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Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Topic Date User

Looking for a decent hiking pack - suggestions? 18-Jun-2011 At 9:03:36 PM dave h.

Message

Patto, sorry but I have to call BS on this.

(If this reply sounds like an over-reaction to your comment, forgive me. It's also a response to this idea that everyone keeps perpetuating, vis. "Canvas is more durable/better/awesomest". In my view it's a myth.)

I have a Wilderness Equipment Jagungal. It's a great pack, with some features that I love, but I'd be lying if I agreed with you and said it was lighter than comparable alternatives.

The Jagungal has a capacity of about 48L in the Large frame size. It weighs 2.6kg according to the Sea to Summit website. The Lowe Alpine Peak Attack 45-55 weighs 1.43 kg. Both packs have similar features, the Jagungal has a crampon pocket and some shock-cord on the back, plus a canvas roll-top closure under the lid, but that's about it.

I don't think those extra features equal a kilo of material.

If you take the two bags canyoning the difference will become even starker, as the Jagungal's canvas will become water-logged and weigh a stack more. While the Lowe's nylon will also absorb some, my impression is that it absorbs much less.

No matter how well made things are, they never last forever. I recently bought a Lowe Peak Attack 40 and that's become my cragging pack. I guess it's the choice between buying a heavier, super-burly product, in the hope that you get an extra three years out of it, or buying a durable but lighter alternative in the knowledge that it may not last *quite as long* as something a kilo heavier.

Back to the OP's original question - if you don't want to spend money, go buy that Aether like everyone has said. I've worked in a gear shop (not Paddys) for close to 4 years and that's a fantastic price on a good product.