Your Favorite Pack........Post it up and tell us why.

Search
Go

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List
This thread has been locked
Messages 1 - 20 of total 123 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 6, 2013 - 10:05pm PT
An older pack with few amenities but it's been to some pretty special places with me. Lots of great memories....given to me by a friend.

As a matter of fact just got back from a hike this afternoon with grandson, Levi and this is the pack we took. It's my main day/hike pack. Cheers, Lynne



MisterE

Social climber
Feb 6, 2013 - 10:14pm PT
Arc-teryx Miura 50.

Tons of room, super comfortable even with heavy loads, side access to the deep stuff, narrow at the hips for the tight squeezes, well-balanced, bomber material and great warranty. The redesigned 2012 has even more room in the pockets, as well.


kennyt

climber
Woodfords,California
Feb 6, 2013 - 10:18pm PT
The Miura 50 is great.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 6, 2013 - 10:40pm PT
Six pack of Founders Centenial Ale...Tastes great...Less filling....
Rankin

Social climber
Greensboro, North Carolina
Feb 6, 2013 - 10:47pm PT
Arc-Teryx Muira 50

+1

Holds a rope, rack, and all the fixins' (including a helmet). Rides like a dream and is smartly laid out.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2013 - 10:54pm PT
T. Hocking,

Here's a 70's Chouinard climbing pack of my husband, Dan's. It's still very functional and it's a keeper. Let a few family members use it once it awhile to keep the spirit alive. :D




Ihateplastic

Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:01pm PT
Not my pack (mine was the original orange) but this is the pack I would pay top dollar to have back. A Karrimor Willan's Pack. Uncomfortable as hell, not waterproof, carried like crap but I dragged mine up hundreds of routes in plenty of places and it still hung in there. Canvas, FELT lined shoulder straps, no internal padding or framework. Overall a piece of crap but it was the best piece of crap I ever owned. And then one day... it was gone. Still don't know where...

Anyone have one they want to sell???


Again, someone else but the color looks right.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2013 - 11:07pm PT
T Hocking, I so agree. Sometimes a zipper repair is needed and I've had great results from the Outfitters store around the corner from Nomad Ventures in JTree. They do great work for reasonable prices.

Mr. E, you have some great taste in packs going for you there. Arcteryx is kinda like the Porche, expensive but beautifully engineered and the performance is superb.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:25pm PT
My favorite pack is any type as long as someone else is carrying it
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2013 - 11:29pm PT
And how do you accomplish that, AP? Do you have some magic potion?
weezy

climber
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:32pm PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Ihateplastic

Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:36pm PT
^^ knew that was coming!^^
Onewhowalksonrocks

Mountain climber
portland, Maine
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:39pm PT
My all time favorite pack was made by a friend Rich Lake. Many of you know him as pack maker to the stars. The pack was taken.
MisterE

Social climber
Feb 6, 2013 - 11:44pm PT
Damn it Weezy! FTW.
Fletcher

Trad climber
The great state of advaita
Feb 7, 2013 - 02:45am PT
My first crag pack was a Arcteryx Bora 30 I got in Mong Kok in HK in the late 90's. Just the right size to not let me take too much crap. Took many a beating. Still in garage and still smells like the seas of Hong Kong (not sure if that's a good thing!). Many good years out of that pack.

My new pack is, for me, a work of art: Cold, Cold World Ozone. Super well made, super heavy duty. Simple with only features I want nothing extra. Now I gotta get out more and use the thing!

Eric
Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Feb 7, 2013 - 03:33am PT
I have like 18 packs and I use all of them...haha.

I have a Tatonka day pack that I picked up in Germany that is my go-to day pack, it's been good to me.

