Best way to pack a Circuit

From ULA's youtube site.

Not sure which type of pad you use, but this thread has some discussion on packing with various pads
Best way to pack

"best" is pretty subjective.

It depends on your gear, and what is comfortable for you, and meets your packing needs.

You can use the Aluminum stay, or not. The built in backpadding, or not. Even the carbon fiber stays, or not. Depending on if you have a CCF pad and how you want to use it.

Personally, unless hauling 30+ lb load I wouldnt use the Al stay at all. Id try to keep the pack body packed loosely enough so it conforms to my back. That means putting lots of stuff in the outside pockets. You need to keep pack from "buckling" against back like this. A CCF pad inside works, or smart packing is harder but works too.

The bottom is not flat, it is tapered, so to fill it good to maximize room, either sleeping bag in compactor bag, or loosely packed tent works well. Some like tent outside though. Keep heavy items high and close to back generally. The lighter the pack, the less the "close to back" matters. With a 18 lb load having 2" of folded CCF pad inside against back isnt really an issue. It would shift cg too far back though with a 30+ lb load though.

Really, spend some time experimenting. There is no right way, and no wrong way. You will find what works best for YOU. Enjoy.

I've had my circuit on 2 weekenders and a handful of dayhikes (carrying full load). I'm still experimenting but here's what I do:

Main compartment: Zpacks cuben pack liner goes in first, followed by stuffed sleeping bag. I can fit all my spare clothes alongside the sleeping bag at the bottom of the pack – I put them in order of how likely it is I will need them during the day (sleeping items go at bottom, followed by spare socks though I don't usually change during the day, rain pants go on top of other clothes).

I put my small stuff sack with misc items (first aid kit, bug net, etc) on top of that stuff, along with my (uncompressed) puffy jacket. If I had a big food load I'd compress the jacket. I close the top of the dry bag/pack liner after that.

My food bag goes on top of everything else for easy access during the day. I also store an empty 3L bladder up here for filling up at end of day.

Outside of pack: Right side pocket holds 1L powerade bottle. Left side pocket holds my tent, stakes, alcohol bottle and a bandana. The compression straps and roll-top closure strap do a great job of holding the tent in, and since the tent is ~2lb the 1L water bottle balances with it nicely.

Big mesh pocket: pot+stove go at the bottom on the right-hand side, and my toiletries bag goes above them. On the other side my headlamp and rain mitts go at the bottom, and rain jacket or driclime windshirt fills up the rest of the pocket.

I've been experimenting with rolling up my foam sleeping pad and strapping it to the top with the closure strap. So far so good – spent the last 2 days climbing through blowdown and it didn't get too torn up, and even if it does it's just half of a ridgerest and easily replaced. It would be nice if I could strap it to the bottom. I find that using the bungees on the back pocket causes the stuff in the mesh pocket to become too compressed and annoying to get to, and rolling up the pad and putting it inside the main body just takes up way too much space inside the pack. If I had a small food load I could probably fit everything with the pad inside, so maybe I should do that when possible.

Also, first thing I did when I got the pack was take out the aluminum stay… My base weight for shoulder seasons is ~13 pounds so I felt like the pack's frame was probably adequate without it unless I was going out for like 10 days without resupply. I haven't really ever had that much weight in it – maybe I'll load it up for my next day hike just to see.