I have a GG Vapor Trail that I love, except that it's a pain to clean. I'm looking for a similarly supportive backpack that I can remove the support panel from so that I can easily clean the backpack by machine wash.

Any suggestions?

check out gossamer gear...but i would be careful throwing an UL bag in the wash.

Not answering your question, but methinks machine washing a backpack is unnecessary -- and may even be harmful to straps and buckles.

Most times, wiping with a wet rag does the trick. For truly filthy, caked dirt -- hose it in the garden or set it in the shower -- then air dry away from direct sunlight.

Tree sap is often the most difficult. Wipe with denatured alcohol, then rinse. This you might need to do even with machine wash.

I am an unusually sweaty guy. After wearing my backpack a few days, it starts to emit a strong mildew smell, the straps and sides are cakes with salt, etc.

Simply wiping it down with a wet rag doesn't seem to do the trick? How can I effectively get rid of the mildew without machine washing with ammonia?

Best way is to hose off the pack right after your trip. One idea: when you get into your shower, bring your backpack in with you. Wiping with a wet cloth by itself can be tedious, but wiping with a soapy cloth while under a shower will remove dirt and grime much more easily. And you'll be doing it much safer than a washing machine.

Take your pack to the car wash and blast it with plain water, then air dry. Very effective.

Six Moon Designs packs use your sleeping or sit pad instead of a back panel and have removable aluminum stays. They told me to wash my pack by hand in the bathtub after removing the metal stays. I just did this because I managed to slip and abruptly sit down in a big mudhole on my most recent trip. If you have access to a front loading washer, I suspect that the most delicate cycle on that would work just as well. It's the agitator in a top-loading washer that causes most of the problems.

Use baking soda, not ammonia, to deodorize. Ammonia is pretty harsh stuff!

Edited by hikinggranny on 07/29/2010 11:50:21 MDT.

good thing to remember next time i see some of your stuff on gear swap... :-)

Might want to try some Mirazyme

It may be too heavy for you, but you can easily remove the framesheet from the Granite Gear Nimbus packs (Ozone, Meridian, Latitude, etc) and the newer Granite Gear Escape AC packs. Very straight forward- I've done it on both packs myself, but only just while getting a look at the pack, never tossed them in the wash.

A lot of the frameless and convertible/hybrid packs have a pocket for your sleeping pad and/or the optional removable stays- packs from ULA, GoLite and Six Moon Designs come to mind.

That said, I don't know if I'd put something like that through the wash... I'd hose it down with water. Dunk the deframed pack in a light solution of some cleaner first, but I really wouldn't put it into the wash- you're asking for something to get ripped off or snagged.