Z Packs Arc Slim

Love it! I've had mine for about 6 months and have actually used it for ~300 miles, and I am very satisfied with it. I was getting annoyed with my back getting uber sweaty from my frameless packs, so figured I'd give the slim a go. My trips are always a week or under in duration due to family and job constraints, so the Arc Blast was just way too big for my needs. When the slim popped up I jumped on it immediately.

The only items I added are a center and two side pockets (a necessity for me). The included side compression straps and shock cord lashings I quickly removed as I don't use them. I configure my own system of lashing on one side to hold the tops of my trekking poles when they're stored in the side pocket, and I also do a little system on the side of the mesh center pocket to hold my ice axe, much like the stock zpacks configuration. I removed the top strap as I don't use it, though I do wish that I had bottom straps attached (not an option on their page) to attach some bulkier items if need be. I'm not a fan of strapping stuff to the top. But that's a minor quibble, my fault for not requesting it, and honestly to this point I haven't found it necessary yet. Oh and I also requested an all black bag, as the grey panels were not doing it for me.

My 3 season base weight with this pack fluctuates between 6.5 and 7.5 lbs, so with the mesh frame it carries stupidly well, my back doesn't heat up anymore, and I don't get abrasions on the bottom of the pack when glissading like I accidentally did on my old non hybrid zero. The hybrid cuben on the Arc is definitely tough.

I guess one other factor that could be considered a con by a few, is that I used to use my frameless packs under my legs with my torso pads. I don't do that with this one. It would probably be fine, but I'm a big guy and the carbon frame components aren't exactly designed to have a large portion of my weight on top of them, so I don't get that dual purpose luxury any more. I get by though and I find myself throwing in more luxury items (i.e. weight) in to this pack then I did with my previous bags.

Edit: Forgot to add how I pack it to answer that question. I pack it like every other bag I use. Quilt stuffed in to the bottom loosely, bivy and tarp on top of that, clothes bag, food bag, first aid bag/tp, air pad thrown in there somewhere, and my jacket handy on top. One side pocket gets a full water bottle with sawyer mini attached, other side pocket either gets another bottle or trekking poles depending on if I'm using them or not. Center pocket get's random stuff: bars, windshirt, sunscreen, beer can pot and stove, etc. Shoulder pouch gets whistle, ibuprofen, knife, chapstick, camera. Most weight I've had in it was around 20-22 lbs and it still carried nicely.

Thanks for the detailed reply! It sounds like this pack should fit all of my gear and then some. I am also intrigued that the arc feature actually works as advertised. I am planning on pulling the trigger this week. Only thing left now is picking the color. Decisions decisions….