UL Backpack Dilemma

$270? Probably the HMG Porter. I have one and am really liking it.

http://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com/products/hmg-porter-pack.html

Or maybe the smaller Windrider.

Thanks, that was exactly the back I was looking for a couple of hours! It seems only the Windrider has the aluminium stay. Apparently its also spec'd at 30lbs by BPL, so Crown is a safer bet and much cheaper. I wonder if there are any packs ~1kg that could carry up to 40 lbs and have a robust frame like Exos does or are they the King for 40 lbs? I've skimped over maybe two dozen packs and not much so far, a few grams here and there but nothing near Crown.

Has anyone custom-fitted maybe a stronger HDPE frame + aluminium stay to Crown to make carry more gear? This could be a pretty decent solution. Maybe some cottage industry makes custom frames? This wouldn't be too hard to do by hand either though with the right tools.

I have experience only with the Exos 58: nice pack but for two things: the mesh on the back wears very quickly where it contacts the frame; at 30 lbs total weight I could not quite get it comfortable.

YMMV

Thanks for the information Stephen.

David, do you happen to know what would be at the maximum comfortable range for the HMG Porter? I wonder how the frame compares to Crown or Exos.

Throw some gear in them and try em out. Carry them around for a few hours each and see how each of them fit.

Ari – there are some preliminary reviews on the Crown which suggest comfort is probably around 25 to 30lbs. If it is anything like the Vapor Trail, high 20's is probably best.

Regarding the Porter (and even the Windrider for 2012) – the pack comes with dual shaped stays that are nicely thick and nicely stiff. The belt is wide (top to bottom) and transfers the load nicely. I have had 34lbs in it with a winter load and it was excellent. Really nice. I also fit the Porter. With the Crown sizes, I am in between a M and L . It looks like a great pack, however, but it just will not fit me. I haven't tried the Exos, but it has good reviews.

I'll second David's suggestion – I really like my HMG Expedition. For an extra $25, you get a lot more space when you want it, and the compression straps and roll-top mean it strips down as well as the Porter. I bought both, played with them side-by-side, and kept the Expedition.

The stays in these are hefty. It's a significantly better frame than what I've seen from other cottage manufacturers.

On a 4 day trip through Canyonlands, I carried a 29 lb load at times and the Crown handled it well and felt great. Well, about as great as 29 lbs can feel on your back…

as suggested above … whichever fits best with the load for a few hours … since you already have the packs in hand

if going with something online, make sure you can return it

a pack is where a few ozs are well worth a good fit …

Thanks for the help everyone!

Also, I'd rather not risk a refund too much.

Decisions.. decisions.

I packed it with 40 lbs, and had a agonizing 4-5 hour hike. It just couldn't take the weight, due to its thin, flimsy hip belt. It felt like a had 500 pound anvils grading on my hips the whole time. However, on the hike down when the pack was considerably lighter, it was fine. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the sweet spot is, but I would guess around 20-25lbs max. After that fiasco, I bought a blaze 60 and haven't been happier.
Hope that helps, good luck

Which pack was this? Exos or Crown?

edit: Oh nevermind, I sppotted the title now. :)

I would third (or is it forth) the recommendation put in approx the gear / consumables that you plan to take and go for a hike. At least two hours… ideally 4 with each. You should know which is working better for you. If you are in pain with both hit the resent button and try something else based on what wasn't working. If one of them is working significantly better, you have a winner. If there were about equal, think about what was a problem with each, see if you can do something (pack differently) make small adjustments, etc to improve performance, and then take them out again for a spin.

Personally, I found that Exos was perfectly wrong for me and the old Vapor Trail was really great thought would have been nicer is the torso was just a tad longer. But this is my experience, yours might be different, especially because I recently learned (how I didn't know before now is a mystery) that I have a moderate case of Scoliosis which explains why I have been so temperamental when it comes to pack comfort.

–Mark

Check out the Elemental Horizons Aquilo. I've been training with it around 35 lb and it carries well; a little flex in the hipbelt but no frame collapse. It's 50 – 68L; if that's too big for you they just introduced a smaller version with the same suspension.

You have two fairly large packs. Take each out for a night or two or more. Keep the one you like best! Maybee sell the other and buy a smaller pack or anything else you might need. I did this awhile back, and kept a ULA circuit which I use for winter and long trips, and an Osprey Talon 33 for mild weather weekend or little longer trips.

Thanks for the ideas. I have to be careful with these though because I reckon most shops here aren't so keen on people testing their packs unlike US.

The Exos feels really great on my back, but the back mesh feels like it could rip apart if I even look it the wrong way. However the rigid frame transfer load to my hips very well, and I enjoy it. Durability is my main concern right now, it seems like I would have to send it back for repairs rather often. Exos though has very well bended back frame which fits me. Another drawback is that I might want just a bit more padded hip belt like Crown does.

The Crown on the other hand puts the load on my shoulders unless I adjust my shoulder straps to move it a bit further away from my neck which also moves the pack slightly away from my back. In every other aspect I love the pack. It seems much more durable, and doesn't have useless extra, except access to water bottles isn't that easy (you'd need a hydration sleeve). The padding and hip belt is much better too. The problem with Crown has more to do with my body structure than the pack itself.

Are there any other light backpacks with a rigid frame? I understand the GG Blaze 60 has some kind of tough frame, but is it comparable to Exos? Does the alloy frame connect to the hipbelt as a true internal frame? Exos won't fold unless I'd force it by hand or overload it. Load weights over 30lbs would be extremely rare for me.

Will, thanks. The Aquilo looks very interesting and I think BPL reviewers said it as good as Exos in terms of load transfer if not better. I'm sure it could work but it costs me about 20 euros to send the pack one way, so basically if I buy it, it'd have to be a keeper, and I'd have to send these two back.

They're intriguing packs though, the Aquilo and HMG Porter. Hopefully in the future they'll get some of these into the local gear shops so I could test them. Right now I'm a skeptical whether I can enjoy without a true internal frame. I don't really mind the extra pounds in the backpack if it feels great, I mean the objective is to get more comfortable load, and pounds are only instrumental to that.

Other packs that caught my attention was Lightwave UltraHike 60 and Montbell Versalite.

Dilemma continues.

My Ultrahike 60 has been a joy to carry, at least up to 30lbs, and fits me like a glove. I wouldn't categorize it as UL pack but it is a very nice lightweight internal frame pack. BPL measured it's volume a bit under 60 liters (around 57 iirc). I really would like to have a large mesh pocket on the outside of the pack, but otherwise it's pretty great. I my opinion the hip belt is just brilliant on Ultrahike.

The BPL review: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/lightwave_ultrahike_60_fastpack_50_wildtrek_55w.html

Antti

Thanks for the input Antti, that Ultrahike seemed an interesting option, but I think I got an affordable winner.

I rip off a metal rod out of my broken drying rack, put some duck tape around the ends, curved it a bit and put it to support the HDPE plate for the Crown (through the holes in the frame). Magic! now the backpack feels great and seems more durable. The weight went up around 80 grams but for me this is perfect. The Exos has still more robust frame obviously, but Crown handles the weight I need (30 lbs, didnt try higher) very well. It would probably handle even 35 lbs quite well, but I don't plan carrying that much anytime soon.

I still need to make some kind of solution for water bottles, but other than that Crown is a keeper.

I made a replica of the plastic frame sheet on the crown out of lightweight aluminum that I pull out and use as a windscreen for my stove. It weighs 3oz but it does seem to add a little stiffness to the "frame". I carried 32 lbs in it comfortably on day hikes just trying to get in shape, and my normal 21lb pack weight is very comfortable.