MindShift Gear rotation180° Panorama
Tester
Information
|
Name:
|
David
Wilkes |
E-Mail:
|
amatbrewer@yahoo.com
|
Age:
|
47 |
Location:
|
Yakima
Washington USA |
Gender:
|
M |
Height:
|
5'11"
(1.80 m) |
Weight:
|
200 lb (90.7 kg) |
|
Biography:
I started
backpacking
in 1995 when I moved to Washington State. Since then, I have
backpacked in all seasons and conditions the Northwest has to
offer. I prefer trips on
rugged trails with plenty of elevation gain. While I continuously
strive to lighten my load, comfort and safety are most important to me.
I have finally managed to get my basic cold weather pack weight, not
including consumables, to under 30 lb (14 kg).
|
|
Product
Information
|
Manufacturer:
|
MindShift Gear |
Year
of Manufacture:
|
2015 |
Manufacturer’s
Website:
|
http://www.mindshiftgear.com |
MSRP:
|
US$ 199.99
|
Listed Weight:
|
Backpack 2.0 lbs (0.9.1 kg) Beltpack 0.9 lbs (0.4 kg) Total 2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
|
Measured Weight:
|
Backpack 2.5 lbs (1.1 kg) Beltpack 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg) * Total 3.6 lbs (1.6 kg) * weight includes dividers
|
Listed Volume:
| Backpack 1013 cubic inches or 16.6 liters Beltpack 329 cubic inches or 5.4 liters Total 1342 cubic inches or 22 liters | Color:
| Charcoal *
Tahoe Blue * color tested
|
|
|
Photo: © Mindshift Gear |
|
Product
Description:Mindhsift Gear
makes backpacks and accessories aimed at photographers. They sell a
line of packs named rotation180 with a distinct feature: A built in
lumbar type pack (they refer to as “belt pack”) that stores in the main
backpack and can be rotated around to the front of the wearer when
needed and rotated back into its storage compartment; all without
removing the backpack. I received the “Panorama”, which seems to be
larger than the “Trail” but smaller and with fewer features than the
“Professional.”
|
|
Initial
Report
|
March 19 2015
In addition to the pack I also received the optional rain
covers. Yes, “covers” plural. There is a rain cover for the entire pack
and a smaller one for the belt pack alone. Being an optional item the
rain covers would normally not be reviewed in this test aside for any
use I may get of it. However due to its unique design I will be
describing it and mention how it performs if I get the opportunity to
use it.
I am not a photographer. I was, but that was a long time
ago and I no longer have any of the equipment. So while I may consider
some of the features from a photographer’s point of view, mostly I will
be focusing on its use for a hiker.
I will start with the key
and most unique feature of this pack (in fact the entire rotation180 line of
packs), that is what they refer to as the belt pack. This is a lumbar
type pack attached to the main hip belt. It is designed to store in a
compartment in the bottom of the pack and while the user is wearing the
pack, the entire hip belt can be pivoted 180 degrees around positioning
the belt pack in front of the user for easy access. When not needed the
belt pack can then be pivoted back into its compartment. For full
disclosure; when I first saw this pack advertised I assumed the
pivoting belt pack would probably be a gimmick. However after looking
over the pack and trying it on for size I was quite surprised to find
it actually seems to work, at least empty. More to come on that as I
test it. The belt pack / hip belt combination can be separated from the
main pack and used alone. The belt pack consists of one main
compartment covered with a fleece like material (the loop half of
hook-n-loop attachment systems). This area contained 5 dividers with
the loop material so that the compartment can be reconfigured to fit
various sizes of cameras (or other equipment). There is also a smaller
compartment on the side closest to the user that looks suitable to fit
something like a small tablet device. On the lid of the belt pouch is a
small green mesh pouch with hook-n-loop closure running the entire
length of the opening. The entire pouch is made from what feels like a
stiff foam to protect the contents and the side of the pack closest to
the wearer feels like it also contains a stiff plastic sheet which
should serve to protect the equipment as well as protect the wearer
from irregular items in the pack. On the outside of the pack are two
pull straps. One on the lid of the pack and one on the side. The one on
the side serves as the way to pull the pack when pivoting. The zipper
pulls on the belt pack, as well as the main pack consists of large cord
loops with plastic stiffeners. These look like they should be strong
and usable by gloved fingers.
The hip belt is permanently
attached to the belt pouch. It is a rather standard affair with a wide
padded hip section and adjustable belt with clips. Of note is the two
loops on the end of the padded sections. These loops resemble equipment
loops I have seen on some climbing harnesses.
The
pack consists of one main compartment that opens from the top. Unlike
most packs I am familiar with this opens away from the wearer. Not sure
the importance of this or even if it matters, I just found it
noticeable. Inside the main compartment is a smaller mesh compartment.
This is similar to the one inside the lid of the belt pouch except it
is larger and the top is held closed with elastic. On the lid of the
main compartment is a smaller compartment which contains a plastic clip
suitable for securing something like a keying. The bottom and largest
portion of the pack consists of the compartment the belt pack fits in.
