I plan on going to Philmont in the next few years, and I realize that the lighter my packweight, the more enjoyable the trip will be. I don't claim to be UL, however I have the correct mindset: if it isn't absolutely nessessary, it's staying home! I know that a frameless pack (I am currently considering the Golite Jam) is the lightest option when it comes to packs, and the load-carrying limitations of these ultralite packs will give me extra motivation to comb through my gear list and eliminate extra items. However, even with only lunch and a liter or so of water in a daypack, I cannot hike with the weight on my shoulders, as this causes back pain and sore shoulders. I used the daypack's hipbelt, and that transfered the weight to my hips and solved the problem.
WILL THE JAM TRANFRER THE WEIGHT TO MY HIPS WELL, EVEN THOUGH IT LACKS A FRAME?

Edited by rwms15 on 05/14/2011 08:21:32 MDT.

Doug, I will be doing lightweight Philmont presentations to 5 different crews (in 2 sittings). You suggested that you were working on a Power Point presentation. Have you put this together, and are there any other resources I can use?

FWIW, I am working closely with 4 scouts from our troop. They will be assisting me with the presentations, and they will also be using this experience to present lightweight backpacking to our troop.

Thanks for all the great info. I am spreading the word as fast as I can.

Ross,

I can't speak to the Jam but I do use the Jam's larger family member (Pinnacle) for high volume loads (like winter) ... otherwise I use a truly frameless pack (Granite Gear Virga).

If your goal is to transfer almost all weight to your hips, the Pinnacle does NOT do that for me and I'd not expect the Jam to do any better. But when packed "right" (full or the load well compressed by the pack) I find the Pinnacle's hip belt probably takes about half the weight. It carries 30 lbs nicely ... I loaded it up to 40 lbs once and quickly decided that was beyond the pack's comfort range (for me).

I second the request to have a PowerPoint presentation that we can show our scouts and crew leaders at the beginning of planning a trip. We're going to Philmont in the summer of 2013 and I'm already planning and compiling the packing list to minimize weight. Having a .ppt presentation to show at a meeting would really go a long way to get everyone on-board with packing light.