GoLite ION

I will check those out. It is for my 10 year old son. I found out the womens Jam may be a good for him too as it compresses down smaller than the ion, but will go a little larger too.

Greg

Matt,

Today I returned a Flash 30. The lumbar pad is poorly designed and chaffed my back even in a short walk around the block with 12 pounds. I thought it might just be me and had three family members try it. All reported the same problem. I have a Flash 18 – good little pack. Flash 30, over complicated.

Good luck on the kids pack. In the past I have had good luck with La Fuma for my boys.

Jim

James, its too late now, but did you ever consider just removing the lumbar bad with a seam ripper and scissors? You'd save some weight that way too! I love my flash 30, and haven't had the lumbar issue. Owned for over a year now. Maybe the pack needed to be broken in? It's one of the lighter packs that's commercially available. I've taken mine down to about 20.9 ounces, but others have taken it down closer to 17-18 ounces.

Noticed a couple of you were looking for small packs for your boys, as was I awhile ago. My son is 9 and I found him an womens size small Jam (older model, no waist pockets) that fits him perfect. The newer Jams don work because with the addition of the waist pockets you can't cinch them up tight enough to fit these skinny little guys!! Hope this helps.

I've only recently had the chance to max out my flash 30 (bulging at the seams almost) and started to notice the Lumbar issue that James alluded to earlier…you're absolutely right.. the Damn thing chaffes and protrudes into the back. The problem being that the the lumbar pad is very pronounced, and filled with a combination of soft foam layered over some very rigid hard foam. I had already suggested removing it to many other people, so I decided to do so myself…and man what a world of difference. The pad is pretty useless in my opinion…it doesn't provide better grip, and it prevents the pack from conforming to your back. Removing the lumbar pad brought my flash 30 down by .9oz, and with all my other mods, my total pack weight is 20 oz, yet it carries 15lbs like a dream. I would also remove the padding used on the upper back, but I'm afraid it would sacrifice the integrity of the pack, because it seems like the shoulder straps are partially held in place by the padding. The padding used in the lumbar region would have been better suited for the hipbelt, which as of now is just mesh…maybe I'll write a review on rei.com and hopefully they will make some changes