This opens on the wearer’s right with a large flap and is otherwise
unremarkable except for 3 small patches of loop material which are used
to secure the rain cover and the plastic clip on the side opening. I
will discuss this further below. At the top of the belt pack cover is
an adjustable elastic cord. When this cord is loose the cover of the
hip belt compartment will naturally fall into the closed position and
so needs to be opened before pushing the belt pack into its
compartment. However when the cord is pulled tight it pulls the flap
open when the magnetic catch is released, so the flap remains open
rather than falling back into place. The separation between
the main compartment and the belt pack compartment contains stiff foam
padding to provide structure and protection. Running up the wearers
left side of the pack is a zipper opening. This is the hydration pouch
pocket. The web site mentions that it “holds up to a 2 liter
reservoir.” I tried the 2 liter pouch I had handy and while it did fit
(empty), it did not fit well, so I intend to try this out to see how it
works with a full pouch in the field. On the same side as the hydration
pocket is a rather standard water bottle pocket, and at the bottom of
that, a large elastic loop. Note the elastic loop is secured by passing
through a metal grommet at each end and simply tied in a knot. The
knotted ends are accessible so this can be removed and/or replaced.
Parallel to the hydration pocket is the standard ice axe attachments,
with a loop at the bottom and an adjustable elastic attachment at the
top. Last but not least are two semi concealed pockets. These contain
the integrated tripod attachment system. On top is an adjustable strap
with snap closure, and the bottom a adjustable loop. The bottom pocket
also contains a small fold out pocket. Presumably one or more of the
tripod legs could fit in this fold out pocket, or for larger tripods
just the straps could be used. I don’t know if this was intentional but
the lower pouch seems to fit the rain covers nicely.
The shoulder
straps are rather unremarkable. Contoured and padded, with load lifting
straps at the top and an adjustable chest strap. There are also one
hydration tube strap on each.
The manufacturer describes this
pack as “Lightweight.” From a backpacker’s point of view considering
the weight to pack volume I doubt I would classify it as a lightweight
pack, however for its total size it is not excessively heavy either.
And I am sure when contrasted against more traditional methods of
carrying camera equipment it might be lighter.
Trying it out: Unloaded
the pack was easy to put on and adjust. My torso length usually puts me
between a regular and long size for packs so when it is an option I
normally choose the larger torso size. This pack seems to fit my torso
with no problems. The padded sections of the hip belt seem a bit short
for me. They fail to wrap around my hips and so the adjustment buckle
sits right on the front of my hip bone. I am concerned that this could
be a problem for long distances when the pack is full.
With the
pack empty I was able to reach down and on the first try had no problem
pushing down on the magnetic closure that secures the belt pack within
the main pack, then grasping the handle and rotating the belt pack
around to the front. This was quite simple and totally intuitive.
Rather surprising given how unique the feature is. Returning the belt
pouch to its storage position was just as simple. I rotated it back
into position and the clip fell into place for easy closing. The
magnetic closure makes the process as simple as getting the clip close
and letting the magnet do the rest. I tried this a few times with no
problems at all. So much for my natural skepticism.
|
Field
Report
|
June 9 2015Usage - Day
hike - Snow Mountain Ranch (Central Washington Shrub step) – altitude
ranging from 1850’ (550 m) to around 3000’ (900 m) Temp approximately
75 F (24 C) and clear. Estimated distance 2 miles (3 km).
- Day
hike - Bear Canyon (Eastern foothills of the Washington Cascades) –
altitude around 2200’ (670 m) approximately 70 F (21 C) with scattered
showers. Estimated distance 6 miles (10 km).
- Day hike - Deer
Lake (Central Washington Cascades) – altitude ranging from 4500’ (1370
m) to 5260’ (1600 m) Temp approximately 75 F (24 C) with scattered
showers. Distance 6 miles (10 km)
- Trail Maintenance - Goat Peak
Trail (Central Washington Cascades) – altitude ranging from 3300’ (1000
m) to 4100’ (1250 m) Temp approximately 75 F (24 C) with fog/mist and
thunderstorms in the area. Estimated distance 2 miles (3 km)
My
first outing with the pack was a short day hike with my wife. I packed
an extra jacket, first aid kit, and some basic “essentials” in the upper
pack, and our lunch in the hip belt pack. For the Bear Canyon hike I
intended to hike up into the canyon and get some practice making bow
drills (fire starter) and snares. I did a bit of off trail travel up
the side of the canyon to find suitable locations to practice. The
terrain was steep, loose, wet, and muddy from the recent rain making
the off trail travel rather challenging (I managed to fall only once).
