Zimmerbuilt QuickStep Pack

I love my Quickstep! I am out right now, but will shoot you some photos in a bit.

Chad,

Above are 2 pics of the Quickstep. One view shows the relative size of the side pockets. The other shows one side pocket with, among other things, a 700ml ti pot. The other side pocket has a full 1.5L Evernew water bag. In the main pocket is a Zpacks Poncho/Groundsheet and a MLD DuoMid. I don't have any Smartwater bottles handy. Two might fit in one of the side pockets. My main concern for the Smartwater bottles, which are fairly tall and narrow, is the side pockets are angled to make them accessible on the move. However, you can tighten the pockets. You might want to contact Chris Zimmer directly, he is super helpful and may have the exact answer you need. Overall, I love my Quickstep. I was a bit surprised the shoulder straps are not padded, but they are wide and comfortable with a SUL load. The exterior pockets are a good size and made with a strong netting, similar to the MLD packs, not like the stretchy stuff Gossamer Gear uses that appears not to hold up too well. Overall materials, workmanship and quality are excellent. I even had Chris make a removable top lid with a zipper compartment for mine.

Thanks Edward, that is very helpful. It's a nice looking little pack. I guess they were recently on sale for $100, sorry I missed that.

I actually prefer wider, minimally padded shoulder straps, so I think this pack is worth a try. Is the advertised 9oz weight accurate?

Mine came in at 9.4oz on my cheap digital scale. After looking at the Zpacks Zero, the GG Murmur, and the MLD Newt, the Quickstep won out based a combination of features (mostly the stock pocket layout then a lack of other features), the materials (the hybrid cuben is great stuff) and workmanship (Chris's stuff is amazing). I had Chris build me a larger model as well, with padded straps, the same pocket layout, and a web belt, with a 2800 cu in main compartment. It is 14oz and I love it too. Here is the link to that pack:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=91837