|
Post by cweston on Sept 29, 2020 9:39:13 GMT -8
My old GoLite Quest 65 has given its last full measure of devotion, I fear. I'm probably done BPing (seriously, anyway) until next season, so I have plenty of time to choose a replacement. I'm leaning toward the ULA Circuit. Unfortunately, there is no dealer anywhere near me or anywhere that I expect to travel, so I'd have to order online.
I'm not finding the website photos terribly helpful. Can you describe how you pack your pack--the main compartment and the pockets?
I think the Circuit should be the right volume for me: I can currently pack for 7-8 days solo or more like 8-10 days with a partner I share gear with in the Quest 65, without having to strap a bunch of sh*t outside the pack (which I hate.) I don't normally hike in bear canister country, so that's not a large concern. (I think that would be the main reason to go with the Catalyst: to be able to pack a canister horizontally.) [EDIT: I originally wrote "vertically" when I meant "horizontally."]
Any other comments on the ordering process and fit options would be great.
TIA.
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,876
|
Post by zeke on Sept 29, 2020 10:17:27 GMT -8
I can fit my BV500 vertically in my Circuit. As for how I pack it: mostly just pile clothing stuff sack at the bottom, add in the heavy food load, pad (nemo vector long) can fit alongside the food (even with it in the BV), put in the smaller items to fill in the spaces, then cram my quilt and puffy into any remaining spaces (no stuff sack, just loose). I put my fuel bottle and water bottles in the side pockets. My rain gear, pack cover, and stakes go in the stretchy pocket. Small items I want during the day go in the hipbelt pockets. They can hold 4-5 ounces of nuts or trail mix, plus a bandana. In the other side, I keep the sunscreen and/or bug dope.
Where are you living these days, or over the Winter? Might be able to arrange for a Circuit to find you if you will return it. Sort of a get your hands on a well used one before jumping in.
I've hauled 35-40 pound loads for short times on hikes, but it is more comfortable hauling 30. Isn't that true of most packs? I just recently hauled 39 for one day, to cache water on night one.
|
|
texasbb
Trail Wise!
Hates chicken
Posts: 1,221
|
Post by texasbb on Sept 29, 2020 10:55:25 GMT -8
I like to keep my tent in the mesh front pocket so I don't have to open the pack to set up when it's raining. In there with it (along the two sides) are other stuff I might need quick access to during the day (headnet, TP, rain jacket, wind jacket, water filter, etc). In the main pack I have my sleeping bag and camp clothes waterproofed in my Exped Synmat inflato-bag at the bottom, with other stuff that can survive getting wet above that, with food at the very top. I haven't carried my bear canister yet in my Circuit. I use one hipbelt pocket for the day's snacks and my moleskin+scissors, the other for camera. I'm a bottle guy, so no bladder hassles, and the Circuit's bottle pockets are the best I've ever seen.
When I carry my Catalyst (longer trips with bigger food) it's pretty much the same.
|
|
|
Post by cweston on Sept 29, 2020 11:03:59 GMT -8
Where are you living these days, or over the Winter? Might be able to arrange for a Circuit to find you if you will return it. Sort of a get your hands on a well used one before jumping in. You are exceptionally generous this way, zeke. But once I decide, I'll probably just be a modern American and order it, try it on when it arrives, and return it if it doesn't fit right Thanks, though.
|
|
crawford
Trail Wise!
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.--Edison
Posts: 1,775
|
Post by crawford on Sept 29, 2020 11:17:40 GMT -8
I'm following this. Been thinking about a Circuit as well.
|
|
|
Post by cweston on Sept 29, 2020 11:23:19 GMT -8
Yeah, I've always had packs with the traditional lid pocket, where I've always kept my raingear & windshirt. My current main pack has a front pocket (not mesh) that I use for things I might need to access (maps, etc) and small things that would tend to get lost in the main compartment: headlamp, toothbrush, etc.
So, the rolltop design would require a little bit of a packing re-think. I like the idea of the tent in the big mesh pocket--lately I've been packing my tent as close to the top of my pack as possible, so as not to have to empty my pack in a storm when that inevitably happens. Also, my 2p tent (TT Stratospire) has struts that make it pack up kindof hotdog shaped, and it doesn't tend to pack too well horizontally anyway.
|
|
|
Post by cweston on Sept 29, 2020 14:03:20 GMT -8
Looks to me like the Gossamer Gear Mariposa might also be a good competitor in this category (light but not ultra-light, 60-some liters).
