Pack Q

4000cui is a lot of space. The most I've ever filled was 2000 without a bear vault.

Of course, winters in my neck of the woods do not require lots of fluffy gear.

Jack

Agreed- you have a great list coming together and it will pack small. The G4 is a monster. Sweet pack, but I'd consider this more of a winter pack when you're carrying lots of insulation.

You can find my review of the Thompson pack on this site- might be worth a read.

I'd look hard at the GGear Mariposa Plus, the Golite Jam, the ULA packs, and those from Mountain Laurel Designs. Something in the 2500-3000 range might work out better. Lots of reviews of many of these on the site. Look under Articles- Gear.

Here's another idea- buy your pack last. Get all of your gear together after you've got the weights low and you're close to your final size. Then you'll know you've got the right pack for the job. If your kit is in transition, you'll likely need a pack in the short term that might not satisfy in the long term.

slight update:

I don't plan on compressing the quilt into a stuffsack if I get the G4. Still too big?

Also, I don't think the frantic fringe or the ray way pack use a foam pad like the GG packs, do you just roll it up inside to gain rigidity?

I have a thermarest ridgerest that I'll probably cut down into a torso length (3 sections tied together with string or zip ties if I get the g4) and I was wondering what I would do with it for the ray way or fanatic fringe packs.

Thanks

Jeff-

A store down here (Any Mountain in Dublin) has the new model GoLite Jam for $69.99.

I would have bit on that a couple of months ago but the new jam is too heavy.well, do you mean the 09 or the 10?

either way the drive would take away all cost savings

I think it's the '09, but I'm not sure. It does have pockets on the hip belt and a rain flap over the front pocket zipper.

If you change your mind, let me know, I can pick one up and send it to you. Should be $5-$10 to mail.

It wouldn't be the 2010 Jam….those don't hit stores until mid-winter and they won't be on sale for a while after that. They aren't even on GoLite's website yet.

The 2009 Jam weighs 26oz, but you can cut off 3oz by removing the hydration bladder and trimming the straps. You can save another ounce by removing the removable pad in the back (which most competitors don't even have). That brings you to 22oz. True the G4 is still 5-6 oz lighter, but you could remove the hipbelt pockets off of the Jam to close the gap to 2-3oz (since the G4 doesn't have hip pockets).

In general, I find if you modify the Jam to have similar features to a competitors pack, then it usually winds up weighing a competitive weight.

I never compress insulation either- still too big…at least for what I carry. If it's right for you, I doubt it will be for long, as you get smaller and lighter items…

A lot of people put the foam pad inside and stuff inside of it for a "virtual pack". That works well. I don't do that- instead I pack the pack very full with everything uncompressed (imagine one big stuff sack full) and then I can punch the backpanel to shape it and flatten it a bit. I like this method much better.

One thing to consider is a pack that can compress well. For expample the Golite Jam and Pinnacle have the compacktor system which allows you to cinch not just the sides, but the bottom as well. Pretty slick.