High Sierra Topix

My 2014 Osprey Exos has been patched up enough, and had those patches fail, that it was time to get a new pack. The lack of hipbelts in the newer Exos bummed me out, so I did some research before my last trip out.

I wanted to keep my bearikade blazer (plus a little extra, got it back when custom lengths were more affordable) horizontal... but eventually gave up on that goal. Nunatuk's Bear Ears looked really interesting, and people liked it for shorter trips, but having 8-10 days of food weight that low was untested.

Hyperlite's are the hype at the moment, but the junction model would make the most sense for me and they're a long wait time. After chatting with a MMS employee I grabbed my bearikade (empty) and put it on top of a tent + hammock then put in 20lbs along the side and 10lbs on top of it, putting me near the 35lb limit (and being terribly lopsided). Walking around the store worked well for 30-40 minutes, including a few rounds up/down the stairs, so I picked it up for $180 which is another advantage over the Hyperlite (which doesn't really use DCF to it's fullest potential anyways).

With 8 days of food, some luxuries (whiskey in a platy preserve, cooked sausages for the first night, tenkara setup, ~8oz solar+battery combo for both our phones), and a "light" core group of gear (BA Tigerwall 2, Nemo insulated mummy pad, FF 20f hummingbird ul) and mostly UL accessories it was very comfortable going up Kearsarge and worked well for the entire trip. I ended up layering tent+pad at the bottom, sleeping bag on top of that, bearikade in the middle, then extra layers / pajamas on one side of it and footprint, rain jacket, beanie, nylofume pack liner on the other. Puffie and my little mesh ditty bag rests on top of a natural sort of lid, so I kept mine in the van (I pack the tent, partner packs cooking setup).

Comparison to 2014 Exos / thoughts:

* It definitely holds weight a little more securely on the body, but doesn't breathe nearly as well. Had a pretty sweaty back heading up Kearsarge in the heat even with an early start and clouds. Overall worth it for not being as swingy when going over talus etc.

* The hip belt is MAGIC. Very padded and zero pack rash, which I always seemed to get with my exos.

* Having the bear can vertical isn't bad - I can open it to get to things and it doesn't rub against the pack like having mine horizontal in the exos did. Snacks / lunch are in a hip pouch anyways, so not a big deal but if I hit calorie dep and want some backup trail mix or whatever it's nice (or making sandwiches the first few days).

* I prefer the sort of smushy siliconlike shoulder pads of the exos that sort of squish onto me compared to the more rigid defined ones of the Crown 2. It took a bit of tweaking to get them to feel perfectly comfortable, but the pack wasn't broken in and I didn't weigh it, but was approaching it's upper limit. That said hip belt > shoulders if I have to pick one that's a bit better.

* Side pockets & hip pockets are far more durable and roomy. Pulling a water bottle out of the side ones easily will be hit or miss for people. No shoulder pockets, but you can DIY what you want on the daisy chains.

* Hydration exit is a bit more forgiving than the exos (2014 or current).

* The roll top just cinching to itself isn't an issue with compression with the Y strap going over it. It works well as a daypack from a basecamp relatively unloaded.

* It's skinnier than the exos, but not as skinny as the hyperlite. Seems to keep weight in a good spot and probably better for XC tree/bush bashing.

* The little plastic backboard works fine, I didn't notice the lack of an aluminum internal frame aside from the breathability on my back, which has it's own pros/cons.

* They were out of medium/regular black/red, so I got what I got. It's sort of an ugly baby poop / army green in the shade, then turns into an iridiscent bronze in the sun. I guess it'll keep a little cooler and at the end of the day who cares.

For an "available at the store nearest you" light pack it works quite well!

I bought myself one after the first of the year. I've only had it out once. I's way smaller than my Osprey that I normally carry but I was very happy with how comfortable it carried.

I have a GG pack (the larger one) and the back sheet is very uncomfortable for me- stiff and rubs my back. The back sheet broke down slightly over time with my GG pack (this also occurs with other packs). I like packs that have metal stays that you can re-bend if needed. GG packs have good features; just are not the most comfortable for some of us. But if it fits you then great!

Everything works differently for different people - I noticed the long thread on the ULA circuit so thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

Thanks for posting the review. I like hearing about what gear other people are using.

It would be interesting to see what you think about it after a few years use; I am always interested in how long packs last, especially since you are out a lot and do off-trail travel.

