So, I'm trying to decide on a pack for summer/3 season use. My FSO baseweight is about 8lbs - I frequently hike barefoot so my base pack weight is often not even a pound less than that, so I don't bother tracking that separate. That's the weight without the pack, of course :)

What I'm looking for is a pack that has a padded hipbelt & water bottle pockets - that preferably weighs a pound or less and costs less than $120. It should have enough room for 3-5 days of food, but I think with my gear anything much above 2500ci would be excessive unless it had a really good (ie, heavy) compression system.

Thoughts?

Edited by Leanne.n.gray on 05/12/2010 17:20:11 MDT.

zpacks offers some of the lightest packs around and have some great options! they can range from $40 to $130, sometimes more depending on what options you addon.

i use a gossamer gear murmur and absolutely love it! weighs ~7oz, but no padded hipbelt. but you could cut some strips from a foam pad, make some slits in it and run the hipbelt webbing through it... the pack is $90

mountain laurel designs makes some nice pack but a little higher than your $120 price range.
peace
.maestro.

Have you looked at the ULA Conduit, well, actually I think it's called the CDT this year? It's 17 oz. and in your price range. I love mine. Durable, and with a padded belt.

+1 ULA Conduit/CDT. The side pockets are easily accessible while hiking. According to another thread you can get the 2008 hipbelt (which has more padding than the current version) if you call them and ask for it.

8lbs FSO? Why do you need a hipbelt, especially a padded one? A GG Murmur or a minimal Zpack should do just fine.

I hadn't looked at any of the ULA packs before. The CDT looks like a great deal at $115, considering it comes with a lot of things that would be custom options with other manufacturers (adding hipbelt pouches to a zpack is $20 - to a MLD pack $40, for instance). I'm definitely leaning toward the heavier fabric options for my pack, rather than cuben/sil/spinnaker, mostly because I'm planning a thru hike attempt next year and it would be nice not to have to replace *all* my gear at the end of it :). I'm not quite a "starving" college student, but I am occassionally hungry, so I don't mind carrying something slightly heavier if I save some cash.

So far the contenders are:
- ULA CDT $115... needs pretty much no alteration. Slightly heavy, but not ridiculously so.
- Zpacks $? I think a completely custom pack could be a very dangerous place to go with my wallet :) Restraint is not my greatest strength.
- MLD Burn $135 is not excessively out of my price range. The pack is lighter than the CDT, but smaller, and to get the same options (padding in the hip belt, removable belt pouches) that I like on the CDT, I'd need another $40+
- GG Murmer $90 - great price, very light, no padded hipbelt again. Made of silnylon.

Am I off base on the durability issue for sil &/or cuben? I don't mind it in other pieces of gear, but to be honest I'm just not into the idea of babying my pack, and I'd like it to last.

Oh, and I like having a belt because I hate having a beltless pack flop around everywhere, especially if I decide to pick up the pace a bit (need to run and catch my dog, for instance). And then once I have a belt, I want it padded - maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I just prefer it that way.

cuben is an incredibly durable material.

http://www.youtube.com/user/valesko1#p/a/u/1/8gfcuCh7h04

joe used a cuben pack on both his PCT and CDT hikes.
the great thing about cuben is that duct tape will stick to it, unlike silnylon and maybe even dyneema.

maybe it is a girl thing with the padded hip belts. my lady will never use a pack without one, no matter how light her pack is. haha

what trail do you plan on thru hiking???
peace
.maestro.

I think I read on Zpacks website that a cuben pack will last for one long thru hike.

FWIW I've owned both a ULA Conduit and a Z-Pack Blast and my experience is that the Blast is more durable.

+1 for the blast.