ZPacks new Arc Air Backpacks

[JCH]

Interesting use of pre-curved stays to eliminate the trampoline backpanel.

Would prefer a larger capacity…around that of the Arc Haul.

[Packman Pete]

So this new pack is smaller than the Arc Blast, does not have the trampoline panel from the Arc Blast, but costs as much as the Arc Blast. What am I missing?

 

[Dan]

It’s not really a significant practical improvement for me over the Arc Blast, but I can see that this is a more elegant design and probably puts less stress on the attachment points. It also removes the need for the user to make adjustments, although adjustability also has its advantages.

[SIMULACRA]

So this new pack is smaller than the Arc Blast, does not have the trampoline panel from the Arc Blast, but costs as much as the Arc Blast. What am I missing?

Marketing

[Kevin Babione]

I don’t know – this has some appeal to me after my last trip when I forgot to put the arc in my Arc Zip for the entire weekend!  I’ve forgotten before but never for the entire weekend.

[JCH]

Kevin – do you routinely adjust the arc, or release it completely for storage?  Once I dialed in my Arc Haul I have never changed it.

I think the pre-curved stay design is very interesting as it seems having the backpack touch only your hips and shoulders would be great.  Wether it works well remains to be seen, but the concept is appealing to me. Not interested in giving up the additional capacity of the Arc Haul though.

[Dan]

I would be curious to know where the 5L difference comes from, i.e. main compartment, side pockets, front pocket, etc. It certainly looks extremely similar to the Arc Blast, so I’m wondering if it’s really basically the same, but the volume measurement came out differently because of the curved stays. It seems to me that the real-world volume of the Arc Blast actually depends on how much arc you put in the stays, so maybe the 55L measurement is made with straight stays. If this is the case, then there is really no difference in volume in practical use. Does anyone from Zpacks make posts to the forum?

[William Chilton]

According to the website, it comes from the body (37L vs 42L). Whether that is a real difference or due to the curved stays, I don’t know. Production wise, it seems it would make sense to use the same body for both packs, but perhaps they want to differentiate it from the Blast.

Edit: It seems to be the same body as the Scout (26″ tall as opposed to 30″ for the Blast).

[Dan]

Thanks, William, that makes total sense. I forgot about the Scout. Losing more than 10% of the volume in the body (compared to Arc Blast) is significant. I would probably need to make better use of the side pockets, which admittedly I don’t really use to their full capacity.

[Kevin Babione]

@JCH – My problem is (and has always been) that I release the arc for storage.  I read somewhere in a previous post that was recommended.  I used to release the arc each night in camp and then re-arc in the mornings, but in the last 2 years or so I set the arc at the beginning of the trip and leave it while hiking.

This last trip was just a mess.  I’ve found it very hard to arc the frame while the pack is loaded and it wasn’t until I started hiking that I realized that I’d forgotten to arc it.  My pack was heavier than it had been in years (28 pounds to start) because it was going to be a relatively easy hike so I packed a number of luxury items that I wouldn’t normally pack (including a liter of tequila/triple sec mix to make margaritas in camp).  Anyway, I figured I’d either arc it when we stopped for lunch (I forgot again) or when we stopped for the night (I forgot then too).  Needless to say I forgot the next morning AND the following morning!!!  I believe I’ve learned the lesson…Arc it when I start loading it for a trip.

[JCH]

Kevin – FWIW, mine has remained tensioned 24-7-365 since I dialed it in over 5 years ago…no adverse affects that I can see or feel.

KISS…not just a rock band.

[Dan]

Me too. I adjust it now and then if I notice any unevenness or slippage, maybe a few times a year. But I’ve never bothered to release the tension. In fact, all winter long I keep it loaded with old tents and magazines and hike or walk with it almost every day.

[Randy Martin]

I gave up on the Arc Blast when it continually failed to maintain the tension over the course of multi-day trips.  Hopefully that design flaw is addressed in these newer models.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

The hole created by the arc actually kills my back. I end up wedging my folded thinlight pad behind the trampoline so that there isn’t a gap. There’s still a gap for the top half of my back, so it doesn’t feel hot and sweaty at all. The first time I ever used my Arc Blast I didn’t even make the arc and it felt fine. Puts the weight on your hips either way, which is what I want. There are other makers who only have straight poles and no way to arc them. I’m unsure what use the arc really is. Maybe so it more closely resembles an Osprey?

[Parker]

I recently received my Zpacks Arc Air 50L and have had a couple opportunities to try it out on test hikes. So far I have been impressed.

I went with the Dyneema option in Army Green. I am a medium/medium (6ft/165lb) and pack was advertised at 20.0 ounces. Was pretty spot on when I weighed it on my digital scale. I ordered mine during the xmas specials and received a pair of Dyneema belt pouches for free ($50 value). I also ordered a lumbar pad. The belt pouches and lumbar pad came installed on the pack when it arrived, which I thought was a nice customer service touch. Adding up all of those extras, according to the Zpacks website, my pack should have weighed 22.5 ounces. All in mine weighs 22.6 ounces. Pretty nice that their weights are accurate.

Years ago I had one of the original Zpacks arc packs and could never get the arc system to work out right for me. It was just too much of a pain in the butt. I know they have improved their arc system a lot over the years and I had been meaning to try it out again. When I saw the Arc Air with its pre-curved design and less required adjustment, I thought why not. Glad I did as it is very comfy for me.

