Jansport Pack Question.

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

I know this isn't a lightweight topic of discussion but this community knows gear like no other so I am going to let er rip.

Has anyone out there had any experience with the Jansport Whittaker LR backpack? I know it is not ultralight but I feel it will suit my needs. I am particularly interested in the pack's suspension and comfort with 40-50 lb loads.

I am also concerned with how durable it is. It looks good but I am hesitant after almost murdering an Eddie Bauer First Ascent Big Tahoma during a 54 mile hike in Smokies this last week. The Jansport Whittaker LR and the First Ascent Big Tahoma come from the same brain trust so I have my reservations. I know the Jenkins ridge trail in the Smokies is tough but sheesh the Big Tahoma from First Ascent started to give up stitching after only 54 total miles. One lash tab on the shoulder strap actually started to blow it's stitching where I had attached a chest pocket. The compression straps all showed evidence of weak stitching that was starting to give. The hip belt on the Big Tahoma also could not handle the weight I threw at it. It appeared that it would not take a very long time before the fabric covering the hipbelt on the Tahoma gave up the ghost and departed from the foam which it was covering. The quality of the foam in the hipbelt was suspect as well.

I am wondering if this Jansport pack will hold up better? Both pack designs come from the same camp more or less. The poor quality of certain materials and poor craftsmanship killed the great design of the First Ascent Big Tahoma in my mind. I would like to know if I can expect better quality and craftsmanship from the folks at Jansport or if the same issues will surface?

Sigh…. maybe I just need to throw down the loot for a mystery ranch trance! Any input about mystery ranch would also be welcomed here kiddies.

Maybe I will head out to murder n maul some more mass produced gear this week.

I appreciate any and all input regarding this topic.
Thanks for looking.

[Ben Smith]

Can we help you lighten your load instead of finding a pack that will haul what you have?

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Ben I have plenty of lighweight gear in ye olde gear closet already. Thanks for the suggestion though. I appreciate your time. Sometimes I set off for a week or so and haul 15 lbs of food an fuel alone. I tend to be a creature of comfort on my longer voyages as well and usually pack a thermarest and TT rainbow instead of a tarp and a blue foamy pad chopped in half. When packing for a week long trip it usually isn't very hard for me to hit the 40 lb mark when 15 of it will be food and fuel.

[Michael Febbo]

I do not have the Whittaker, but do have a Jansport Endeavor Pro 8000 that uses the same suspension and similar materials. The only real differences are some features (pockets, attachment points) and color (red vs. blue)

I purchased the pack used (ebay) and have since used it as a rock cragging pack and for winter trips in the Northeast.

Cons: the tubular stays- which are actually rectangular in cross section and hollow. I have no idea to what degree these save weight, but the durability trade off is not worth a few ounces.
The top few inches of one stay on the pack I purchased had broken off… I managed to fix this so that the pack performs normally, but these are a potential weak point.

That is the only con.
I like the features for my uses, and have found the construction to be on par with my Osprey packs, above MtnSmith, but not at Bozeman Dana Design levels.
No stitching issues. The fabrics have withstood my rock and ice gear, though I am careful about my tool picks and crampons.

Pros:
This thing carries weight WONDERFULLY.
I am 6'2" and 155 pounds- and I'm a wimp. To illustrate; today I had 5 pounds in a Cold Cold World Ozone (great leader pack) and after two hours my shoulders ached and I had a tension headache from the strain… so, I NEED my packs to transfer all weight to my hips.
Normally, i use my vintage Dana Design Alpine packs when hauling above 40 pounds, but the Jansport carries 40-45 BETTER than the Alpine. The hipbelt is streamlined and stiff, but does not bruise the hips. The stays are bolted directly to the belt, allowing complete weight transfer. There is no belt sag… it is very stable; the only pack I ever used that was more stable was a Mystery Ranch Futura Direct.

It's a brilliant pack. I have seriously considered buying the Whittaker, but like the streamlined packbag of the Endeavor enough to warrant waiting for another to come up on Ebay.

[Roger Caffin]

> When packing for a week long trip it usually isn't very hard for me to hit
> the 40 lb mark when 15 of it will be food and fuel.
So your base weight might be 25 lb? That's pretty heavy for BPL. Fanatics get down to 5 lb base weight: 10 lb is not that hard.

