Seek Outside Flight Pack [was Upcoming light packs from SO]

[Brad Rogers]

@benkilbourne – I’m a 21″-21.5″ torso and was using the 22″ frame in the prototype per Kevin.  I’ll try and post some pictures when I get home that I think you can see where the shoulder straps and load lifters sit (there may be some in this thread already).

[Ben Kilbourne]

@mocs123 Great, thanks. Yeah looking at the photos you already posted, and now knowing that info, it looks like the 22″ might fit my 19.5″ torso more how I’d want it to than the 24″ version. Decent wrap around the shoulder. Not a lot of angle on the loadlifters but enough for those ~30lb loads. Maybe similar to how a medium Long Haul 50 might fit me.

[Brad Rogers]

 

 

These perhaps aren’t the best pictures but are the better ones I have available now to show how the shoulder strap fits on me.  I was carrying 26lbs and the pack was very comfortable.

The shoulder straps wrapped nicely – not a lot of lift from the load lifters at my torso height, but I’m defiantly at the top end of the 22″ frame guidelines.  I’d say the Seek Outside chart is probably right for my torso (21+”) 30 pounds is very comfortable.

[Philip Tschersich]

Pretty hard to say from those pics, but it looks like the load lifter attachment point is below the top of your shoulder. I.e., they are doing essentially nothing.

I’m hesitant to try one of these because I fear the 24″ distance from the bottom of the hip belt to the load lifter attachment point is simply not going to be tall enough for me.

[Brad Rogers]

That’s a challenge for all packs that aren’t that tall (generally 50-60L or less) on tall torso folks.

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

We do not measure torso from bottom of the belt, we measure it from center of where the illiac crest  should hit.

I just measured a 24 frame and from the bottom of the belt to the harness attachment is 20.625 and to the top load lifter it is 24.

 

 

 

[Ben Kilbourne]

@ktimm That’s great info. Would you mind doing that same measurement on the 22″?

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

22 frame 18.25 bottom of belt to harness attachment .. 22 to load lifters

[Philip Tschersich]

I have a size large ULA pack that is 24″ from the bottom of the belt to the load lifter attachment and it’s just a wee bit too short for the LLs to do their job correctly. I have another ULA pack (XL) that is 26″ and that one is so tall I hit my head on the top of the back panel, but boy can I relieve the weight from my trapezii.

Kevin, what hip belt design did you guys settle on? Same as in the Flight prototype video on youtube? So a 2-piece with velcro adjustment and a lumbar flap to hold it in place, etc?

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

@philip-ak Yes. Same cut as our normal belt basically, but not as wide.

 

 

 

[David U]

The Gila has the option for 26” stays, correct?

[Philip Tschersich]

You can stack SO frame extensions (2” and 4”) to your heart’s content. Five 4” extensions gets you 20” of extra torso length. You may have to scab in some lengths of webbing here and there to make the suspension components work, but the concept stands. No NBA star left behind!

[Philip Tschersich]

I actually cut 1” off a set of 4” extensions to get the perfect frame height (+3”) on my Gila. For elk hunting load weights I use the full 4”. The original SO system is brilliant in it’s versatility. The Flight-series packs are fixed at 22” and 24’ though.

[Matthew / BPL]

Dumb question: the Flight has a fixed-length torso length, right? I get that there are two lengths available but it seems like they are fixed.

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

Fixed yes.

In general comparing the two systems

Flight is far simpler to understand and order, feels similar when worn to certain weights. The Original can fit almost anyone, and can carry huge loads, but sometimes is too bulky, and can be hard to grasp for non gear heads. However , once the fit is dialed its done.

In comparison to what is currently available in the non hunting market, I feel the Flight feels different as it is still a fairly wide frame spread (10 +) and is still fairly burly (not as burly) on the framing, so issues like barreling , and torso collapse are not really issues. It does have a little flex, and articulation.

[Stumphges]

Kevin,

What parts of the system flex, and where is the articulation?

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

It does similar articulation as our current system (IE Shoulder movement) but i does so differently (by not being as stiff). There is a little top to bottom flex . As stated it is not as stiff as our big suspension BUT in comparison to most packs it is pretty stiff. We have had multiple people get shoulder lift from the load lifters at weights into the mid upper 40’s consistently. It has pretty good fundamentals of load carriage in our book and is not just a light pack to hit a certain weight.

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

Here is the overview video which goes a bit more in depth

 

Flight One Overview Video

[Murali C]

How long will it take for the Solid Spectra to lose its “water resistance”/”water proofness”? Assume paved trails like PCT…..not much of bushwhacking….

1000 miles/2000 miles etc? or a year or two etc?

You say that Solid spectra has 1500 mm PU coating which is considered waterproof for tent fly’s…..so, do you consider the solid spectra backpack to be waterproof – the same level as Xpac bag? Except the seams in both are not sealed and so water can come through the seams in both bags…

[Philip Tschersich]

Looks good, Kevin. Thanks for the video demo.

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

X-Pac is far more waterproof. That being said, the SpectraGridHT we feel is waterproof enough for most people. As for how long it lasts, I really can’t speculate on it. We have had no issues with fabrics we tested and we have no reason to believe it will not hold up well for a long time. We can get more waterproof but in the samples it started to get less supple , and noisier plus gained extra weight at the higher levels. We felt this was a good general purpose mix.

[Murali C]

Thanks Kevin. Does SpectraGridHT absorb water like nylon? Or is comparable to DCF/Xpac? Or does it really depend on the integrity of the PU coating?

I guess I am deciding between the two fabrics…and I like the superior abrasion resistance of the SpectraGridHT. I am going to use a pack liner and dry bag for sleeping bag. And I am not packrafting etc. My usual hikes will be month long section hikes like the CT, AZT, PCT etc. I did the Washington section hike last summer and had to endure 4 to 5 days of full day rains and I had a DCF bag. In such use cases, what would be your recommedation? xpac/SpectraGridHT combo or solid SpectraGridHT?

 

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

@mchinnak – I would say it is closer to X-PAC in that it absorbs a little water but dries relatively quickly but not as fast as X-PAC . On the X-PAC version, the high wear areas (bottle pockets, rear pocket, bottom, ) are the SpectraGridHT.

If you are going to use a pack liner anyway though, I would say just go with the SpectraGridHT for more desert, scrambling stuff or rope hauls

[Brad Rogers]

The Prototype I had was X-21 with uncoated Spectra grid.  Does the X-Pac version have coated or uncoated Spectra Grid on the high wear areas?

[Kevin @ Seek Outside]

@mocs123 Yes they are coated in the high wear areas.

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