Dean, It's not that bad in real life. I mean, it's not as subdued as black dyneema X, but it's also not shiny. I own the blue nimbus meridian, and have never second-guessed the color scheme. That said, I and many others find it comfortable to 35lbs. Around the 40lb mark, I start to get sore shoulders at the end of the day. I wish it had better load lifters.

I'm trying out a ULA catalyst at the moment. So far it seems like an excellent pack. Awesome hipbelt and load lifters, and greater livability (front mesh pocket). Shoulder straps on the GG nimbus are more comfortable though (cushier). Haven't tried a heavy load in the catalyst yet...but I'd imagine it would be great to 35lbs at the very least. I'll probably report back later when I get more experience

The vertical access zipper on the nimbus meridian never gets used...and to me it's just another potential point of failure. I know they definitely phased on the nimbus ozone...I'm not sure of the status of the nimbus meridian. But again, once you remove the lid off the Nimbus Meridian, it's pretty much a nimbus ozone (+ a vertical zipper, and some daisy chains)

Edited by Konrad1013 on 07/12/2011 12:23:30 MDT.

> I think a Mchale might be too shiny.

You might be right. Mine didn't stay shiny for very long though, because I use it ;)

J, I'm curious if you ever used a Nimbus Ozone prior to the Blaze AC 60 and if you think the two packs are nearly identical in size (never mind that technically the Ozone was a 62 L pack, it never measured out that big, just curious if in practice the Blaze AC 60 is the replacement for the Nimbus Ozone.

By the way, the Nimbus Meridian with the fanny pack lid weighs nearly the same as the Nimbus Ozone but it is not as big as the Nimbus Ozone -- the Ozone has a much longer collar for putting more stuff in it.

I love the Nimbus Ozone and really am sad they did not identically replace it. or keep it. The only mod I do to the pack is replace the top straps with identical but longer straps so I can use more of the collar.

FYI:

Granite Gear has made some changes to the zippers used on the Nimbus Meridian. I believe that these changes will, at some point, make its way to the entire pack line:

A running change from the RiRi to Ideal zippers:

· The Ideal Zipper is Thermal Abrasion Coil TAC Zipper...the stitching that bonds the coil to the tape is thermally adhered to the coil, so the stitches will not fail. You can take a file to it and it will not fail.

· The Ideal Zipper has a Water repellent finish on it, which makes it water resistant.

· The Ideal Zipper is made in USA - The same zipper used by Granite Gear on their military contracts with the US Government.

· The Ideal Zipper is smoother to operate than the YKK.

"Maybe you should...uh...try it on first? I am sure the trail vermin won't laugh at you if you wear the pack. Could be wrong, I guess."

But I can't stand that MOCKING TONE the marmots use. Damn them.

It's also difficult to "try it on", y'know? Does any retailer in Colorado Springs stock it? I'd have to buy it via mail order and plan on returning it if I don't like it. Maybe it's an irrational hang-up, but I hate doing that.

But I guess that goes for ANY light pack, doesn't it? I got lucky with my Burn. And the ULA pack looks similar enough (in concept) to the Burn that I'm pretty confident that I grok it.

Well, I have a lot of time- I'll keep researching.