I have one of the early generation Zpacks backpacks (Blast, not Arc Blast). The main shell is cuben fiber and polyester, so it is rather slick and tough. If you want to penetrate it, you better bring a sharp knife. Plus, it is 100% rainproof. About the only place that it shows its age is in the padding at the hipbelt and shoulder pads.

Only time will tell how it holds up, but the nylon should be superior to my exos, which held up well for... ~8 summers worth of hiking acrocss hemispheres. I had to patch almost all of the mesh in '19 (having robic nylon pockets on this is nice), which started failing the year after heh, but the final thing for me was the actual pack nylon started ripping around where the bear can was resting up on top. I had to patch one side before the trip as it ripped when putting my bag in, and the other in the field. It had some small holes in it, but it's been on some rough terrain (Sierra granite, JT / SW abrasion) etc and once bounced down a couple hundred feet between a steep granite chute and then some forest after it had gained momentum. :| That was a moment. Flip flops here and there from the side pocket, but nothing irrecoverable aside from the mouthpiece to the bladder tube.

I was pretty dubious of the back panel thing myself, but it's surprisingly comfortable (for me). It also feels like something where I could reach out to GG and get a replacement for a reasonable price, but I haven't double checked that. I was never really a fan of GG's older packs from a distance, but this one seems nice. I'll try and remember to chime in if my thoughts change at some point.

The Zpack blast is still out there and made of DCF/Dyneema like the Hyperlite - it definitely is a better material, but it's almost twice the price and I've seen some shredded DCF packs (one guy doing the PCT had 8 holes in his) but that could be a bad batch or just people being thoughtless because they think it's indestructable. Chatting with people at MMS that had used both the Crown & Hyperlite they feel the Crown is actually a better pack in terms of how it feels if you don't really need the Dyneema (rafting trips, east coast/PNW where there's more rain). It's all subjective of course, but it made me feel better - and not having a month or two wait time was nice.

One of the guys at the Gear Exchange felt my Exos sell (if you take the time to patch it up again it has life left, but it feels more like a weekend pack vs extended use) so this is what it looked like dropping it off for consignment (the brand new lid is deceptive and hides a lot of the wear at the top):

Some backpacks get ruined from the inside out. Sometimes a bear canister is rubbing at the same spot, day after day, and then you have a hole. Some nylon fabrics get ruined from Ultraviolet sunlight. That is one thing that I've never had to worry about (cuben fiber/DCF/Dyneema). My pack may have cost more initially, but I've never had to worry about replacing it.

In order to keep the overall pack weight low, most manufacturing companies have done a close engineering job to meet the weight capacity, and you do not want to overload the pack, or at least not much for a long time. Some users ignore that and throw in an extra ten pounds, and then they complain that the pack is falling apart.

Where the main nylon of the pack failed was internal rub on my Exos was from the bear can for sure (which is one good thing about going vertical I guesss, I really resisted that but it's growing on me), the rest was from impacts or abrasion from going XC. I'm pretty sure I've had over a year and a half of trail time on it (6.5 summers in the sierra, a summer in NZ, a summer in Patagonia, some canyons in the SW, ski tours in BC, short trips in the Cascades, Olympics, Jtree etc) - which is pretty good for a light pack. I could have tried to do a set of patches on it all over again to get more life out of it (just mesh pockets up to this point) but decided it wasn't really worth it (I would have if I hadn't picked this one up at MMS). I never loaded it up 10lbs over it's 40lb limit lol and it doesn't seem like sunlight played a significant role (it wasn't shredding/flaking, just had abrasion points).

DCF is definitely far more durable than nylon, robic or not, but talking with people that have hyperlites - DCF wears out. UL DCF tarp tents have patch kits & DCF tape for a reason. There's a hilarious hyperlite at gear exchange that's ripped to shreds someone is hoping to get $30 at the moment, so I'm really not sure about "never" having to think about replacing it. Maybe your pack last more than twice as long and be as or more comfortable, at which point you would have made the better purchase.. Your Zpack might have a higher denier of DCF, or have it done better - the hyperlites are DCF sort of layed with another material iirc. I don't really have any experience with them.

If you want to make a thread about your pack vs just shitting on this one go for it. Again, I figured I'd start one on the GG Crown 2 to share my take on it given the length of ULA Circuit thread. I'm not saying it's the best pack in the world (I haven't tried a majority of them obviously) but I've been very happy with it given my limited experience with it.