Here's a stupid newbie question - what's wrong with these? You never hear about them, or read any reviews, yet they seem fairly light, and reasonably priced.

Joe, I owned the REI UL 45 (similar to the 60), so I will give you my opinion.

The 'sack' portion of the bag is ideal! It has just what I wanted, a big lid, two big side pockets, and a brilliant "Internal Compression System" which cinches the contents of the pack uniformly and neatly along the entire length of the pack without any external compression straps. It also used light (not SUL) material, and comes with REIs lifetime return policy!

Unfortunately, I made use of that return policy because the suspension system design is just as bad, as the sack design is good.

1. The "Torso Length Control" where the harness adjusts along the center stay, is held on with velcro, which tore loose a little (separated hook from tooth) each time I picked up a heavy pack. Why such easy torso adjustment? How often does your Torso length change? Better to use a semi-permanent adjustment system like GraniteGear does.

2. The "Active Motion Suspension" (AMS) seemed like a good idea, but I discovered that with a normal pack, I make small adjustments to the 'ride' of the pack by shifting my hips or giving a little tug to one shoulder strap, thus shifting the pack weight back to the center of my back. With AMS my hip-shift, or strap tug was useless, it just shortened the opposite side's strap, adding strap tension inequality to the problem of the pack being off center. I thought about sewing the strap center in an unmovable position, but for the next point..

3. The shoulder straps were thin, narrow, and very uncomfortable. They use single density foam which is much too slight for the requirement. This constantly bothered me, and the pack was therefore uncomfortable. Every step I was thinking 'strap'.. 'strap'..

4. One good thing, the included waist belt pouch was a great feature; I miss that.(but GG sells one)

So, I went with the Granite Gear (GG) Nimbus Ozone with an optional lid. If I had to do it again I would get the GG Vapor Trail with the optional lid. The pack is only 2 lbs.

Bottom line IMO; REI UL packs have a bad suspension. Maybe you will like all the features #1-4 I mentioned, and just love the pack? As they say here, your milage may vary YMMV.

But, in my opinion, if you only buy one UL pack, get the Vapor Trail; those packs are extremely comfortable, and light. For me, I just don't want a 2 oz cuben fiber pack; the pack is something I will be wearing all day; Ill suffer the 2 lbs of weight (for the Vapor Trail for example), for a pack so comfortable I literally forget I'm wearing it; and just enjoy my day.

Incidently, after I bought the GG, I loaded both packs and tried them on; the REI felt like a board on my back compared to the conformal foam GG uses!

By the way, I did keep the REI UL Flash; it is a great UL pack for day hikes.
Here are some commercial packs sorted by weight; might help in your decision.

Edited by ryan on 11/28/2006 20:50:20 MST.

It's worth noting the UL 60 has a different suspension system from the UL 45 and 30. The 60 uses two stays and has a much wider velcro, so the connection is much more solid than on the earlier models. My girlfriend loves hers. I've tried both the 45 and 60 and found the 60 to be far superior for load support.

The UL 60 actually won an award from Outside Magazine this past Spring, I think for the "best buy" category. (Still, Outside is equivalent to an SUV ad among the lightweight hiking community.) The reason you won't likely hear much about it around this site is it's among the heavier packs of the lighter weight range.

However, there is a newer line of UL Packs coming out late winter/early spring, and I hear from a couple of folks that were in on the test phase that these are superior to the current UL line. I'd wait. Either you'll be able to grab a UL 60 on clearance or you may like the new UL's better.

Shawn, thanks for the insider knowledge. Any other gossip about new REI branded products? They get more of my paycheck than anyone except the IRS.. Montbell's a close third.

>4. One good thing, the included waist belt pouch was a great feature; I miss that.(but GG sells one)

Brett,

Do you have a link? I can't seem to find anything on their website.

Thanks

Backpacker magazine is supposed to be posting a review of the new packs very soon. One of the differences is the nylon of the bag is heavier, but by removing of the the extras on the early packs, they weigh about the same. I don'thave hard numbers, just a bit of word of mouth, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the spring holds.

Edited by Bearpaw on 11/27/2006 07:33:38 MST.

Frank, here you go,
http://www.granitegear.com/products/accessories/beltpocket/index.html

For my Nimbus Ozone I have the optional lid but not the pouch yet.

Ahh, ok, thanks. I thought GG was gosamer gear ;-)

Thanks for the replies. I'd been looking at GG, but the REI price looked so good in comparison. I may wait.

Edited by skinewmexico on 11/28/2006 07:54:59 MST.

The best price that I found for the Vapor Trail was at Backpacking Deals $110
http://www.backpackingdeals.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=W&Product_Code=GGVTB&Category_Code=UP
And they have free shipping.

