GG Miniposa .. or …

Hey Thomas,

These are all great packs that you are pondering, which calls for a difficult choice when selecting one.You also have to remember that the Miniposa is made of silnylon, so no matter how good of care you take of it,its not gonna last as long as the other packs mentioned which are made of Dyneema X a tad bit more bomb proof.Tough Choice! The ULA is the cheapest if money is an issue…but is also the heaviest.I have a ULA COnduit and love it! It's a little overkill for SUL overnighters and weekenders IMO, thats why my next pack will either be a Murmur or something from Z Packs.Something that will really drop oz's from my big-3! For $80 bucks the Murmur is one of the best SUL deals out there! Hope I was some help in the process.

I was in your position a few years ago, and went with a ULA Circuit, which I like a lot. I was tempted by the Mariposa at the time, but didn't like the pad for frame system.

Almost as soon as I bought the ULA pack, I realized it was too much even for longer trips, and I bought a GG Whisper.

Since then, I have made a few packs that are midway between the Whisper and the Circuit, in the 10 to 12 oz range, b/c I like the large external mesh pockets, and the ability to customize features I prefer.

I only describe this history b/c in retrospect I wouldn't have bought the Circuit, but would have gone for something closer to the MLD Zip pack, which in my view has the best mix of features and weight.

Also, I point out that at a base weight of 10 pounds, the Murmur would be more than enough for 2-3 day trips. Plus, you would have fun with such a light/tight kit. I think it would also be fine for 5 days, assuming your kit is low volume.

It's hard to pick one pack that will cover multiple scenarios when you get into UL territory. I'm currently considering a GG Gorilla, which is heavier than the packs you named because of sturdier fabric and stays. One of the things I like about it is that the stays are removeable, which will allow me to test out frameless and see how I like it. I'm getting the Gorilla because while it will be slight overkill for a 15-17 lb 1 or 2 night load, it seems that it will also comfortable take me up into 20-25 lb territory for a longer trip if necessary. I can only afford 1 pack right now, and I'm will to have overkill for short trips in order to have the comfort for longer ones. Sore shoulders are far worse than an unnoticeable 5-6 ounces on top of a 15 lb load, IMO. Which would bother you more is the question you have to ask yourself. The Mariposa Plus has a stay for those heavier trips that can be removed to bring it's weight within ~4oz of the Miniposa for the lighter trips. Of course, the volume might be too much for those trips.

The original request specified the Sierras. If he is going anywhere that bear cans are required, then the very lightest packs are pretty much ruled out.

That said, what are the lightest packs that can carry a bear can, such as a Bearikade?

–MV

The Miniposa has a Y-compression strap across the top (as do the other GG packs-Murmur excepted) that allow you to fasten a bear cannister (a BV350/400 in my case) to the top of the pack. This makes the interior volume of the pack irrelavant. The Miniposa comes at 14.5oz in Medium, so it would have to be a contender.

Thanks for all the comments, I'll go back and read them again in a minute. I am sure you are right, that I will need/want more than one ultralight pack before I am done. I called GG and talked to Grant a couple of days ago. I was thinking of going totally crazy and ordering a Murmur (not that that would have been a terrible thing …). Grant pointed out that if I removed the hip belt from the miniposa, it weighed only about 2 ounces more than the murmur and is silnylon rather than spinnaker cloth, so a tad more durable.

I just did an overnight with 20 pounds using some of my old gear and was never even tempted to fasten the waist belt, but that could depend on shoulder straps I suppose. I can always put the hip belt back on if I think that is an issue, though I really doubt it would be.

I did see a photo of the miniposa with a bear canister lashed on top using the Y-strap — which might just be what I would do, but it would be hard to be doing that and keeping within the 20 pound limit of the pack with a baseweight (not counting the canister) of 10 pounds.
I am thinking of getting an ursack and avoiding canister mandatory areas in SEKI — unless they change the regulations.

Lots of thinking out loud here (so the rest of you can listen and straighten me out). I am thinking that if my load gets beyond say 22 pounds, I need more pack than the miniposa. Also some of my Arizona jaunts involve some bushwacking, and one of the ULA packs with Dyneema fabric might tolerate that kind of thing better. Of course I have my old boat-anchor packs that will put up with anything.

David! I see you mention making packs. This is something I aspire to, but will work my way up to with some luck. I am going to try sewing a tarp first (I'm not sure just which tarp, maybe one of Ray Jardine's kits). If that doesn't make me crazy, it will be on to other things. Packs seem detailed and intricate — I could get the miniposa now, work on other parts of my kit and ponder sewing a bigger pack someday (like the G4??).