Cheers

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Thanks for the thougths guys but not every trip I take is ultralight or even lightweight for that matter. I am not new to lightweight backpacking although folks seem to be assuming that I am. I am not interested in having anyone help me cut my pack weight here guys and I felt my inquiry was pretty specific. Ben and Roger thanks for taking the time to read my post and respond though.
Best Regards, Jeff aka Frankenfeet

[Quinn Nelson]

Well if weight isn't and issue and your looking for comfort some of the more preferred models by non UL guys are the Osprey Aether Series, Gregory Z65 or Baltoro 70, or my favorite bang for the buck around the 40-45lb range is the Deuter ACT Lite 65+10. Great price at $189, made out of full rip-stop nylon, and very comfortable/stable. Weighs in at sub 4lbs which is a plus, about the only downside is the lack of exterior pockets/ lash points. Now Deuter makes an entire ACT non-lite version line up which adds things like pad straps, more pockets and slightly beefier frame. Not knocking the Jansport bags but I've only had bad experiences with them before going UL.

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Thanks Quinn. I am already keen on Osprey Aether series packs but hate most of the changes they started making to the line after the 2005 season and the old spreys are sometimes tough to locate. The gregory Baltoro also has my attention. I had not really considered Deuter but will investigate them based on your experinces with and opinions of their product. Also thanks for your thougths on Jansport. Would you care to expand slightly on your "bad experiences" with Jansport packs?

[Ben Smith]

Jeff,

My dad has the Deuter ACT Zero 60+10 and he says that it is the most comfortable pack that he has ever carried. He has had it loaded with 40 pounds and loved it. (Although he hasn't yet experienced a <20 pound pack like I carry…)

You can find it here for $134.99.

– Ben

[Michael Febbo]

I assumed you were following the Ebay auction for the Whittaker, which is why I did not recommend other packs (nothing else comes close to the price, and you can return it).

In case you have not seen this:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Packs/Internal%20and%20External%20Framed%20Backpacks/JanSport%20Whittaker%20Pack/Test%20Report%20by%20David%20Bradish/

As you can see in my pic and the review, the suspension is the same for the two packs, so my first post is valid. It carries weight better than the Aether's in my opinion…

Ed: did not intend to put the pic there… oh well

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Thanks Ben. Great tip on the price too!

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Michael your sherlocking skills are working just fine friend. I am indeed following the whittaker pack on ebay right now. Thanks for posting the review at BGT. I read some other online reviews of the whittaker but somehow missed the one at BGT that you posted. Michael feel free to recommend another pack for me if you wish price be damned although cheap is always good too. Thanks for your time and effort.

[Konrad .]

Hey Jeff. I own a Gregory Palisade 80, which is pretty much a beefier Baltoro 70, with a heavier suspension. Its def not light weight (6lbs +) but it's carried 55lbs for me as comfortably as I could imagine. It carried better than my arcteryx bora 80. Material is pretty durable…taken it mountaineering, backpacking, traveling etc, for 2 years. Only repair I've made, was to the rubberized bottom, after baggage handling machinery burned a small hole into it. Its very tunable in terms of fit, with an adjustable torso length, and adjustable hipbelt angles. Also, lots of pockets for organization.

A word of caution, if you choose to buy an older one off ebay etc, there was a small batch of palisade 80's that had faulty plastic reinforcements on the hipbelt, causing the hipbelt to break. Mines been fine, but based on what i've read, it affected a small batch of them. Either way, Gregory backs all their packs and will fix for free, and have sinced fixed the issue altogether. Good luck!

[Jeffrey Kuchera]

Thanks Konrad. Interesting fact about the hipbelt problem. Thanks for sharing. Funny you mentioned the palisade carried better than the Bora 80 as I had been considering a Bora 80 as well. I was kind of nervous about the Bora 80 although it was a 1995 model because I have had little knowledge of them over the years. On the flip I have tried on a gregory palisade and felt that it was comfortable to wear. Based on my lack of first hand experience with the Bora and your comment that the palisade is more comfortable than the Bora 80 I believe I will pass on the Bora 80.

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