Should i get a smaller pack if so which one?

according to golite's fan page on facebook their marketing dept sent out a message post looking for a name for the "new" pack that is supposed to be a smaller jam2 that is in between the ion and jam2 scheduled for release spring 2010.

as for loosely stuffing a sleeping bag throughout the bag, i'll never do that again. especially in a bag that only has one main storage area that a wet tarp might share. I live in washington state and frequent mt rainier and the rain forests of the olympics and will never again risk my bag to a trash bag again. I do not live in southern cali where a couple hours of rain is all I deal with. I've had good luck with trash bags till the one incident where my down soaked and warming layers got soaked through and snow was on the way… thank god it was on the last leg out. I use individual trash bags at the moment for the bag and clothing but I am purchasing 2 small sea-to-summit bags for the main season for my bag and warming layers. As for the compacter straps they seem to roll the bottom edge of the back under the pack a little and it shortens the torso a little and requires the packing to be just right to not over shorten the torso length, but it will hold me off till I find an ion to modify. I'm all for myog, my tarptent is myog, my insulating vest i'm finishing up is myog, my bivy i've started is myog, my solo tarp will be myog, and a modified ion will be myog I guess. I think the ion will fit my budget the best after a little research. I'd like a 2008 grey ion to modify in medium, but after some web surfing I might be stuck with a tempest blue to get last seasons ion…

Ben wrote:
> After two trips and fairly unhappy with the time and energy exerted every morning to force bag and pad into their respective stuff sacks, I read in various forums that NOT USING stuff sacks can actually save time, effort, weight and pack space! So I eagerly gave it a try — and it really was true!

Being totally new to this (and an engineer), I can see how this makes sense except for the space aspect. How does not compressing your bag save space?

Do you carry an unused dry bag in case something does get wet (so it then won't get the rest of your pack wet) or have a large mesh back pocket on your pack?

Ben,
I just purchased a Large Granite Gear Air Vent Reduction Dry Block (2.38 ounces) to use a as compressible waterproof sleepingbag/clothes stuff sack. It has an eVent bottom and a drybag roll-top closure.

It goes in the bottom of my pack and as other stuff is added it's volume keeps going down and down, facilitating very efficient packing.

I filled it with 8 T-shirts and held it underwater, seam-side down for 5 minutes. All seams are taped and remained dry.

The T-shirt at the closure got a damp spot, due, I believe, to my poor closure technique. Had I taken a bit more time and care, there is no doubt in my mind that everything would have remained dry.

Air escaping from the eVent (Not the seam).

The closure on this is well designed. The fault is mine.

I have been using an REI Flash30 for the past three treks and love it so far. Although it's a technical day pack I find it perfect for an overnight or possibly a three day outing. 1,830 cubic inches is perfect for all of my gear and the shoulder straps and hip belt both comfortable.