Backpack recommendation

[Dale K]

Like suggestions on packs. Currently have ULA circuit. Like to get a 2 pound or under pack. With hipbelt and some kind of frame. Looking at Mariposa 60, arc haul and HMG 3400. Like to fit a bv450 vault or possibly the bearikade weekender in it on occasions. Baseweight around 11 pounds or so. Foothills trail in May, weight will be around 23 with no resupply. I figure I will be a good candidate for a light pack. Not sure about DCF with zpacks, vault would probably damage it. Considering haul instead. I’m 63, hike regularly, decent shape. Like a fairly comfortable pack. Baseweight is set, nice equipment. Plans for Tahoe rim next year. Appreciate your ideas and experience. Lot of good choices out there. Advantage of zpacks is resale if it doesn’t work.

[Adrian Griffin]

At that weight, the Arc Blast would work well. It’s a very light pack and carries up to about 28lb very well, although it’s rated up to 35lb by the manufacturer. The Arc Haul can take up to 40lb, but that’s more than the comfort level for the Arc Haul/Blast suspension.

[Brad Rogers]

I’d also throw the SWD Long Haul 50 in your sub 2lb pack list.  It has dual stays and can be made out of X-Pac or Dyneema Grid.

[JCH]

Your age, pack weight and stated usage are very similar to mine and I love the Arc Haul.  The Dynema grid fabric is (to me) well worth a few oz extra for the durability and peace of mind. I do recommend adding the lumbar pad as it made a very positive difference for me.  I’ve packed the BV450 at the top of the pack both inside the bag and under the top straps (get the y-strap) and it worked well.

Good luck on your search and trips. Tahoe Rim looks amazing.

[Erica R]

I have the Arc Blast. I haven’t tried a bear container with it. Maybe someone else can comment, but it doesn’t seem designed for an integral hard sided container. You strap it on top.

I’m quite happy carrying 20 lbs with it. The waist belt is very comfortable for me; great weight transfer. Hardly any weight on my shoulders. I think it would be a good match for your 11 lb baseweight. My base is 12.5 (wondering what I could leave behind ;). I don’t think 23 lbs for a couple days would be a problem.

I’ve got maybe 500-700 miles on it, no durability problems with the DCF. I’d get the DCF again and save a few oz.

Disclosure: I don’t buy lots of packs. Just this one. Works great for me.

 

[Cal]

I’ve got an ULA ohm 2.0 and an Arc Haul. I’ve done heavy trips (up to the recommended limit) with the Haul with the bear canister strapped to the top. While it wasn’t painful it wasn’t comfortable. ULAs padding is far more comfortable in that respect. But I keep coming back to the Haul for one main reason..the arc venting in the back. At the weight you’re talking I’d say the Haul or Blast comfort would be fine though. I just did two days with an 18lb total load with the Haul and it was very comfortable. Ditto on the lumbar pad. I’ve even taken my zpacks shoulder pads and transferred them to the waist for more padding and that’s dialed it in for me. If ULA ever were to develop a venting arc system like the Haul, or if Zpacks were to widen and beef up their shoulder/hip straps that’d be perfect IMO.

[jscott]

Having a bear canister strapped on top of a pack is hardly optimal. I would definitely get a pack that can fit a canister inside. that may mean a larger, heavier pack. But this is a case where the extra few ounces for a larger pack is more than compensated for with ease of carrying a bear canister. A heavy canister up top makes for a fairly exhausting carry.

 

[JCH]

“A heavy canister up top makes for a fairly exhausting carry.”

I think this is a personal preference, combined with the type of hiking. I pack my food (always the greatest weight per cu. in.) at the top of the pack. The arc of the pack puts that weight very close to being directly over the shoulders. I find it only takes a very minimal forward lean to bring everything into balance.  I hike groomed trails and strapping the bear canister to to top of the Arc Haul works beautifully for me.  I suspect were I bushwacking or climbing I would have a different opinion.

This is simply what works for me. Every combination of pack + physiology + terrain will work differently.

[jscott]

Where I hike bear canisters are required, with few exceptions. I’ve always picked my packs with this in mind. I think a bear canister is the elephant in the…pack that requires accommodation. It takes up a lot of space no matter what. Everything has to fit around it and there’s not much to be done to escape this fact. For me, carrying all that weight up top, almost on the outside, makes for a tippy pack. And, I really don’t like weight on my shoulders. Others may well be more successful than me in carrying a can on top of a pack comfortably.

A canister inside a pack presents other problems.

The Bearikade Scout is the exception; it’s small enough to pack pretty well, and might allow for a smaller pack. I like to have my weekender packed horizontally, so I need a wide bodied pack.

[Robert Spencer]

My wife has the Arc Blast (size small) and it fits a Bearikade (similar to the Blazer model) upright in the main pack body. It sits nicely at the middle of her back, but there is little to no room around it for other items.

