Rogue Panda Zoro Backpack – a new load hauler?

[Nick Smolinske]

John,

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I think we might just have a difference in body shape, because the taper is one of the changes I made to make the belt more comfortable. I find it offers a similar feel to a dual-adjust hip belt but without the extra buckles, and with less bulk up front where I like to avoid pressure on my stomach.

In an ideal world I could make a custom belt for you but that’s really not feasible. At any rate, I’ll offer you a refund if you’d like. We normally don’t take refunds on custom work but I think we’ll find a new owner pretty easily. Shoot us an email.

[J-L]

Thanks, Nick. I sent Rogue Panda an email.

[Stumphges]

John, thanks for your report about your Zoro. Where do you tend to wear hipbelts? With the top of your iliac crests level with the top of the belt, just below the top of the belt, or about in the middle of the belt. I wonder sometimes whether individual preferences with hipbelts has to do with this factor. Few manufacturers specify for which belt position they’ve designed their hipbelts.

[J-L]

It depends on the design of the pack, but usually I have about 1/3 of the belt above my iliac crest.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Nick,

I really like the hip belt pocket open/close system.  Looks like it might work well elsewhere as well.

Would you be willing to show us how to make one on the Make Your Own Forum?

 

[Doug Coe]

This is a super-smart looking pack! I love the waterproofing, the hinged hipbelt, the optional water bottle pocket, and the innovative thinking all around. I’m slightly leery of the seam bindings on the exterior wear-wise.

@smo Nick—What does the (partial) framesheet do for you? Add comfort? Also, why use heavier duty fabric on the side panels?

[Doug Coe]

THANK YOU for NOT making a zippered hip belt pocket. FINALLY.

@ryan Ryan—I’m working on hipbelt pocket ideas for my first MYOG pack. What do you not like about zippers?

[Nick Smolinske]

Doug,

The framesheet adds comfort by preventing the pack from poking me between my shoulder blades. It also keeps the weight of the pack closer to my back by keeping that part flat.

As for the side panels, we default to DX40 sides for cosmetic reasons. The weight difference between VX21 and the DX40 is minor (5-6 grams) and I think the pack looks sharp having the same fabric on the sides as well as the bottom. Some customers have elected to do VX21 on the sides though.

I thought about doing that myself for my latest pack, but stuck with the DX40 to avoid distracting the eye from the custom print I used for the rest of the pack.

[Doug Coe]

Nick—Thanks for the quick reply. I agree the look is really sweet with those color combos.

I’ll have to see how my MYOG pack feels against my back without any framesheet…once I get it done!

[Matthew / BPL]

I’m still interested to know the dimensions of the main pack body. I don’t see them here or on the RP site.

[Doug Coe]

Matthew—This won’t answer your question but does add a bit of data. From a Reddit thread on the Zoro pack:

Going from the 45 liter to the 55, the pack becomes 1.5 inches deeper. Going from the 55 to the 65 it becomes 1.5 inches wider.

Circumference is 39.5″ for the 65L, 36.5″ for the 55L and 33.5″ for the 45L.

Nick—So, do you have width, depth, and height info on the sizes? Thanks.

[Stumphges]

Having heard on this site and elsewhere that Rogue Panda were redesigning this promising pack, I’ve been keeping an eye on their site for the Zoro “2.0”. Noticed today that the original page for the pack was recently taken down.

Anyone know the status of the redesign, or have any info on why it was being revised in the first place?

[Nick Smolinske]

The redesign has to do with the hip belt attachment – unfortunately those metal snaps haven’t worked for everyone. Might be due to different amounts of hip movement with different people, resulting in varying amounts of wear on the snap. They’ve been pretty good, but not 100%. I’ve also come up with some new ideas and at this point the Zoro would see a full redesign before a relaunch.

At any rate, the Zoro is out of production for potentially quite a while, just because of what covid did to our production and to bike demand. I’m having to wear a lot more hats than I did in 2019, and I have no time for prototyping products.

That said, we’re tripling our shop space and hiring more people. So things may change and I might have more time to work on new ideas later in the year. Hard to say right now.

[Doug Coe]

@smo / Nick—I kind of wish the Zoro was still shown on your site with a big note that it’s in a long-term redesign. It’s a great design and I like to look at it for myog inspiration!

I will soon be posting my first myog pack here. It has a bottom-hinged hipbelt attachment too, using info from Paul McLaughlin (here at the forum): velcro straps on hipbelt through narrow loop hardware sewn to the pack.

[Stumphges]

Nick, thanks for the update. I’m sorry to hear about the snap issue. I’m sure that was unexpected.

I wish you luck and godspeed in getting the revision to market. A lot of well-deserved positive feedback was sent your way early in this thread by folks who know a lot about packs. Clearly your design has a lot going for it.

[Bob B]

I’d order a pair of those magic pockets!!! …and another pair if they turn out as sweet as they seem, because The Little Lady would definitely steal mine :)

 

[California Packrafting]

For those of you who own this pack, how do you like the method of attaching the shoulder straps to the bag? Does it work well? If so it seems like a really simple and elegant solution to this attachment point.

 

[Christopher S]

Definitely like that you are taking sealing the seams seriously – that is awesome. Honestly not a huge fan of those drawcord pockets – reminds me of basically having a chalkbag as a pocket which is not necessarily a bad thing and a cool idea but just not for me. What I would personally love to see is a rolltop side pocket with a zipper near the top of the rolltop – for extreme waterproofness you could roll it down (covering the zipper as well in the roll) and for fast access roll it only once or twice (with the zipper still accessible). Might be too complicated though for its own good!

[California Packrafting]

I contacted Rogue Panda, and they said they have no plans to bring this back and won’t make any on special order.

For those of you who own the back, how are the webbing backpack strap attachments and hip belt pockets in practice.

I haven’t seen anyone duplicating these features MYOG.

I haven’t seen the pack but might make myself one to check out some of these innovative ideas.

[Author]

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