HMG Packs VS Gossamer Gear + other rec’s

Can’t help you with a comparison but if water resistance is an issue you might also look at the Superior Wilderness Designs pack constructed with Xpac.

4400 c.i. pack is huge!

Are you just concerned about water-proofness in the pack? Even with a DCF pack you want to use a pack liner (trash compactor bag) if rain is in the forecast. The Gorilla is a super nice pack, but if $ is no object than I would rather have a black Junction. Or a Zpacks arc blast.

Assume the 28 lbs. included food at the outset.  You could repackage your food with a small bag heat sealer.  After sealing and trimming off the excess, the bags could hold just the right amount to mix the contents with one cup of boiling water and simmered.  I lean toward the mini maceroni pasta, quick rice, or noodles, with a freeze dried meat bought in no. 10 cans.  Those are simmered until soft, and then a very tiny package of seasoning and thickener, and even dried veggies, is added.  Except for the freeze dried, most of the ingredients can be bought in a large supermarket.  Experiment at home with dinners that taste good, and they will taste even better when backpacking.

For breakfast, instant BF and milk powder, and best quality instant coffee were packaged together the same way, again with the right amount to mix with one cup of water.  All of this makes for quick meals, and dried fruit and energy bars can be added to the food bag which goes into an old kevlar Ursack.

This not only reduced my food weight for 5-10 days by more than half, but made meals much quicker and easier.

As regards water proof packs, it may be best to seal the sleeping gear in a separate bag inside the stuff sack, especially in an area that gets even more rain than we do.  Ditto for electronic gear sealed in  much smaller lock closure bags.  But I don’t want the extra weight and inconvenience of a roll top closure,  and find that older style packs, if made with very light waterproof fabric, provide plenty of protection to supplement waterproof stuff sacks for clothing, a tent, and other items.    As was noted, there are some nice packs made with waterproof material, much lighter than used to be the case.

I had a DCF pack with taped seams fail in some hellacious rain over a three day period.

Pick the pack that fits and then use a pack liner.

I agree with David U.   While I have a Seek Outside pack made with X-Pac that I seam sealed and have had good results with it during some pretty epic rain, I would never rely on a pack to be 100% waterproof.  A pack has quite a few seams that are hard to seal and gets a lot of stress and movement on those seams meaning that even if a pack starts 100% waterproof, it probably won’t stay that way for long.  I always put my quilt and other must keep dry items in a trash compactor bag for sort of a belt and suspenders approach.

As for packs, I say gets what fits best and that can be very personal.  HMG didn’t seem comfortable for me at all, but Seek Outside and SWD are both comfortable for me.  I have a Seek Outside pack for heavier (or bulkier) loads, and a SWD for lighter loads.  I haven’t used a Gossamer Gear pack since they had carbon fiber arrow shafts for stays, so I can’t comment on their current lineup.

The main advantage of WP packs to me is that they don’t get heavier through water absorption and for some redundancy for your pack liner.

This is because they’re never 100% waterproof unless they’re watersports bags, which will not be good hiking bags.  Buys you some time if you fall in the river before water fills up the inside, and means less ingress if your pack liner has developed any little holes – so better protection (the same or better would be achieved with two pack liners). They also generally get “less” waterproof as they get abraded over time.

So, it’s up to you if you will pay a premium for that. Personally, even though I live and walk in rainy climates (NZ and Ireland), it’d be the feature I was least concerned about. If I had decided on a pack that was available in both a WP fabric and regular robic, I might pay a few bucks extra for the WP. But it’s not the least import feature in a pack for me.

I’m on my 2nd Porter 4400 that I primarily use for work. I line the pack for the reasons David U. describes, but in the mountain west rarely bother in the summer, often the compactor bag or similar lays folded in the bottom. For winter bc ski trips however, I never bothered to line either pack. Winter for me is subfreezing, often dry cold in NW Wyoming.

For backpacking I see no reason for most to go any bigger than 3400. FWIW, the hipbelt tore completely off of my 1st pack (black fabric, post resupply, maybe 50-60lb load) so I had HMG do up a pack in full DCHW. I ended up using blue climbing webbing and the intact buckle as a makeshift hipbelt… I like the DCHW pack, and it has worn well despite heavy (3-6 mo/yr) use.

Thanks Everyone. I would still use a liner for sure even with the HMG. I will take the advice and go with the pack that fits best. The Gossamer Gear fits well so the HMG will have to fit as well or better. I think I’ll take a look at SWD as well. Cheers.

“Even with a DCF pack you want to use a pack liner”

Untrue. I’ve been in flat out downpours and driving wind/rain in my HMG SW. No bag liners. I do use the HMGPods. Only for convenience to gear separation and consolidation. Absolutely no issues on the DCF compartment of the bag. Now, the hip belt pockets are another story. Those will get soaked through. So don’t put anything in there you can’t afford to get wet