ZPack Arc Blast questions

I can't speak to JMT or a thru hike, but I went to Philmont with it this past July. I had to carry a bunch of our crew gear and typically had to carry it somewhere between 37 and 43 pounds.

It never buckled under pressure nor ever caused any issues. I've used many different packs over the past 30 years and this one is my favorite by a long shot. It blends the best design features of external and internal framed packs into one simple and lightweight solution.

Enjoy the ride.

I've never done the JMT in it's entirety with mine, but I have the 52 L version and can fit a BV 450 or 500 in it no problem. In the summer I can get a BV 450 and all my gear in the 52 with room to spare, good for around 6 or 7 days. In winter it's a bit of a squeeze, but everything still fits provided I'm not doing any serious photography too.

This summer I put about 350 miles on mine, usually carrying between 20-25lbs, but I've gone as heavy as 40 last winter. Personally I thought 40 was quite uncomfortable after about 10 miles, and after about 4 days of that I felt that repeated use around 40bs would likely compromise the life of the pack, at least the 52L in any case, since it was packed to the hilt. The discomfort was primarily from the hipbelt and straps. It starts to become uncomfortable for me around 35lbs.

That said, below 30lbs it's a dream. I'm not particularly gentle with my gear on the trail or off, and the pack shows almost no signs of wear after close to 500 miles. Despite being bashed around on rocks and snow it remained completely waterproof during some torrential rain on the HST in July this year.

When/if it wears out, I'll be ordering a replacement without hesitation. I think the 60 would probably have been a better choice, but even with a 60L I think I'd still shoot for sub 35lbs if you're doing multiple big mile days.

Here is a post AT hike review:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5VRXOxs9a5Y

Matt – just curious, what was your personal load out weight prior to any Crew Gear you took on? That sure seems like a lot of weight. Was your crew having to carry lots of water for dry camps? I know that water has a major impact on your pack weights depending upon your particular trek. Our crew is starting to plan now and our goal is to get our weights down to around 15 lbs max prior to crew gear, food, water, etc. – and I just can't see another 25 pounds for crew gear. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I think I saw more arc blasts on the JMT this year than any other pack (besides Osprey – what's with that company??!!)

And the folks I hiked with carried them – it swallowed their bear cans (including the big ol' bearikade expedition) without any trouble.

I can't speak to how it carried, but they were happy.

Get a pack cover if you're going to head out into the rain for prolonged periods of time. It won't keep the water out.

28 lbs is probably pushing the comfortable weight a bit, depends on you of course, but for me that's moving into the "a little too much" range.

I can fit my BV500 in it… vertically. Won't go in sideways. Smaller canisters should fit just fine.

Considering how light the Arc Blast is, it's a great pack.

Believe it or not, my base weight was around 15 lbs, including a tent for me and another adult (TT Rainshadow II).

The fundamental problem was our scoutmaster (who was going to Philmont for the 7th time) didn't do anything to encourage BPL methods, and was content with using all the Philmont equipment. Although I am quite experienced (and on my third trek to Philmont), I couldn't persuade him there was a "lighter way" to teach the scouts. And as it turned out, three of our boys were between 90 and 110 pounds. When I first pulled out my Arc Blast, he almost chided me for considering to bring it, because he thought it was going to be too small.

Therefore, most of my pack consisted of crew gear, some of which was:

1) up to 6 packs of Phil-meals (bulky and heavy)
2) All the "Philmont" bear bag rope
3) The large crew pot (I threw it upside down over top of the pack)
4) The first aid kit

But again, I know I pushed the design limits of the pack, but I NEVER had any discomfort whatsoever.

(Fwiw: I sold many packs while working at REI over an eight year span, and have "tested drove" countless different pack designs. When it comes to groomed trail hiking; I don't recall ever experiencing a better balance between stability, weight, and comfort in a pack, than I do with the Arc Blast.)

