Has anyone had a chance to try the new Golite Jam 70 out?

Curious as to what type of weights it will handle.

Cheers,

Mike

The suspension is exactly the same on both bags, so they should top out at the same max weight.
Looking side-by-side at them in store, the difference between the 50 and 70 are solely volume. The 70 is deeper (from frame-sheet outward), and taller. It could possibly be wider from side to side, but its hard to tell with so little structure to the pack.

I tried them both with bean bags and they both got uncomfortable fast at >40lb. The 70 had a good bit of room to shift the weight around, the 50 was stuffed full. I'd say 35-ish is the max load for comfort.

In the end, I bought the 70, to take it home and test-fit it with my gear. I'm still on the fence whether its overkill or not. I can pretty easily fit all my gear in and the pack is below shoulder height, but it looks like a beach ball on my back. I can get it to stack much taller by limiting volume with the straps, but its a tetris game to get it all in and balanced.

thanks for the info

I am not able to try them out as i am in Alberta so have to order on line. Construction wise would it take a 60 lb load or would it come apart?

Won't come apart but 60 lbs is way, WAY too much for a frameless pack.

You need to reduce your load by about 1/2 if you want this pack.

If you are carrying 60#, why are you even looking at a pack without a frame? That makes absolutely no sense at all.

I have a Pinnacle. I've been carrying 25-30# for training hikes. Would I recommend more than 30#? No.

Edited by reacttocontact on 03/30/2012 13:03:07 MDT.

If you are in a position where 60 lbs is the required gear load, I share the above opinions: frameless packs are not for you. I would even go so far as to suggest that you shy away from any UL style pack, framed or not. Get something that has plastic or aluminum framestays and is made of heavier denier fabric. It will last longer.

Let's be real, if you are carrying 60lbs or even 50, you're never going to notice the weight difference of a 5lb pack vs a 2lb one, but your back and shoulders will thank you all day long with a rigid frame and some structure to the sack itself.

Out of curiosity, what on earth does that 60lb packing list look like?

My pack weight is not anywhere near 60 lbs...more like 25-35 lbs for a weeks worth depending on the trip however...


Sometimes my pack is carrying more when I come out than when I went in ;) so I was curious if the pack could handle the weight. My wife has a pinnacle and it has packed some heavy loads without fail so I thought I would look at the new Jam for myself.

Normally I have a 6-7 lb pack that I am using for these trips but hate carrying a bag that is that heavy empty so I figured I would give a 2 lb pack a try.

Cheers,

Mike