Murmur — Does its Hip Belt Work?

[Tim Zen]

I see the Murmur is on sale. I have the Mariposa, but would like something smaller.
The hip-belt is, well, not really a hip belt but a strap. It looks like it would be uncomfortable.
I know the pack is rated at 15#, so it will be used to stabilize and not for weight transfer.

Any experience with it? Thoughts? Thanks!

[Bob Gross]

This may or may not be completely relevant. I have a very old Murmur made out of spinnaker fabric.

If you are carrying the rated load of 15 pounds, you really don't need a big hipbelt to carry the load. All I ever needed was a buckling strap to stabilize it. Now, if you went much above the 15 pound rating, and since the shoulder straps were not heavily padded, you would want a more serious hipbelt. However, once you exceed any rating like that, you are asking for all sorts of problems.

–B.G.–

[Tim Zen]

@Bob — thank you for the insights.

[Art Tyszka]

I'll echo Bob's thoughts. I like the Murmur and have mostly used it for day hikes or 1 nighters. The hipbelt does what it's meant to, which is just to keep it from bouncing too much. I recently got the GG air pad and that made a TON of difference in how the pack distributes load, it actually transfers some weight with that pad. It's a nice pack, but for me, anything over 13 lbs total weight and I'd rather take my MLD Exodus, which feels barely there even at 17 lbs, I really start to notice the Murmur after 10 lbs.

[Lance Stalnaker]

I have the same dilemma I have the mariposa and really like the fit. I am also looking at the murmur, my base weight with mariposa is 10.53, so switching the murmur would be 9.7ish. That seems very doable for overnighters, maybe even weekend trips. I think it all depends on how much you are looking to carry. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

[Brian B]

The Murmur straddles a weird middle ground that was tough for me to successfully stay within: when carrying truly light loads (in practice, day hikes – only a little food, not much water) it has more capacity than I needed (a floppy sack on my back); alternatively, even on short weekend hikes (where its capacity is about right), I would have benefited from a true hip belt leaving the trailhead (@ ~10lbs base weight). Though just a strap, the hip belt did take some weight off of my shoulders but not in anyway I would consider particularly comfortable over the course of a day; and re. stabilizing, I don't remember thinking that was a problem — maybe if one were to run with it.

For the price, I don’t have a better suggestion. However, for me, an extra oz or two of a proper hip belt would be weight well spent — to Art's point above.

[Tim Zen]

Thank you all. I think I am going to pass on it and keep looking.
It is sad the GG has a padded belt w/o pockets for $20 at 4 ounces, but it is not compatible with the Murmur.

[Dale South]

I have the older sil Murmur and the new Murmur. I use the older version on week long trips in the late spring through early fall carrying 15-20 lbs comfortably. I replaced the thin foam shoulder strap inserts with pipe insulation foam from Lowes. It carries very comfortably and the belt works well to stabilize it. It is actually my favorite pack and I have eight.

[Bradley Attaway]

The belt strap on the murmur is adequate for under 20 lbs, ideally under 15. I use carbon arrow shafts to stiffen up the frame, but even without those the belt transfers the necessary amount of weight off the shoulders to make for a comfortable carry on long days.

I wouldn't want it as my only pack (saving up for a zPacks arc blast to replace everything else), but for the price I don't think you can do better for truly ultralight 4-5 day summer loads or shoulder season overnighters.

[Dale South]

Bradley, how did you add the arrow shafts? Pics?

Thanks,
Dale

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