Ah, Christmas in June . . .Here is a preview of my new Zimmerbuilt Pack. I started off slowly with Zimmerbuilt products, first ordering a Summit Sack a couple of years ago and then scoring a Quickstep on the Gear Swap Forum this winter. I was impressed by the quality and attention to detail and intrigued by the ability to customize. I also saw that the forums were full of praise for Chris's workmanship, quality, and customer service. I looked hard at doing a Zpacks Zero and adding some things, but the Zimmerbuilt stuff is a bit beefier and the workmanship is amazing, so it won out in the end.
This pack, which I nick named "The Big Step" is essentially a scaled up Quickstep. The idea was to keep it clean, simple and light. I set a goal weight of 14oz and had a pretty simple feature set in mind: 3.3oz hybrid cuben fabric, a simple web belt, sternum strap, roll top, minimal cordage layout, simple external pad holder, with a main volume of 2400 -2500 cu in and a 3 pocket layout like the Quickstep, that adds 400 more cu in. The pockets are trimmed in dyneema, which is same material as the padded shoulder straps.
Looking at the specs and the pictures Chris just sent me, I think he nailed it. Final weight is 14oz and it looks to have everything I wanted and nothing I did not want. I expect the fit to be great. I am set for a week long hike later this June and will likely take this on the trip.
Chris's customer service has been top notch and the turn around time was about 2 weeks.
