ULA recently introduced the Epic, an updated version of the Backpacking Light Arctic Ultra pack. The Arctic Ultra was originally created in 2006 for the 1000+ mile epic journey undertaken by Roman Dial, Jason Geck and BPL's own Ryan Jordan. The pack was a dry bag harness designed by Roman and built for the adventure by ULA.
After the adventure, the pack design was refined and offered in a limited supply through Backpacking Light. I purchased one of the Arctic Ultras for a trip that ended up falling through. I used the pack some but then in typical gear head fashion decided I didn't really need it and sold it. A few months later, I was kicking myself for selling the pack and ordered another one. This one happened to be the last large Arctic Ultra that BPL had.
Long story short, after using the pack for a number of trips and going with smaller packs for most trips and larger packs for backpack hunting trips, I again sold the Arctic Ultra. As every gear head knows, shortly after you get rid of something you wish you hadn't. So when ULA, now under new ownership introduced the Epic, I knew I had to have one.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction:
- Pack Design and Uses:
- Differences in the Epic and Arctic Ultra:
- What Works
- What Doesn't Work
- Features
- Specifications
- Performance:
- Recommendations for Improvement
# WORDS: 1340
# PHOTOS: 5
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Discussion
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I would be interested to see a side by side comparison. Even if the quality of the Paragon isn't as robust, you could afford to replace it and still save money. It sounds like distance hiking with the Paragon may also be more challenging than the Epic.
For an extremely robust solution you could always go for a made in Australia One Planet Polar Pack. I believe that the cost would blow ULA and the Paragon pack out of the water. http://www.oneplanet.com.au/polar/polar-pack.html :)
Greg – that's not the drybag that comes with the ULA.
You can get UL Pnemo 50L bags for about $25.
"Greg – that's not the drybag that comes with the ULA."
Right.
And it's not light.
But it is tough.
So with the Pneumo we'd be at $80.
"It sounds like distance hiking with the Paragon may also be more challenging than the Epic."
Looking at the first photo in the review, I can tell you that the Paragon carries at least as well as the Epic.
Greg,
I don't know how you can state how a pack carries without actually trying it.
The Epic is priced $75 less than the Arctic Ultra was. Value is certainly in the eye of the beholder.
I still have my two Racer X packs…..they are good if you don't go over 20 pounds.
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