get it while the getting is good!

http://www.golite.com/Clearance.aspx

includes the Peak/Jam/Pinnacle pack family at about 50% of MSRP

They've got last year's Jam, which some here raved about as having the best hip-belt ever (perhaps I'm exaggerating), even if it was a little heavier than previous iterations.

I've noticed there are two different Golite Jams and two different Pinnacles. How can you tell the year they were released?

For the two Jams, one is listed at 1 lb 12 oz (2867 ci), and the other at 1 lb 14 oz (3050 ci).

The the two Pinnalces, one is at 2 lb 1 oz (4392 ci) and out of stock, and the other at 1 lb 15 oz (3843 ci).

One's the women's version and the other's the men's. They're all the latest (but soon to be replaced) version as they have the double wishbone hip belt.

Ceph, if you click the "clearance closet" link on the bottom of the intro page, you can see that some are men's specific and some are women's specific packs. The Jam is instock for both genders, but the pinnacle is only available for women. Personally, I think the differences between the two genders is fairly minimal. The womens' packs have a slightly more curved waistbelt (wider hips) but the padding is so minimal that you probably won't notice this (at least on the older models, without the wishbone hipbelt)

Also as a general rule, you can tell which pack is for which gender depending on the color scheme. Men's packs typically use contrasting colors (e.g. blue with gray, green with gray) while women's packs using complementing colors (e.g. blue with lighter blue, or green with lighter green)

If you really want to get a pinnacle, it might be worth it to try the women's version. But if you want a jam, you might as well get the gender appropriate version while you can. Also, the women's packs are usually smaller in volume for their respective size. You usually lose around 5 liters for the same size pack when going from male to female.

the pack size difference, I think fairly obviously, comes from the fact that the pack is designed for the persons height and the volume derives from there. If the absolute volume is of concern, get the men's in your size, it will be slightly bigger as Konrad points out.

What I find odd is that the women's RS-3 mummy is lighter and more expensive than the men's, but no length information is given on the golite site at all for either bag...

anyway, big fan of my pre-'09 Pinnacle!

the golite website is barely functional. so slow.

agreed. Although they do have a good layout compared to other websites of the same nature.

The Roan Plateau jacket seems like a great deal for the price with 5.8oz of 800fill in it at 16oz total weight.

Has anyone tried these on or own one before? I am 6' tall and 195 lbs. I have a large Montbell Alpine Light but it's plenty roomy and I'd love a tighter fitting jacket. Could I get away with a medium?

EDIT: Bought a medium. Will update with pictures of how sexy I am all puffed up. Thanks to the OP for posting this deal.

Edited by kylemeyer on 12/27/2011 11:55:14 MST.

The Shangri-La 3 for $130 is a steal. They list the weight including the 12 oz pole which really skews things if you are using trekking poles with an extender or strap to join them. It's an awesome shelter at 25 oz plus stakes. Plus I'll give you $10 for the pole if you don't want it. I have the 1.5 oz extender and started thinking I should get the regular pole for winter use to keep my trekking poles free.

I just returned from the Boulder Golite sale warehouse. I was looking for a SL-1 fly/nest/floor. The sale e-mail today described this as a new model, which has toggles and loops to connect the nest to the fly. This would increase the inside elbow room, like the SL-2. The SL-1 fly doesn't have exterior tie-out loops, but I figured I could add some. As it turned out, all of the SL-1 componenets were boxed up and ready to be shipped back to the main warehouse for online sales. The manager consented to open the boxes and let me buy what I needed (very, very nice of her). Upon looking over the fly and the nest, neither had the toggles/loops. So these are not 2011 components, but perhaps 2010 or earlier. It's still a great buy, but not quite what the product description indicated. Just a heads up for ya'll.