Hello

This is just for whomever should be interested - (i know i was before i got my Huckepack).

The recommended packing method is the burrito-style - using a rolled CCF pad as a frame inside the pack + if you want, 2, 4 or 6 pieces of Z Lite on the outside between your back and the pack.

One of the reasons i bought a frame-less pack was the bonus of having a quick accessible pad for breaks on the outside of the pack, so i bought a Z Lite. This works so good! I decided on 4 pieces of Z lite - this means, when folded back up for mounting on the pack, all the dirt will stay between the two layers instead of getting the pack dirty, as only 2 pieces would. 4 pieces is also a very nice size for the sitting part - so luxuriously! 6 pieces is overkill for me.

Being really fond of my NeoAir Xlite, i wanted to use this as a my dual item instead of a rolled CCF.

Here's my experience so far:

The NeoAir is very sticky! i can't get it to work as a rolled support frame, neither deflated, or partly inflated (for better firmness).

But...the 4 piece Z Lite works very well as the main frame! So i decided to just fold the XLite flat and put it inside the pack against my back. This way, there's less exposed sticky material when packing, it actually does help to minimize sharp objects protruding, and packing the Xlite into the pack itself is very quick and easy.


All in all a flat NeoAir + 4 pieces of Zlite in the Huckepack works for me!


I have tried this with a fully packed pack at around 11 kg.


/Peter

Edited by prse on 12/03/2012 08:50:03 MST.

Peter,

Thank you for your comments, I too struggled finding a lot of material on reading others experience with Huckepack, perhaps we start here. I've had mine for about a year and still absolutely love mine.

With that being said, I too use the neoair (older model) and find too that mine is sticky. Not quite sure what your provisions are for waterproofing, but if you use a trash compactor bag, when you use that as your lining (inside of neoair) everything is easy to put in and remove. I found that this was a dual problem solver.
Since then I have made some changes to my packing, but when I take this pack out I use a cheap wally world 3/8" thick blue foam mat cut to 32", and use that along with my 4 pc. zlite and use that under my neoair. I think it was a 4.3 oz. penalty, which I justfied that by only using a 13.6oz neoair, it's still lighter than my old thermarest. All in all, I've loaded it up to about 24 lbs with consumables and it fit and felt great. Just out of curiousity, which version did you settle on? Cuben/SilNylon/Dyneema and what volume size?

Thanks again for your comments.

Thanks for replying Jon

Interesting to hear from another Huckepack + NeoAir user - i guess we must be a pretty small crowd!

I think it's a good idea to use the 32" foam mat also, a very small weight penalty indeed, and a good dual use item. I've been thinking of doing the same, but right now i'm trying to shave every ounce i can (i'm trying to push myself into UL baseweight) - but it would definitely be easier to pack and compress the bag if i used one. Time will tell

Maybe i will get a shorter/lighter neoair, and can then justify to bring a short roll of foam pad...hmm

I use a black trash bag since i can't find trash compactor bags in Denmark - i need to be careful not to destroy it on longer trips. I've thought about having the trash bag inside the neoair, but i prefer to have it the other way around, so i wont risk having a wet neoair. But maybe i'm just being a bit to careful here?

Oh yes - the customization of the Huckepack - a very interesting topic :-)

Well...i took the safe (and boring) choice and went with the standard 2012 version. Being my first frameless pack, i wanted to have the possibility of returning it if i couldn't get used to this type of packing. I could!

I got the medium size, but in the 2012 version, there is not a choice of volume, so i automatically got 36L/48L + two 1L hip-belt pockets - enough for my needs, and being that small, a good way to stop extra gear from sneaking inside the pack...

The standard 2012 version is very slick! A good balance of materials and the red stitching on a totally black pack is nice...enough with the gear-porn...The majority is 70D silnylon except the back, bottom, hip-belt and the hip-belt pockets, which is X-PAC VX07.

Did you get a custom made version?

It would be interesting to know what the weight of an all cuben version would be.


Thanks

Edit: added the volume

Edited by prse on 12/03/2012 15:58:43 MST.