I do like the option of simply hauling more stuff sometimes--I don't think I'll ever use a 48L or 50L pack as my go-to. When I go solo for a week, my current 65 L pack is pretty full. Now, as I said, I hate attaching stuff to the outside and generally avoid it at all costs. (So, by that measure, maybe my current 65L pack isn't so full.) For example, sometimes I carry my water filter in a side pocket, with the strap looped through a compression strap on the pack as a failsafe. But I hate doing that--I worry about it falling out or becoming damaged all the time. I do partake in some gnarly offtrail travel sometimes, and really don't want to risk external gear getting ripped off the pack.
|
|
|
Post by bradmacmt on Sept 30, 2020 5:46:24 GMT -8
Describing what the length of your trips are, I think you'll be happier with the Catalyst. You can order it with a detachable top lid, and with or without the roll top. I've had it both ways. I prefer a pull top, but if you plan on not always using the top pocket, get the roll top. My current has the roll top. Mine is a full custom, sized between the Large and XL. It has a top pocket, and belt in between M and L(I like a belt to wrap fully around my waist and nearly touch - 32" waist).
I've also had both the J-curve and S-curve shoulder straps... I far and away prefer the S-curve.
My Catalyst in the smoke this August:
|
|
|
Post by cweston on Sept 30, 2020 6:33:57 GMT -8
Describing what the length of your trips are, I think you'll be happier with the Catalyst I get what you're saying--I really don't feel like I need a 70L pack and I certainly don't generally need 40+ lb load capability. (I don't fish, the only "extras" I ever carry are ice axe and crampons.) But given my preference for packing things inside the main pack bag... (I mean, my current 65L pack already feels way too big on a 5 day trip with a partner...) Of course, what we all need is multiple packs for multiple types of trips, but my wife already rolls her eyes every time I tell her what gear needs to be replaced "this year" (any year).
|
|
|
Post by cweston on Sept 30, 2020 6:43:53 GMT -8
then cram my quilt and puffy into any remaining spaces (no stuff sack, just loose) zeke , I recall you mentioning this a few other times in gear packing discussions. I'm curious, do you not worry about those items getting wet? (Perhaps you use a big pack liner bag?) I know you do a lot of your hiking in places where it doesn't rain much, but those are the two items (quilt and puffy) that I'm pretty strict about protecting from water--I think of my quilt, especially, as my "last line of defense." I usually put my puffy in a gallon ziplock and my quilt in a small Sea-to-Summit dry bag. Of course, in both cases, it reduces the ability of those down pieces to fit themselves into the available space, as they do in your system.
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,876
|
Post by zeke on Sept 30, 2020 7:51:48 GMT -8
cweston, I will carry something to put them in, if I am in areas where it rains, but I also have a Jacks R Better cover for the pack. I find they take up less room in the pack if I can just cram them in. You might try not closing the ziplock and turning it upside down when packing it into the pack. Might allow more air to be pushed out of the puffy. I, too, think of my quilt as my last line of defense, so I am quite protective of it. My tarp is either in the top of the pack or in the outside pocket, so it is deployed at the first sign of a storm headed my way. Maybe I should look into using the tarp as a shield inside the pack, by packing it last and cramming it down all of the inner sides of the pack. Probably won't try this, as I am fairly happy with my current method. Never had the quilt get wet from a rain or snow storm yet. It has been years since I had to actually hike for a long time in the rain. Wy, Mt, Az, most of Ca, all have passing showers but not all day rains like the PNW.
|
|
almostthere
Trail Wise!
putting on my hiking shoes....
Posts: 696
|
Post by almostthere on Sept 30, 2020 9:52:10 GMT -8
I can fit a Bearikade Weekender and my gear in the Circuit. I had a few holes - it's a well used pack - and sent it back to ULA, and they deconstructed and reconstructed the pack with a new fabric front panel and patched/reinforced the hole on the top of the frame, all for free. I do pack the canister vertically because I don't like how it rides horizontally. Sleeping pad and quilt are together in a dry bag in the very bottom, the canister goes in on top of it, all the rest gets stuffed down around the can and first aid plus lunch stuff sack on the top of the pack. My light tent goes in the mesh front pocket, along with the ground sheet and occasionally my collapsible fishing pole. The side pockets hold the toilet bag, the map pouch, my 2 oz windbreaker and a few other items i'll likely need during the day. The belt pouches hold the sunscreen, lip balm, phone and maybe a snack.
|
|
texasbb
Trail Wise!
Hates chicken
Posts: 1,221
|
Post by texasbb on Sept 30, 2020 11:30:02 GMT -8
I don't consider a pack cover water protection. I want my sleeping bag and camp clothes to stay dry through both storms and unplanned swimming.
|
|
|
Post by bradmacmt on Sept 30, 2020 12:19:33 GMT -8
I don't consider a pack cover water protection. I want my sleeping bag and camp clothes to stay dry through both storms and unplanned swimming. And for me, in 45 years backpacking, I’ve never brought a pack into the tent. It stays outside with raincover on, generally hung off the ground on a tree. I think that’s especially prudent in bear country.
|
|
|
Post by bradmacmt on Sept 30, 2020 12:24:13 GMT -8
As to the Circuit/Catalyst decision, obviously both are fine packs. I may get a Circuit just to have it (sans top lid) for shorter trips. However, the ULA packs don't have much in way of suspension to begin with, and frankly I'd not want to give up the extra stay of the Catalyst with loads north of 30lbs.
|
|