2 master carpenters and 3 days work, but they did a fantastic job in a remodel about 5 years ago.

[Jeff Jeff]

Do you have a photo from the front? I've only seen on GG pack in action and the shoulder straps looked really uncomfortable. Wide and thin and poorly contoured. Nice pack though.

[William Puckett]

>>Do you have a photo from the front?<<

I'll try to get one posted. Already unloaded the pack, though.

The shoulder straps are wider than other pack straps, but they are designed so as to be able to use spare socks, etc. as padding. I'd say they are not a "strong" plus of the pack, but in my initial wearing they didn't feel uncomfortable or out of place. For now, I've inserted the CCF pads that come with the pack. I'm unlikely to ever go the "unused clothing as padding" option.

Oh…and FWIW, the pack is a large with large hipbelt to suit my 6'5" body.

[Jeff Jeff]

No hurry, I won't buy buying a frameless pack until spring.
I am happy they offer a large with a small hipbelt though.

[William Puckett]

[Sean Mantell]

I love the wide shoulder straps on GG backpacks. I think that they're more comfortable than the typical sizes.

[Chris Chastain]

> I love the wide shoulder straps on GG backpacks. I think that they're more comfortable than the typical sizes.

Absolutely!

[Dale South]

I use my sleeping socks as padding in the straps of my Mariposa Plus. I find them very comfortable, even more so than with the foam padding.

Oh and I have to have a Gorilla Pack.

[Joe Clement]

I like my Mariposa, the wide straps don't bother you at all. I probably should have bought a Gorilla instead of that Exos 46. And I don't think the Gorilla is what you call a frameless pack anymore.

[William Puckett]

>>And I don't think the Gorilla is what you call a frameless pack anymore.<<

I agree…and that's why I selected it. The stays seem to work well in transferring the load to the hip belt (preliminary opinion subject to change after extended use and all-day wearing of a loaded pack!!). I was strongly considering the ULA Ohm as my other choice, but the sexy curves of the Gorilla were more seductive than the Ohm's utilitarian straight line stays. Both companies seem to do first rate work, though, so it'd be hard to make a bad choice.

[Jed Augustine]

Hey y'all-

Have smaller fellas tried out the Gorilla/GG shoulder traps? I wonder if there is a size/satisfaction correlation going on here, as, atleast from the avatars, mostly taller gentleman have weighed in at this point. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks,

Jed

[Dale South]

Hey Jed, I'm only 5' 8".

Dale

[Turley]

I'm 5'4" w/ a 17" torso so I ordered a medium size Gorilla. Initially it seemed as if the shoulder straps were too wide as they rubbed my neck however the pack was simply too big/torso wise. When the hip was placed in the right position, the shoulder straps did not cup/mold to my shoulders creating approximately a 2" gap between the top back region of my shoulders and the shoulder straps. I'm waiting for the small to arrive – should be here in a few days. I also talked to Grant about this and he suggested using pipe foam insulation (can get it at Home Depot or Lowes) which decreases the width of the straps by increasing the straps thickness.
I'm hoping the small will fit perfectly as I like the nice neat lines this pack has and do believe the curved aluminum stays will transfer weight well and provide a comfortable ride.

[William Puckett]

A little bird has told me that a future production run of the Gorilla will include narrower shoulder straps as an option.

For now, my position is that the existing width works well, so my "issue" is that the wider strap is different than what I'm accustomed to. Fashion rears its head in ultrapacking, ziphiking, faststriding, lighthauling…er, whatever?

[Jed Augustine]

Dale and Chris- thanks for the info!

[Michael Fogarty]

Hi William,

What is your waist size and what size hip-belt do you have on the Gorilla?

I'm have a 35-36" waist/pant size and ordered the medium hip-belt, as they show the medium to top out at 35"-36", and the large starts at 36" and tops out at 42"

I guess, I can always send the medium hip-belt back and get the large, should the medium be too small?

[William Puckett]

>>What is your waist size and what size hip-belt do you have on the Gorilla?<<

I have a 37 inch waist. The Large hip belt fits me just fine! If I were you, I'd try the medium first.

[Michael Fogarty]

William,
Thanks for the advice. This is what I thought too. I had an older model Mariposa with a large belt and it came close to maxing out at the buckles.
Also, it makes a big difference as to how thick a pad, you put into the back panel sleeve. A thicker pad takes-up more of the hip-belt, and a thinner pad less.
Another nice improvement are the interchangeable hip-belts, where as before, they were sewn onto the packs.

[Lynn Tramper]

Are you guys wearing your 'hipbelt' around your hips, or waist?

[William Puckett]

>>Are you guys wearing your 'hipbelt' around your hips, or waist?<<

I wear the hipbelt over the iliac crest at the hips.

[Michael Fogarty]

Usually, centered over my hipbone crest. Sometimes lower, depending on the type of pack. Some frame-less packs fit me better or feel better riding slightly lower. This will depend too, on where the bottom of the pack rests into my lumbar region, in relation to the hip-belt position.

[Peter Burke]

I am considering the the Gorilla pack for my kids – are the Gorilla straps are cut differently from the G4?

I recently bought a G4 for my kids to try a small sized GG pack and the result was not very positive. The wide straps cut into the sides of their necks. The seams for the padding pockets are right along the inside of the straps, aggravating the problem, and the torso size was far taller than suitable for them, even though they should be in the middle of the indicated 13-17" fit.

I can't tell from the photos here or on the GG site if there's any difference in cut on those straps. I also think the poor fit in torso size compounds the problem with the straps on our G4 – they connect pretty high right behind their necks and are not separated enough by the time they reach the neck. Actually, this may be a bigger issue than the width of the straps themselves, the more I think about the problem.

The small Gorilla is supposed to fit an amazing minimum 12" torso – is it cut differently in the back than a G4? To fit those 14" torsos I am dealing with it really has to be significantly shorter than the G4.

[Turley]

Peter,

I received the Gorilla Medium Torso and it was too long (I have a 17-17.5" torso) and it fit great except for the wide shoulder straps – too wide. I returned it and am waiting for the Gorilla with narrower straps to be released – hopefully around May.
I believe the torso length of 12"-16" is an error, it should be 13"-17" (past years models of the miniposa were 12-16 and it has been changed to 13-17 – I confirmed this with Grant previously as well).

[Author]

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