These days, I usually always hike with my SAR pack on for training. It's a Coaxsher SR-1 Endeavor, nice system.
SofCookay

climber
Feb 7, 2013 - 10:03am PT
My new ULA Circuit pack in Barney purple, of course. It'll be coming on the PCT with me this year.

paul roehl

Boulder climber
california
Feb 7, 2013 - 10:24am PT
I've been looking and looking for a red canvas ruck sac with a leather bottom and leather straps like the one pictured on this thread. Love to know where I might buy one! Anyone know?
Bill Mc Kirgan

Trad climber
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Feb 7, 2013 - 10:29am PT
LL LL,

Those are some special packs indeed. I understand how they've acquired special meaning and bring the memories back. Memories of adventure and discovery. That's beautiful.




Uncomfortable as hell, not waterproof, carried like crap ...

-- ihateplastic



^^^^ Agreed: Creature comforts are not THE defining characteristics of my 'favorite pack' either. Or is it a haul baggie? Pack, day pack, haul baggie, piglet, whateva...I've had no buyer's remorse with this one.


I'm a FISH addict and absolutely adore the simplicity and functionality of the Atom Smasher (Deluxe), pictured above fresh out-of-the-box the day I received it.

I looked like an absolute n00b the first month I used it, and, well...I was.


I quickly learned that if I load it with soft goods on the shoulder strap side I could protect my back and ribs and be comfortable hiking and scrambling with it fully loaded. Sometimes I use a runner to make a chest strap to keep the shoulder straps from spreading for long hikes.

If I load the thing in a hasty way, as I often do when our party moves to another route, I typically discover something jabbing into my back and then adjust the padded shoulder straps...sometimes just loosen it up and let the pack lie backwards hanging off the waste belt. If that doesn't help then I stop and take a little time to fix it.


After a few years of light use my Atom Smasher is starting to develop some character.


When I visited Devils Tower I was not too surprised to see this is the preferred pack of Frank Sanders (pictured below).


Look's like this one got sick and vomited gear and clothing. Poor piglet.


When I asked Mr. Sanders how long he's had his heavily worn-out-looking-wreckage of an Atom Smasher, he chuckled and said only a year or so. Said he was hoping to score a few more that summer so he would have a reserve supply.

I'm starting to see the wounds on mine now and plan on learning how to sew and mend this thing because as ugly-looking and uncomfortable as it can be it is my go-to pack for any adventure.









Of course the ASD has nothing on the Flextrek Whipsnake upthread...that unit rocks.
WyoRockMan

Trad climber
Flank of the Bighorns
Feb 7, 2013 - 10:51am PT
Last summer I was walking through the forest and sat down in a group of white bark pines to wait out a hopefully short rain shower. Reaching into my pack to grab some water and a snack and a map and some bug juice, it occurred to me that I LOVE MY PACK.

I think I bought it in 1987, I remember saving up for it. It may have been one of my first “big” purchases. I poured through brochures, walked around all the stores, tried them all on, it was, as Joe Biden put it, “A BIG fvcking deal!” It was one of the first times I made a conscious effort to buy local. A great number of my friends would wind up building them, certainly a prolific if not preferred employer in “6” county Montana.

Hikes to the ridge, up the Gallatin canyon, a winter trip to the Sphinx, Ross Peak, Crazy Peak, a failed attempt at Mt. Moran, across Froze-to-Death Plateau, up the Ramp, down the Smith River, the Great One, Flatirons, Yosemite, Bow Glacier… None of these places are overly crazy or extreme, just enough for the occasional dose of “The Fear”. Sometimes you need an ice axe, sometimes a shovel, maybe a rock hammer or skis, but always a pack.

20+ years of varied use and the pack is still living up to it’s no fail policy. I know this is starting to sound like a sales pitch, but it is too late for that. You can’t get this pack anymore, its not for sale. I’m sure there are lighter, higher tech, superman packs out there, but this one is simple, reliable and made at home. Thanks for the memories and here’s to many more my friend.

Messages 1 - 20 of total 123 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Return to Forum List
 
Our Guidebooks
spacerCheck 'em out!
SuperTopo Guidebooks

guidebook icon
Try a free sample topo!

 
SuperTopo on the Web

Recent Route Beta