We had a group of 4 that thru hiked the JMT this year, all with arcblasts. I carried the 60L, and it easily fit our bearikade expedition. The other bearikade (weekender) was easily carried in the 52L size. For the 60L, I carried the expedition lower down, with the bottom edge below the center cross bar. This made for a more comfortable load distribution but somewhat inhibited the bow-shape of the arc. My base weight was around 15lbs and I carried more weight than some of the others (they were my kids) so I think the total weight was above 30lbs on several occasions. The load was carried very well in my opinion.

Matt,

Thanks for the feedback. However, the following comment makes me cringe, "And as it turned out, three of our boys were between 90 and 110 pounds."

I can't believe that your Scoutmaster would subject a Scout (or adult crew member) to that kind of abuse. Sure, they can "survive" a trek with those kind of weights but I bet it wasn't that enjoyable for them. I can't even begin to imagine what all type of personal gear they must have brought to get up to those weights. I'm also surprised your Ranger didn't say anything about it – those are just brutal type weights.

This is also a good reason to not bring extremely large packs on these treks – they tend to find gear and equipment to fill them to capacity (or over capacity). My suggestion is to find the minimum size pack that Philmont will accept for a trek and bring that one. I just checked the Tooth of Time Traders website and they are saying that 4,000 cu/in. is the current minimum size, while 6,0000 cu/in. is the recommended maximum size.

Thanks again for the feedback and hopefully you and your Scouts will have a better time (pack weight wise) on future Philmont treks.

Another happy Arc Blast user, I've been using mine for a year now, including a thru on the JMT this year. My only comment is that my companion carried a spare fuel can in the bottom of her Arc Blast, and it apparently made a small cut in the bag, which subsequently leaked a little. Probably best to use a packliner just in case.

Thanks everyone for all your input and replies. I have an old BV 150, same size as the 500, from 2004 that I am using for size and fit tests. I was thinking garbage bag for a liner with a syl-sack for the clothes and and a cuben sack for the sleeping bag. I bought a ZPack 20 bag to help with base weight. It will be here tomorrow. For abrasion protection inside the bag would duct tape be a good choice for the JMT? I ordered the 13 x 7 repair patch from ZPack but I would prefer to save that for more permanent repairs.

The one thing I noticed with this pack is it's quite tall, especially compared to say a Mariposa. The issue I have with that, doing most of my hiking in the hot sun of Australia, is that it makes wearing a full brim sun hat problematic. I find it a problem continually bumping the rear brim with the pack when full.

I spoke to Joe about this and apparently it's not really possible to alter this without fundamentally changing the design of the pack. I've resorted therefore to a Sunday Afternoons Hat in summer (which is dorky but at least full sun protection) and a standard visor in winter.

I carried the 60L with a Bearikade Expedition for ten days this summer and was really impressed. I am 6'-1 and got the 22" length. You can shimmy some amount of stuff around the Bearikade, but not a lot. I was always able to fold down the top of the pack to the top of shoulder level to achieve the "small knapsack" experience. I added the .6 oz lumbar pad, and if I have to go over 30 lbs again I will consider a very slight augmentation to cushion the shoulder straps. Otherwise, it is the most enjoyable pack I have owned. Below 22 lbs. I totally forgot that it was there, so much so that I am reconsidering some of my more extreme UL equipment choices, and might add a few ounces here and there! I elaborate more under the title "UL Gear List observations and conclusions after three years of JMT experience" in the gear list category.

The trail consensus seems that the Osprey excels when you get into the 35 lbs + range. However, why people choose to carry heavy polycarbonate water bottles, bear spray, Leatherman multitools, and little stuffed bears hanging off their packs is a different discussion-

I used my 52L on JMT with bearikade weekender. No issues. 25 lb top wt. I really suggest if you need over 25, you might want a different pack. It is not a 30 lb pack. If you bought it for that, you may be dissapointed.

Wait, it did rub darn near thru the cuben in several spots, but I figured there would be some damage.

Pack is inside out now waiting on reinforcements to be applied over work areas.