Backpack advice needed

[Sven Klingemann]

I am looking for a backpack that would be ideal for 2-3 day trips. I am currently looking either at the Gossamer Gear Ueberlight or the MLD Prophet 30. They seem to be comparable in weight and capacity. Does anyone have any strong opinions on either one or has been able to compare the two? (Or am I missing out on some unknown gem out there?) I currently own the Gossamer Gear Mariposa but think it is too big for shorter trips.
Thanks for your advice!

[David Lewis]

I have the Prophet 30 but haven’t had a chance to use it yet. It comes in at 5 oz (there have been some design tweaks since the website was last updated)… so it’s a little heavier than the G6… but it does have some benfits over the Whisper/G6. The material is a little tougher… the shoulder straps have daisy chains which are good for water bottles… and it has an optional waist belt (more of a strap… but still potentially useful) and sternum strap.

At first, I thought the wrap around pocket on the MLD bag would be good for water… which would be a big advantage over the Whipser which doesn’t really have any way to carry accessible water outside the pack (I don’t like the water bladder / hose systems)… but the pockets are very hard to get to with the pack on… and I’m stupidly flexible (I do 1.5 hours of yoga everything morning).

One thing I don’t like about the MLD pack is that the compression lacing goes around 3 sides… so anything in the sides of the pocket is hard to get at… since it’s lashed down… you have to loosen the lacing to get at it. But I don’t use lacing anyway… unless the pack is almost empty.

Anyway… I’m sure they are both great packs. I think the G6 is a little bigger… but I get all my stuff inside the MLD (for a weekend) no problem… my biggest items are a GG SpinnShelter… a MontBell SS Down bag and a Thermarest ProLite 3, 3/4 length. That takes up about a third of the pack… then clothes and food take up the other two thirds.

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