Aaaaghh! I could sell my Nimbus Ozone, shave a pound off my pack weight, and carry the smaller size; no.. must.. keep.. card.. in.. wallet..

I had the same problems as an above commentator until I took my REI UL 45 back to the store -- a young man with years of experience in Montana, where he spent the school years fit me with a Medium instead of a large.

That was the first big difference, taking the pressure off the velcro dealy that sets the spine height adjustment.

Then, he showed me how to set the belt up higher than I thought it should be almost over or above my hips and then snug it.

Once that was done the shoulder straps had to be adjusted to the same length and the chest strap fit so that it didn't pull them in or let them out too much. That alleviated any feeling the straps were narrow or tight.

Finally the load straps at the top were released, then loosely pulled -- BINGO the problems described above were gone and the pack shifted with my body, not against it. Ultimately I don't think this design is intended to carry over 25 lbs. I never would want to carry all that weight anyway so I love the UL 45 size. I carry from 10 - 22 lbs. for my partner and I, she carries her own sleeping bag and enough clothes to choke a WalMart exec, I carry tent, sleeping bag for me, food for both, etc.

After the adjustments and right sizing, with a rational load weight the pack felt like it was hugging my back without shifting even when I tested crawling through brush, crossing rocky terrain that was really lumpy, going down steep trails with a lot of volcanic boulders to negotiate here on Mt. Lassen AND best of all sneaking under downed trees -- which I can never do with other packs. I can even pick up a dropped item from the ground with absolutely no loss of balance or sway.

So it is a pack that has to be fit right and adjusted right to work -- and it CANNOT be overloaded otherwise it is as described above and defeats the purpose of a semi-UL pack.

For $74 at present on sale I just bought another one in case they ever stop making them and I need a replacement.

Edited by bdavis on 11/28/2006 18:37:26 MST.

I got the February 2007 Bacpacker Magazine toady and found the review I mentioned earlier (p. 91). It's called the REI Cruise UL. It appears to be very similar to the existing UL 60, with the key difference being it uses a slightly heavier denier ripstop nylon, versus thelighter nylon of the original UL line. It appears to have lost two of its daisy chains, perhaps to offset the heavier fabric. It's 3 ounces more than the older pack (3 lbs, 3 oz), but $5 less (now $130).

All in all it gets a very favorable review.

Edited by Bearpaw on 11/28/2006 20:47:33 MST.

William, thats great the REI pack worked out for you; I am a big fan of REI and its products. I am certain I was overloading the UL 45 I had; like you, I carry a lot of stuff for my hiking partner. I am curious to see the new REI pack when I visit the states in January.

>I had the same problems as an above commentator until I took my REI UL 45 back to the store...


I bought a REI Women's Small UL 45 for my 12-year-old nephew. We loaded it up and spent about 20 minutes adjusting it, concentrating on getting the torso length just right. I didn't hear a single complaint about pack fit on the 35-mile trip. I'm still considering the REI UL 60 as a winter pack for myself. (My REI Flash is a great day pack, and has been comfortable with loads up to 17 pounds.)

I own the UL 60 and took it out on two short trips with about a 30lb load. It is very uncomfortable. I let a friend try it and he had a similar reaction. Normally I can adjust just about any pack to not bother me for a while, but this pack was uncomfortable in the first five minutes. Others have stated that other REI UL packs are more comfortable which may be true, but I am not buying any more of their packs for quite a while. The hip belt is comfortable, but not supportive and the shoulder straps range from uncomfortable to painful depending on load and configuration.

I should note that I have very broad shoulders as does my friend which may be the reason the straps do not fit well. Also, I own ULA Catalyst, older REI Mars and a couple Gregory packs that I find comfortable to varying degrees.

Edited by Straegen on 12/06/2006 16:18:41 MST.

OK, here's a non-technical POV against the UL 60: to me anyway, a "black/white AND green/orange" color combo is just plain ugly.

www.rei.com Search REI UL 60

Camping & Hiking > Backpacking -- Internal Frame > Weekend Trip Packs > REI UL 60 Pack

We're sorry, the REI UL 60 Pack is unavailable.



Gee, and I liked the orange / green!

Edited by eaglemb on 12/06/2006 19:08:51 MST.

>The best price that I found for the Vapor Trail was at
>Backpacking Deals $110

Has anyone purchased from this company? That's a very good price.

They are ugly. But someone needs to buy one, and let everyone know how it is.

The original UL 60 is still on sale at REI-Outlet.com. It shows the Cruise 60 is only 1 oz more than the original. I guess if I was only going to get a 3# 3oz pack, I should just stick with my Kelty 50th Anniversary. It is comfy.

Edited by skinewmexico on 01/20/2007 15:31:12 MST.