[J R]

I can get a Bearikade Weekender into my older Arc Blast (2014?). It’s tight but it works. I usually release the tension on the frame arc before trying to get the canister in there.

[jscott]

“It sits nicely at the middle of her back, but there is little to no room around it for other items.”

This is the other reason that a bear canister forces me to choose a larger pack–I hike solo a lot and everything else has to fit. I was going to say that it would be hard to find a sub 2 pound pack that can do all this and still ahve enough structure for transferring weight to the hips, but JR’s Arc Blast seems to fit the bill! (???hard to say if he gets everything else in too…).

[Pedestrian]

If the ULA Circuit fits you well, I’d just keep it and save the money. You’re welcome to send me a check if you do feel the urge to spend the money ;).

What problem are you trying to solve by replacing the Circuit?

The marginal “improvement” offered by the other packs mentioned here over the Circuit are meaningless especially considering the fiddle factor with some of these “ultralight” packs.

I have owned and used a ULA Circuit so I know how well that pack carries moderate weights (in the range you describe). I only sold the Circuit because I wanted a roomier pack for longer trips where I need to fit a BV500 canister. The Circuit is fine for carrying a BV450 but I could not get the BV500 to fit along with the rest of my gear. I’m definitely not UL and have no interest in throwing money towards getting UL.

 

 

[Turley]

^^^
I agree with the above and would use the Circuit. At 2lbs and a few ounces it fits a bear canister easily internally with enough space left to pack around and carries comfortably and proven to be durable. Personally I’d use funds to purchase a lower volume ultralight pack for when a bear canister isn’t required.

[Pedestrian]

BTW I bought an Arc Blast new from Zpacks around 5 years back. I wanted to like it but I couldn’t get it to fit right or carry a bear canister comfortably. Zpacks has great customer service and I returned the pack unused within a week of getting it. Definitely NOT the pack for me.

I know the Arc Blast (and lot of other Zpacks gear) gets a lot of love here; I quickly realized it was not for me.

I also tried HMG packs (Porter and Southwest) – just didn’t carry right or fit me well.

Pack fit is very personal – it either works or it doesn’t.

 

 

 

[Bruce Tolley]

“Plans for Tahoe rim next year. ”

If you do the whole rim, from what I have heard, in dry years, you need to plan to carry more water or cache it. This might play in your pack choice.

[HkNewman]

Maybe looking for something similar for hotter weather, but with back ventilation for the next few summers … so I’ve been looking at Z-packs.

After that it’ll be back to the Rockies for summer where a closer fitting pack helps with dicey ledges (most packs offering ventilation move a heavier center of gravity), but the way things are going with more cars (and food being left out), fitting a hard sided bear can is a “must“.

[jscott]

I use a LuxuryLite frame with a frameless and light large pack sack attached. The LL frame has a little ledge at the bottom that holds a bear canister perfectly;it’s as if it were designed for this. One can just put a pack on top of that, but I prefer to place my canister on the bottom of the sack where it sits on the ledge, and then every other item goes on top and around that. The thing is, with the canister on the outside of the pack held firm on the little ledge, you could choose different size packs to attach to the frame, depending on need.

The LL hip belt is super -plush and comfortable. the whole set us pretty light too–I forget now but just over two pounds I believe.
this is how I solved the whole bear canister issue.

It’s not an idea that’s caught on…

p.s. I couldn’t get on with the soft canisters that come with the LL pack.

[JCH]

Always been intrigued by the LuxuryLite pack.  It’s a shame the website does not present the product and options better/more clearly.

[jscott]

Jch, I haven’t looked at the site in years. They used to sell the frame independent of the soft cylinders. I bought my LL pack used here, with the cylinders. I quickly ditched the cylinders and strapped on a GG Mariposa (a very old model now, with a very minimal hip belt) with no stays or supports–about a pound. It will just allow a Bearikade weekender to lay horizontal.

I find it to be a really comfortable pack! It does allow a tiny bit of room between an area of my back and the pack for air circulation, but it doesn’t sway at all. the external frame keeps the bag from collapsing.

[HkNewman]

Many may not like them due to all those affiliate links, but outdoorgearlab wrote about ultralight packs that can comfortably carry a BV500 in their 2021 UL pack buying series..

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-ultralight-backpack/buying-advice

Specifically they discuss some of the packs from the posts above (Mariposa, HMG) and some other options.   Looks like they were using a variety of packs last year, so add those observations to the ones in the posts above (been using a Burn and Zimmerbuilt ZB myself)

 

… BearVault BV500, the most common size bear canister carried by thru-hikers on the John Muir or Pacific Crest Trails [Sierra]. In some places, bear cans are required by law on these trails.

Smaller bear canisters are available, but it can be challenging to fit food for a week (as well as your cook kit and fragrant toiletries) into these smaller cans. Increasingly, bear canisters are also a great idea on the Georgia to Great Smoky Mountains section of the AT, and again in New York and New Jersey

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