Do I really need a pack cover?

If you're already using some sort of waterproof barrier to keep your clothes and other sensitive items dry, I can't think of a reason you'd need a pack cover too. I just keep everything inside a big garbage bag inside my pack and it's always worked for me.

I use one often to protect my UL pack while bushwacking. It also keeps the exterior clean and dry.

I agree. My experience has been that pack covers are more of a hassle than they are worth. I also line my pack with a plastic bag. I have had to swim some water crossings with my pack mostly floating in front of me and it has worked great.

Like David, I often use an MLD bright yellow cover for a couple of reasons: the bungee 'wrapping' to put it on means I can take layers off and just stuff them 'into' the pack cover without worrying about losing anything and without opening the pack; it protects my packs; and I'm often hiking in hunting season and I like the bright yellow's notice factor.

No.

No. +1

My vote is for a maybe, depending on the conditions. I generally just use a trash bag liner, plus waterproof sacks for the things inside. Going without a pack cover leaves you with an obviously soaking wet pack. That can suck. Plus, I find trash compactor bag liners to be not 100% reliable. Small grit, dirt, needles and pebbles tend to create tiny holes in the bottom of the bag. Thus making it not totally waterproof. In extended wet weather, a pack cover is a great addition.

As an aside, your pack might look water resistant, but it's not.

+1 to maybe.

You don't absolutely NEED a pack cover, just as I don't NEED dedicated sleeping clothes. But it may be an important part of your system that works best for you.

Need? Not really, but mine only weighs a little over 2 oz., and as others have said, it keeps the pack clean and dry (a wet pack would easily add more than the 2 oz. of the cover), and if it rains at night I can leave the pack outside and have more free space in the vestibules.

I think having a dry pack is well worth the couple extra ounces of a pack cover. A wet pack will weight a lot more then a pack cover…even if you do use a liner on the interior of your pack.

Plus having any wet gear is just annoying.

I use a pack cover for the following reasons:

1. cover exterior pockets

2. protect the pack in brushy areas

3. cover the pack loosely if I need to have it out while setting up my tent, for ex.

4. keep the pack clean in wet weather when setting it down

All my vital items like sleeping bag & clothes are in lightweight, roll-top, W/P bags and won't get damp if water would seep in through from the harness' padded back panel. This has not happened – yet.

BUT if I knew I had a good chance of having to swim a canyon or high stream I'd use a trash COMPACTER bag inside. They are much thicker & tougher than even contractor bags.

I'd prefer to use pack liners instead of a cover, but I use a small NeoAir and put the empty pack under my feet at night. So I use a cover to keep the pack dry. I don't think you have a choice if your pack is part of your sleep system, but perhaps others have found a solution.

G

Check Nick and Benjamin's locale ;)

"Check Nick and Benjamin's locale ;)"

Excellent point. Obviously I normally do not encounter the rain as folks to in other places like the PNW. But over the decades have been in my share of rain.

In the past I often have used a pack cover, poncho tarp, or internal bag. My input would be that when hiking in the rain, the cover is a pain when you need to access an outside pocket. Of course in the rain I may have re-organize what I am carrying in my outside pockets. Rain covers weigh more than liners, unless you are using cuben. Pack covers seem to attrack branches and other stuff.

Hundreds of people hike the PCT and AT each year and keep their stuff dry with pack liners.

"Check Nick and Benjamin's locale">

Hmmm, how valid is it really to assume that people only hike within their own locale? I have hiked through hard rain, done tricky stream crossings, and canoed. :)

In a truly drenching rain, dicey stream crossing, or canoeing — a pack cover is somewhere between ineffective and downright worthless!

For rain protection worthy of the name, I use a pack liner (a large "contractor bag" — meaning a 2-mil garbage bag on steroids). Twist the end tightly shut, rubber band — fold over to an inverted "U" and rubber band again — and you're safe even in a river dunking. I speak from an unfortunate canoe mishap. I was soaked (of course) but everything inside my pack remained bone dry. Pack cover???

This day and age, most UL pack materials absorb very, very little water. My guess is that whatever water is absorbed will likely weigh less than the puddle pooled at the bottom of pack covers (yeah, water never seems to find the pack cover's bottom drain hole for some reason).

Finally, as for using a pack cover to help keep your pack cleaner — yeah, that's true. But is that really a "need"? Not for me, but YMMV, as always.

a soaking wet pack weighs alot more guys, and in cold coniditions it can freeze and become stiff, every put on a frozen backpack? I will order a packa one day, then i MIGHT, and that is a big might do away with my contractor bags.

My pack (Starlite) has three big outside mesh pockets, and I carry a fair amount of gear in them. Stuff I need during the day, my tarptent, water bottles, snacks, that sort of thing. Stuff that could get wet, but I'd prefer if it didn't. So I go with the "belt and suspenders" approach and keep my sleeping bag and clothing inside a trash bag in my pack, and use a pack cover on the outside.

I used a pack cover once. It's that thing that looks like a fitted sheet right? I use trashbags for waterproof and ziplocs for organization so I don't really worry too much about anything getting wet. My pack probably will weigh a couple more ounces weight than it does dry, but then again I don't have to carry that wet weight all the time, only when its wet.

I used to use one on my old Granite Gear pack, but I now make do with a low-weight, low-mil trash-bag liner.

Having said that, the outside pockets of my Fanatic Fringe Alpine Ridge BP are covered with Tenacious repair tape. We have a lot of greenbriar here in Ohio.

Thus, I'd say that a pack cover is more useful to protect your BP from cuts and holes than it is as a water proofer. Personally, though, all those pieces of repair tape are a kind of badge of honor to me. ;-)

Stargazer

i use my packcover for a vestibule to wash up as well. AFterwards i just dump the soap and dirt into the nearest local stream/water source to spread the love. JUST KIDDING =P Seriously though, im hoping to be able to use my packa as a vestibule, replacing my pack cover.

I forgot another use for my pack cover. When I hammock, I hang the pack cover next to my hammock, and it makes a great off-the-ground storage area!

I think drybags are the way to go. They'll last much longer than pack covers or trash bags, and are more effective to boot.

I'm skeptical about the weight gains from a soaked pack claims, at least absent a bunch of open cell foam in the harness system. The pack cover (unless it's sil) will eventually wet out, too.

And if your pack needs protection from bushes, maybe you might consider a tougher pack.

I agree with those who say you do not need a pack cover. I also agree with other camp that says that a pack cover is a nice thing to have.

I personally use a pack cover, and I have a Circuit. I use a closed cell foam pad piece, and getting a pack cover to fit over that is a pain. I figured out a way to strap it on vertically to get the pack cover to go around it. One other suggestion if you want to use a pack cover would be to just buy a sil one that's much larger than the pack. Then it should encompass everything on the pack at a minimal weight penalty.

As for using a pack cover, I think it is very convienient. In everything but a deluge it usually keeps all the water off the pack. I like that because I don't want all my stuff in the mesh pockets, and the pack itself getting wet. That adds weight, and is just downright messy. Bringing everything into my shelter dry at night is pretty darn nice. It's also nice for things like setting the pack down on a wet surface (keeps all the crap off the pack), and setting it down in snow. I will note that I line my pack with a trash compactor bag in case the pack cover leaks.