If you have a base weight of 10 lbs not counting a bear cannister, I'm not sure it would be *that* hard to keep your weight around 20lbs with one for a 4-5 day trip. The smallest bearvault (the model I have) claims a 4 day capacity, and you'd carry the 1st day outside it. It weighs 33oz. The 7 day model weighs 8oz more. If you carry 1.5-2 lbs of food/day, then 5 days is 10 lbs max, for a 22-23 lb pack with w/cannister. But that's only for the 1st day. If you can carry 20lbs w/o a hip belt, I'd think you'd be able to tolerate 22lbs for a day of hiking with belt.

What you say makes sense James. I can always test fly it prior to the "big trip" with a 10 pound bag of potatoes or something on a weekend overnight. :-) Not that potatoes would fit well into a bear canister … I'll think of something – dry beans maybe. Dive weights.

I've been using 2.5lb free weights + hiking socks for volume to simulate 4 loads in my bear cannister.

One thing missing in the above calculation is water. Depending on where you are hiking one is likely to need 2-8 lbs worth of water.

The MLD prophet might be a pack to consider that could push into higher weights.

Opened the box this evening and am now playing with the pack. You have to realize this is my first ultralight pack, so it is pretty amazing to me. I also ordered the torso length nightlight pad, mostly because I feared my existing pads would never fit. Fears were unfounded: my 20×72 inch 2 inch thick "trail comfort" pad folds and fits just fine into the pad sleeve (not that this is the ultimate ultralight solution at 2 pounds, but I have yet to find out how little pad I can get away with and still get a decent nights sleep).

This thing has an amazing amount of volume (almost a dangerous amount of volume) and that is not taking into account the mesh pockets. I loaded it up with my summer sleeping bag, 10 pounds of dry beans and a few odds and ends and I am impressed. It will be even more confortable with some socks in the strap pad spots. Of course the thing now is to plan the maiden voyage…..

Thanks again for all the helpful comments. I may well end up with more than one pack before all is said and done. Especially in Arizona where needing to haul water can be an issue

"Thanks again for all the helpful comments. I may well end up with more than one pack before all is said and done. Especially in Arizona where needing to haul water can be an issue"

Yes, you are probably going to need more than one pack for desert hiking. I have several packs, and all are focused around water carrying capacity in the desert. Two are not light packs. Heavy packs are required for carrying heavy loads, and you cannot lighten water.

That's good to hear. The Gossamer Gear Gorilla is my first UL pack, and I grow more impressed with it the more I play with it. The Gorilla is the Miniposa with stays and heavier fabric, and it is suprising how much volume they have. Even carrying a bear cannister, I don't use it all for 3-season Sierra packing.

One thing I discovered in the weeks of trying out the Gorilla was that how you pack makes a huge difference in the comfort of the pack, much more so than a rugged suspension non-UL pack. It took me two weeks of packing it up and wearing it almost every night to find the right way.

Last night I packed it up with 35 lbs, the max recommended weight, using my regular gear with free weights standing in for food/water weight, and it was comfortable to the point of being able to forget it was there, (as much as one can forget there's 35lbs on one's back). Compared to when I first tried it out, and I was getting shoulder/back pain with 18lbs in it and wondering if the sizing was off.

I can't wait to get it out in the field now. Good luck with your Miniposa.

It seems like I should answer this after asking for advice, then settling on and ordering this. I just might have ordered a "gorilla" if they had large size in stock. On the other hand, I really want to push hard into being as light as I can, so that carried the day. Pulling the waist belt off of this and having a 10 ounce pack seemed too good to resist. If I see that I am doing more bushwacking or water hauling than I now think I will be doing, then I might just look hard at the MLD prophet. It is an 11 ounce pack, 160 dollars instead of 135, and they say it is capable of hauling 50 pounds (made of that Dyneema stuff). I commute every day on my bike with a 20 pound pack on (so it seems), so carrying 20 pounds or so without a waist belt is not even an issue.

There – does that explain everything?

I look at this pack and say, "but there is no lid, no way to just pull off the lid and hitch it to the belt and have a little butt-pack for day hikes." Then I tell myself that doing the ultralight thing means I am just on the move with all my gear anyway without any worry. A whole new way of doing business. No more "basecamps" where I ditch that monster of a heavy pack … just moving and traveling light.

You know, if you still want to pack a daypack, Zpacks has a silnylon 1000ci, 2oz daypack for $39. I'm going to pick up one of those in the near future. Use it to replace one of your stuff sacks (dual use justification) and you're set.

Got a link?

http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/zero.shtml