Stayed around town this weekend and did some garage sales and thrift stores. I went to the Fremont (Seattle neighborhood) Sunday Market and there was a guy selling knives and multi-tools from airport confiscations. I got a Victorinox Swiss Army Classic glow-in-the-dark model for $5. What a nice little tool!
I did a little trading and ended up with a Vaude Rock Ultralight 25 pack. I wanted a good small daypack and this is it. This pack is like the REI Flash on steriods. It weighs 12.7/360g ounces, has external water bottle pockets and a hanger inside for a bladder, with and exit port on the RH side only. There is a zig-zag of 2mm cord down each side to form compression straps. There is a fitted lid with a zippered pocket and a simple drawstring and toggle closure for the top of the main packbag. The back panel has two crescents of mesh with foam padding, creating a ventilation channel. There is a web grab handle at the top. The fabric is listed as “S 70 DL Polyamid siliconized, 210 D Diamond Ripstop Polyamid PU coated.” The ice axe loops are a study in minimalism — they are formed from 2mm cord, which is used throughout the pack. The loops have one small loop about finger diameter and a larger one I can get three fingers in. The small one is perfect for trekking poles while the larger one is typical ice axe size, but cord rather than webbing. The directions show that you mount the ice axe by pulling the loop though the eye in th eaxe head and clipping a carbiner on the loop– clever. The shoulder straps are padded mesh and the sternum strap has an elastic section with a webbing limiter. The sternum strap mounts are custom molded plastic and connect to plastic spreaders sewn into the shoulder straps– the sternum straps slide up and down on the spreaders to adjust. There is a simple waist belt for stabilization– not for weight transfer. It is a 3/4″ strap with a snap buckle and runs thought a sleeve in the bottom of the pack, so it can be removed or replaced in a minute. The pack will stow in the top pocket– turn it inside out and stuff the rest of the pack inside. There are two belt loops built inside the pocket to carry it while stowed. Capacity is 25 liters/1500 cubic inches. It is supposed to be good for up to 15 pounds.
The whole pack is a good study in UL design– Vaude gets the UL concept, no doubt about that. All I would add would be a regular hydration sleeve and a whistle on the sternum strap buckle.
From what the vendor told me, Vaude has had a recent change in US distributors and the change has been for the better. I had never seen their products before and I would look for them to make a dent in the UL market. From what I saw while surfing on their products, their tents look good too.
Someone on another post was looking for a light day pack to carry a little food and water and some extra clothing– this is it! I would love to try to do a summer overnighter with this pack just to see how small and light I could get my kit.
Update: I got out a Platypus bladder– one with the port centered— what is that a 2 liter? There’s one with a corner port that seems a little bigger– 2.5 liter? Anyway, I took a good look at the bottom seams on the bladder and found a safe place to punch a couple holes. I used a regular ol’ plier-style paper punch and made a hole through all the layers on each side and tied a peice of parachute cord across the end of the bladder with a loop in the center– voila, a bladder hanger! It works perfectly with the plastic hook in the middle of the Vaude pack.
