Pinnacle or Catalyst

How much will you be carrying? The Pinnacle is frameless and the Catalyst has an internal frame albeit at ~ 1lb pentalty. If you are carrying around 25-30 lbs or more I think I would want to go with the Catalyst. However, I do not have either pack (just ordered the Catalyst's little brother, the Circuit), so someone who owns one of them will probably speak up shortly.

Also, if you do not have a small gear scale, you could load up your current pack, step on your regular home scale, record the weight, take off the pack, get back on the scale and note the difference. Then subtract the weight of your current pack. That will give you the weight of all your gear.

I use a little digital postal scale, $20 or so at WalMart, that measures in tenths of an ounce up to a total of 3 lbs. You can also find them good up to 5 lbs at about the same price & that's the one I would get next time.
I'm often surprised at how deceptively light or heavy something 'feels' until I actually weigh it. Very helpful all around. A postage scale is definitely twenty bucks (or so) well spent.

I would go with the Catalyst. I had the Pinnacle but felt that it would pinch too much for my liking, especially under heavy loads. I have the ULA Circuit which I LOVE. It is about a 1lb. penalty, but completely worth it with the comfort factor. YMMV.

Rich, the weight and volume of your gear should both be considered. For example, ULA has upgraded the OHM's belt which may allow for more total volume (partitioned between different pouches.)

Many ultralight packs consider part of the volume to be when your pack pouch roll-top is fully extended, which for many of us, is never the case. You will need to figure out how much space you'll need by gathering up ALL of your gear and determining its volume.

I also own the ULA Circuit, and could have gotten by with an OHM, but wanted to the internal frame for the bear canister I often use (which I carry inside my pack.)

Yeah the Pinnacle is out of the question. It's now between the Circuit and Catalyst. I'm pretty sure the Circuit would work, but I'm leaning towards the Catalyst as a just in case measure. I used to have a Jam and it proved to be a little too small. I still carry a double wall tent, which is only 3 lbs. I could lose a lot of weight by getting a new sleeping pad but I'm hesitant to buy a Neoair because of durability issues. I still use a pocket rocket just because I love the little thing. GSI pinnacle soloist cookset. The rest of the stuff I carry is lightweight stuff (no overkill on clothes or extra stuff I don't need). I don't have a scale but just using website weights, I say my base weight is around 12-13 lbs. I'm doing 10 days with no resupply on the CT starting July 31. I haven't figured out if I'm just going to eat nothing but Mountain House food or try to find something lighter. I guess that's the big concern.

If it is between the Circuit and the Catalyst, go Circuit and make-it work.

This is Backpacking Light, after all. :D

edit: I should totally delete this advice. You will likely end up hating this advice if you get the Circuit and think, "I really needed the extra volume of the Catalyst." haha

" I haven't figured out if I'm just going to eat nothing but Mountain House food or try to find something lighter. I guess that's the big concern."

Rich,

If you pay careful attention to your food selection, particularly caloric density and compactness, you should be able to do your 10 day trip with an OHM. My base weight is 11.5-12# on most trips, and I have had the OHM loaded up for 10 days, no sweat. Food is the real key, IMO.

Using a Circuit would be even easier. You definitely don't need a Catalyst. The new OHM with the softer hipbelt carries very comfortably, BTW.

There is only one thing stopping me from buying the Epic. No pockets for water bottles. The Epic seems the perfect pack for me. Just buy 3 different dry bags and call it done. I want to take my climbing stuff with me, big dry bag. Day hike, small dry bag. 10 days on the CT, medium dry bag.

Get the Circuit, and make a long roll of your tent and carry it vertically in the side pocket.

Instead of a Neoair, get a POE Ether Thermo 6. Not as light as the Neoair, but lighter on your wallet, and a great nights sleep.

I should probably mention that I own a Catalyst, a Circuit, and a Pinnacle.

The pack is at its best when between 25-30 pounds. I own the Ohm, which is also a fine pack, but on a distance hike where food capacity (such as carrying a bear canister) is a real factor, I would not hesitate to opt for the Catalyst. It's internal frame just holds a load very well. I've carried as much as 40 pounds during a 8-day stretch where I had to carry 3-4 liters fairly constantly, and can say that the load was still very manageable.
Certainly, going lighter is always the goal, but I really liked how the Catalyst carried. That much said, I know many Circuit owners who are very happy. It's a great pack.
My decision came down the fact that I carry a large bear canister plus substantial down bag I didn't want to compress the entire trip. Thus, the Catalyst was able to carry more bulky stuff that didn't necessarily weigh much – just took room.
Either way, ULA is a first-rate company. They listen to their customers, do nice things (like donate a pack to a PCT hiker who had hers stolen while on a town stop) and are very good about communication.

Dirk

I second everything Dirk says. I've had the Catalyst at 45 lb on one of my service trips and had no problem once I learned to balance the contents. Brian (former owner) said that he was simply being conservative when he put up a lower rating. Great pack.

I rocked a Catalyst on my thru hike and couldn't have been any happier with it whatsoever. If you're looking at 10 days, no resup, I don't think the Circuit will work unless you're going to make some serious cuts in potentially critical gear.

So I was in REI today and saw that they had one GoLite Pinnacle. It was a return and it was a size large. My size. I immediately grabbed it, filled it up with 30lbs (my assumed starting weight of my 10 day CT trip) of those bean bags REI has laying out and a few pillows to make the bag seem full and went for a little stroll around the store. I live in Denver. The REI flagship store is here. Even though I think the one in Boulder is bigger, this REI is pretty stinking big. I figured I could stroll around for at least 30 minutes. Definitely enough time to get a feel for the Pinnacle. Well within 10 minutes, I was back in the pack section unloading said bean bags and putting the Pinnacle back on the hanger. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to get the weight to rest on my hips. The shoulder straps didn't seem to fit. The load lifter straps didn't seem to be in the right place and to be honest, the hipbelt didn't feel good from the start. It's disappointing because the Pinnacle seemed like the perfect size for the loads I carry. Either it be for a multiday backpacking trip or just a weekend trip to the crag to do some climbing.

I'm hoping I'm not disappointed by the Circuit when I receive it. If so, I'm just going to teach myself how to carry everything in a basket on top of my head.

P.S. 1554 by New Belgium quite possibly could be the best beer ever made.

You'll love the Circuit (I'm assuming it has the stays). My Pinnacle tends to bend in the middle with a load like that, and get uncomfortable.