Zpacks Nero vs MLD Burn vs Pa'Lante Simple Pack

Nice quick review of these three excellent packs, deciding which to keep is a good problem to have!

Thanks for comparing these packs for us, Nick. How does the reach to the side pockets compare for you?

Nice run down, thanks.  Please do let us know which one(s) you end up choosing and why.

Nice to see them all side by side to help get a relative size comparison.  Thanks!

Thanks for comparing these packs for us, Nick. How does the reach to the side pockets compare for you?

Thanks Matthew.

I put two bottles in one side and usually stop to drink so the reach around isn’t crucial for me. Having said that, I’d say the Nero is the easiest followed by the Burn and then the Simple Pack.

Found the gossamer gear sit pad far better than a cut down z-rest in the Nero.

 Found the gossamer gear sit pad far better than a cut down z-rest in the Nero.

That’s good to know. Any reason in particular?

It’s just a good size and thickness and a little bit less flexible. It obviously forms the padding on a lot of their packs.

I’d imagine the waffle gives a little airflow too. I like that pad on my Kumo.

3 very nice packs. Great comparison video, thanks for sharing. As for the back, I have a couple of packs that I had cord on them to attach a pad but I ended up removing the cord, and forgetting the pad. It’s lighter, and all the ccf pads I tried were just as sweaty, if not more so, than the pack material resting directly against my back, not to mention, the ccf pads just made my back feel hotter than without them. Just my experience and personal findings… Good luck figuring out which pack will work best for you!

Nice comparison! It’ll be interesting to see your impressions once you use them.

I could live with any of them, with only 2 nitpicks:

1. I like a hip belt, even if it’s just webbing, for the reasons you noted, so if I got a Pa’lante I’d probably sew something on. Even 1″ webbing can support a few pounds of load, which is significant when you’re carrying perhaps 15-17 lbs…. that’s about as much as I personally would want to carry all day with a frameless pack.
2. The missing top strap on the Nero is something that would bug me. I have a Zero with almost identical features, and I find the top strap extremely useful for quickly stowing a jacket, securing a foam pad and looping around the ‘waist’ of a Platy for water carries.

Great review Nick! Another SB local here. Hope to see one of these packs with you out on the trail. I’ve been looking at a smaller frameless to fill a niche as well. Currently thinking Burn with prophet shoulder straps, but the hear account is pretty exhausted for a bit haha.

“Great review Nick! Another SB local here. Hope to see one of these packs with you out on the trail. I’ve been looking at a smaller frameless to fill a niche as well. Currently thinking Burn with prophet shoulder straps, but the hear account is pretty exhausted for a bit haha.”

Hey Michael, thanks for the shout out. Always great to see other Los Padres hikers on BPL. Hopefully we get another super bloom this year?

The Burn might very well be the perfect pack for the Condor Trail. :)