Fastpack Recommendations

Adam,

Excellent points. A couple of your gripes are definitely on the mark and a couple of those I didn’t think about when I posted earlier. Guess I overlooked them the more I’ve come to really liking this pack.

The one-way buckles are truly stupid, agreed. Definitely a candidate for removal and replacement with standard buckles that work either direction. No idea what they were thinking. I also would have preferred just 1 water bottle pocket vs 2 and just have a regular zippered pocket on the other side. Getting my phone out of the water bottle pocket once it’s cinched down is kind of a PIA. Guess I’ve learned to live w/ it. I had tried a FP15 before I got the FP25 and just hated that center zip back. The harness storage was more like your FP30 on that pack. Much better design for hiking IMO. But the fit on the FP15 didn’t work for me either and was on the small side for the gear I wanted to be able to carry.

Sorry if my lower pocket guidance was off for you. I’m able to get most of my snacks and use-on-the-move gear into those lower pockets pretty easily. Definitely a subjective thing that’s gonna vary person to person I guess depending on what you keep up front.

Still, hope you end up liking it as much as I do.

I just ordered an Adventure Vest 3.0 today to see how I like it. Hopefully it fits well. I’ve downsized some other gear recently and I might be able to get an overnight trip out of a 16L pack and it’ll definitely work better as a day hike pack over the 25.

Chris

Chris,

Sorry if my lower pocket guidance was off for you.

Absolutely no need to apologize! You provided a lot of great information. I agree that “cockpit layout” is definitely subjective, and moreover, my thinking is that if something seems like it might work, one has to take it out to the field to try it. Different does not always mean worse. I appreciate all the input you provided.

I look at the FP15 and see the lack of the side-pack water bottle storage, and say: “Okay, they designed that for mostly running, not hiking.” Because no fast packing hiker that I know uses a bladder. But then I’m confused by it, because there’s just one bottle holder on the front. So, with the FP15, you can only access one bottle of water at a time? Who does that work for? Run-commuters, and that’s it? Yes, also that center zip monstrosity, although to be fair, I haven’t tried it. I don’t like the looks of it, though.

I look at the FP25, and see the side-pack water bottles pouches, and say: “They designed this for mostly hiking, not running.” Because nobody runs with water bottles on the side of their pack (or, nobody wants to, anyway). But then they kind of bastardized it with two water bottle pouches on the front, instead of the great system they had on the FP30 (the non-zip pouch, in particular, was great for backpacking due to the amount of stuff that could be crammed in it. Not so with the new pockets on the FP25).

Ah well. I think if I can rig up just a bit more storage on the front of the FP25–or if I can get adept at reaching into the side pockets to reach snacks–it’ll do marvelously. Really, if I didn’t insist on the P&S camera, I’d have no real complaints about the front-storage.

I think all of this really underscores to me is what a great pack the FP30 was.

Yep, I think the FP15 really is a ‘commuter’ bag. I even saw a review somewhere or other where they had crammed a laptop in it. It’s also got some internal zipper organization if I recall. Only had it for a couple days and shipped it back. Not really sure who other than that would really find it functional on the trail. Trail Running, meh. Backpacking, meh. Dayhiking, maybe, but there are a gazillion cheaper options for that.

I agree, if you can find something to lash on the front for your camera, you might solve your snack or camera storage problems.

I tried to do a little running with the FP25 while I had it out on a day hike just to see how stable it was. It was OK, but not being a trail runner I’d have to think that there are better choices that have a more stable ride. It’s really just a great 2-3 day bag, rides well for walking or a super-light jog, and I got mine on sale, so it was a no-brainer to try it. Might have tried the FP30, but they were virtually gone in a M/L when I got mine…and I prefer the roll-top closure on the FP25.

Good luck w/ your tweaking and enjoy your Sierra trip you mentioned earlier. Me and the Exos will be there in Sept as well, if these stupid fires subside. Right now, both of my options are smokey (Mammoth) and they are saying maybe another month of burn there. I may have to bail on that trip this year and head somewhere else.

I think the “old” FP 30 is pretty good, few minor things I’d change, but overall pretty darn good.

RE: FP15- it’s a little small for an overnighter, but doable

for running in the mountains or winter, it’s good, very good

Conservatively, mine has 1000+ mountain miles on it

…and I prefer the roll-top closure on the FP25.

Actually, the FP30 and FP25 have a pretty much identical roll-top closure.

Mike: thanks for the action shots; the thread was sorely in need of those. How do you compare the FP15 to something like the PB 3.0 vest? I’ve used the PB 3.0 vest extensively for three season non-overnight mountain runs. Curious if you’ve tried both (or similar to the PB) and have any comparisons?

Adam. Didn’t realize the FP30 was roll-top, thought it was a cover like on traditional packs. Thanks. Might give it a look again if I run across the large size. I need a franken-FP-27.5.

Mike. That first shot is pretty slick, that’s a UD marketing shot if ever there was one! They should snag that and send you some green…

I haven’t. The last non FP I tried was a long time ago, it was a smaller vest- nice for races with aid stations, too small for longer runs in the mountains.

I probably carry more than most on my outings, but an unexpected overnighter is always in the back of my mind (too many years as a game warden spent looking for folks in the backcountry I guess)

I recently got a UD Fastpack 35 off MassDrop and I’m having trouble getting the fit right.  I have the AK 3.0 which fits very nicely and is what made me want a larger vest style pack for overnights.  The AK vest sits nicely on the shoulders but the Fastpack 35 sags and pulls backwards.  Once I put the frame sheet back in it does a better job of not sagging but really feels like overkill to need a frame sheet for a sub 15 lbs. load.  Any tips?

If my pack goes back on sale again,  it’s a great fastpack.

It fixes lot of the complaints others are talking about with other fastpacks.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-sorensen-shadow-28l-fast-pack?mode=guest_open&vendor_key=a1e9da9e9606d9b508c8d5296784e079