Took the plunge… Whisper Uberlight Pack

Hey James,

I've only played with the Whisper — and it was comfy at around 15 lbs. For 8-10lbs, you should have no problems. Have fun!

Great pack! Just wait- someday even this pack may be too big! (mine often is :-)

Don't you just love taking a $60 plunge instead of buying a $400 megapack?!?

And we all know what the next step is….
http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=45&osCsid=dd9cf58b6cfba289d35f7f55c3369555

which is but a transitory stage until we achieve sub-gram skin-out weights…
http://library.thinkquest.org/28855/pictures/bushmen.jpg

….and welcome to SUL-dom

Heh, heh. Yep- I love my Revelation. PERFECT size for an insane gear addict like me.

Hee hee.

As a follow-up to my own post, I spent the weekend hiking with this pack and I can say I was very pleased. The pack was very comfortable. It rained all weekend so most things got pretty wet but all things considered I was very comfortable indeed. I did not miss the sternum strap or the waist belt at all. It looks like a winner to me. I would say the one thing that I will note is that I had to be a lot more careful with this pack, but I am pretty careful to start with.

I'm in a similar boat James. I just took my Whisper out this past weekend for the first time for an overnighter (of 40 miles), and I was very pleased. Personally, I think there is ample space in the pack for a trip of at least 4 or 5 days. Even with my ridgerest pad rolled up inside and a bit of extra gear, I returned to the car with a lot of extra space.

I did, however, have a bit of an issue with the shoulder straps. For the first day (25 miles), I left the straps empty, and it didn't bother me at all. But the next morning, the straps became very uncomfortable under my arms. Solution: Insert stinky socks. Problems solved. I wouldn't hike rigorously for more than a day without some kind of insert for the straps, even with a 6 lb. load.

I might add some kind of basic sternum strap, but like James, I also found myself not missing the waist belt. Another addition I'd like to make is some drain holes in the pouch.

The roll-top was a bit tricky to close, due to the nature of the fabric. I tried adding a minimal draw cord, but didn't end up using it. Does anyone have any method for closing the pack? I didn't get rained on enough to gauge the effectiveness of my closure.

I just rolled it up "dry bag style" and closed it with the hook-and-loop fastener. I found this worked very well, actually. I had a silnylon pack cover that I used to keep it dry, but it turned out to be too large and I'll need to improvise a replacement that is smaller.

I used socks in the straps which worked very well for me EXCEPT that when I rotated socks the wet ones never got a chance to get dry. I don't mind damp socks so this was more a change of process than anything else. That said, I got spoiled by the mesh pockets on my Mariposa.