My other pack is a GG Mariposa 60. Love that pack and it is what I will continue to use for my colder weather adventures. However, in warmer weather when I don’t need as much room (smaller sleeping bag, more compact pad, etc.) I am going to use the Arc Air.

Using the Arc Air, my base weight is right at 10 pounds. With all my food, water, etc. I don’t see myself going over 22 or so pounds. So, for my training hikes I loaded up the Arc Air to right at 22 pounds and gave it a try. For my build (tall-ish and slim-ish), this pack works very well. The extra lumbar pad is VERY comfy and I recommend giving it a try. It only adds 1 ounce and it only costs $15. The Arc Air does an excellent job of transferring the weight to my hips, but also remaining well balanced.  I do use two of the Justin’s UL shoulder strap water bottle holders. I find they help to bring a little weight to the front of my body, plus my water is super easy to reach. They work well with the Arc Air. Having the small gap in the middle of my back will be a new thing for me. At the moment it is pretty cold outside, so I won’t get to truly experience the extra back ventilation until I get a chance to hike in warmer weather.

I can’t comment on durability of the Arc Air pack yet as I have only taken it on a few test hikes. However, so far I have been impressed by how it fits and how it rides. I am also a fan of the simpler pre-curved design on the Arc Air. Less to mess with and less to go wrong.

[Anthony H]

Kevin – do you routinely adjust the arc, or release it completely for storage?  Once I dialed in my Arc Haul I have never changed it.

JCH – I have the Arc Haul Zip and I take out the arch when I’m not using it.  I just  re-adjust when I go out for each trip.  This is just because I like to take the tension off the main stays and fabric in general.  I don’t know if it really matters but I guess it makes me sleep better at night.

 

[Alexandre E]

Also got mine a couple of days ago, grey, large. Walked a couple of hours with a load of 18 lbs, corresponding to my pack weight with consumables and it was very comfortable. The curved stays work well, distribute the weight nicely to the belt, and protect your back from items that may protrude a bit from the bag. I checked the finish and its very good.

Service is outstanding. Also got the bag with the 2 belt pockets for free as part of their Xmas sales. Initially, this discount was not activated for the Air when I tried to add it to the cart. They fixed the website within 10 min of my request by email. Also, I got a belt that is in the proper range but with a padding that was a bit short for my hip bones. Not only did they fix the description on their web site at my suggestion, so that others may better understand their belt sizing, they also are shipping me a larger one for free.

Thanks folks at Zpacks, could not ask for better customer service.

[Erica R]

Thanks. This is not the first time I have been advised to try the lumbar pad. It is fine without it, but maybe better with it.

I don’t find the arc all that important, though I do prefer having it tensioned.

I release it every night and put it under my pad/pillow to gain some height. Wore out the top tensioning strings pretty quickly doing that – maybe 40 nights. Replaced them.

I like the Arc Haul pack because of its light weight and good transfer to the hips.  Ok at 22 lbs, good at 17, excellent walking out at 12 lbs.

Disclosure: I don’t have lots of packs, This is the only one. I’m happy with it.

[JCH]

I find the lumbar pad to be a requirement on the Arc Haul.  I understand why they make it an option, but IMO it is too much of an improvement to not have it.

[Keith W]

Good review of the Arc Air, Rob P.  Nice to see something on this pack, as I have been looking at it.  Is the back gap enough to affect the balance, vs a frameless pack? Without water bottles on the front straps as a counter balance?  I like the unified body feeling of a frameless, the weight right on my back, but I don’t like the back sweat!

Also, there appears limited ability to compress the top with a small load- will the top of the pack compress enough with existing straps to hold a half load or two thirds size load solidly, or is modification needed?  Anyone else using the new Arc Air?

[Parker]

Keith – I have used the pack without the front water bottles (I was too impatient to try it out the first time and didn’t take the time to put on the water bottle holders) and there wasn’t any balance issues for me. I don’t like frameless packs as they never ride well for me and I always seem to get something poking me in the back, so I can only compare the Arc Air to my GG Mariposa 60. The small back gap that the Arc Air has in it does not appear to impact balance, at least for me. The weight transfer to the belt, how well the belt fits me (with the lumbar pad), and how the top of the pack hits my shoulders all make the pack feel very secure and balanced. To me at least. The arc in the Arc Air does make packing it a little different than a regular pack and you have to work around the fact that there is a slight bend in the pack. Not really an “issue” just a difference. In regard to compression, the way Zpacks built the side straps does offer some pack compression in the stock configuration. There are also areas where you could run a shock cord system through and use that to compress more if needed. I think the Arc Air video on the Zpacks website mentions this and shows a pic. Hope that helps. Sorry I can’t give more details, but I haven’t had it long enough to really put it through too many different scenarios yet.

[Keith W]

Thanks very much for the reply.  The pack is so new that there aren’t any reviews yet on the zpacks site, so this helps. It looks good to me.

[Michael B]

I’ve been wearing a frameless Robic pack for the past couple years, and it just conforms to my back like a shirt. I rather like the feel, but do sometimes wonder if I go back to carrying more weight, that I might build a pack with stays. Does zpacks sell its stays as replacement parts which might make it into a MYOG pack?
Answered my own question:

https://zpacks.com/products/replacement-arc-stay-original-m-vertical-22-75

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Interesting pack.

Howsomever… I still much prefer my Osprey EXOS 58 and its cool “trampoline” mesh back, traditional top compartment and ability to add side pockets.

[Stephen Mattox]

The arc blast is :

7 in x 12.5 in x 30in

hope that helps?

[Author]

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