The Dear lake trip was primarily to scout out the trail conditions,
what kind of repairs might be needed, number and location of any trees
across the trail, and see how much snow is remaining. I had light rain
on and off the entire day. I managed a day off work so I headed up to
a trail called Goat Peak. This is a short but steep trail that I had
heard could use some work. I cleared one tree and spent a few hours
working a few sections of the trail that were in really bad shape. The
forecast was for thunderstorms, but all I had to deal with was some
light drizzle, fog and the almost constant dripping from the trees. I
was carrying a folding pruning saw and a pair of trimmers along with my
first aid kit, and snacks in the hip belt pouch. I had gloves, a warm
hat, a jacket, and a few essentials in the main compartment and strapped
a bow saw to the tri-pod attachments on the outside of the pack. I
will
start by saying that after some use I can appreciate that this is a
purpose built pack,
and that purpose is photography. From the standpoint of a general day
pack the pack is quite heavy and bulky relative to its carrying
capacity. For a full day hike my “10 essentials” along with food,
water, a light jacket, hat and gloves pretty much filled the
pack. However it does have some very nice features that I like but
suspect it would require carrying delicate items like camera equipment
to fully appreciate it. For example the structure and padding in the
pack seem to be effective at protecting the contents. And the operation
of the hip belt pack is much better than I expected, however I found
the way the hip belt pack opens (away from the wearer) was a bit
awkward, but part of the problem could be the spare tire I carry around
my middle which is not the fault of the pack. However, I think I would
prefer if the lid opened the other direction. The magnetic clip to
open/close the section of the pack the hip belt is in works very well
and is quite intuitive to operate. The same goes for pivoting the hip
belt back around to the front. I really like the ability to have
instant access to thecontents of the beltpack while also being able to
securely store it in the main pack behind me. Often I prefer to not
stop for
snacks and/or lunch. And with other packs that usually means putting my
food in my pants pockets and/or the hip belt pockets of my pack
(assuming it has any). Being able to store my snacks in my backpack but
still having access to it without taking the pack off has been really
nice. And that goes for other items I have placed in the hip belt pouch
such as camera, GPS, sun screen, bug repellent, etc. I have used the
rain cover (for the main pack) 3 times now and for the most part it
works quite well but I have yet to use the hip belt pack rain cover. I
found the rain cover quite easy to put on and take off and the way it
secures to the hip belt access flap means it does not interfere with
using the hip belt pack. There is one exception I found to this. On my
trail maintenance trip I used the tri-pod attachments to secure a bow
saw to the pack and realized that while the tri-pod attachment feature
works quite well, it made it rather difficult to attach the rain cover. As
mentioned above the hydration pocket is on one side of the pack and
rather narrow. After digging around I managed to find an old 1L (34 oz)
hydration pouch that seems to fit, but the fit was rather snug and when
full I was unsure if the zipper would close. But it did. I would note
that while I fully understand the configuration to help keep the pack
contents safe from any possible leak of the hydration pouch, this
configuration requires loading the pack with heavy items on the
opposite side to help balance the pack. The water bottle pocket
is quite short and I found even a 0.5L (16 oz) water bottle to stick out enough
that I chose to use a carabineer to attach the bottle to the pack so it
would not fall out. This pocket really needs to be deeper. As
mentioned above the cover for the hip belt storage area has an elastic
strap and toggle, that when pulled will cause the flap to remain open
when unlatched. I found this to be a nice feature. When I opened the
flap and pivoted the hip belt the flap would remain open making it easy
to pivot the belt pack back into place.
|
Long
Term Report |
Due August 18 2015 | Usage 1 day hike Yakima Skyline trail – Eastern foothills of the Washington Cascaides (1343 –1866 ft / 409-569 m). Distance unknown
On
a rather hot day I went to hike a trail I have avoided due to it being
quite exposed and dry in order to test a sun umbrella. The temperature
was over 100 F (38 C), the trail rugged, dusty, and has no cover starts
climbing up the ridge from the start. I am not sure how far I got but,
after about 1hr of sweating and frequent stops I gave up and turned
around for the air conditioned comfort of my truck. I know why I have
never hiked that trail before, and don’t plan to do return. For this
hike I had my “10 essentials” in the pack. This changes per the needs
of each hike but is basically a compass, whistle, small first aid kit,
some cord, a fire starter with a piece of fatwood, tissue paper, Mylar
blanket, knife, and head lamp. I had a 1.5 L (50 oz) soda bottle filled
with water in the hydration pocket and a 0.5 L (16 oz) collapsible
water pouch clipped to the outside of the pack. I started out with the
sun umbrella in the side water bottle pocket, but removed that soon
after leaving the trailhead. On the trail I pulled out the hip belt
pack to access my camera and found it difficult to get it fully back
into place afterword. I removed the pack and found the water bottle in
the hydration pocket was the cause. Apparently the hydration pocket
shares the some of the same space as the hip belt pack, so once removed
it took a bit of force to squeeze the pouch back into its storage
compartment. It is evident the hydration pocket was intended only for a
flat hydration pouch and not something round like a water bottle.
As
with the previous usage the pack fit and rode well, but throughout the
hike I often considered how much more this pack weighed vs. other packs
I have of similar carrying volume, and given the heat of this trip that
extra weight was hard to ignore.
Overall
I think the pack is
well built and could be an asset for carrying delicate items like
camera equipment, however this results in it being a bit over built for
general day hiking. In order to provide protection to delicate camera
equipment the packs construction includes materials to provide
structure and padding which reduce its carrying volume as well as add
weight.
At the conclusion of tests I
always contemplate the ongoing use I anticipate. And as much as I like
this pack I simply don’t see me getting much use out of it, as
evidenced by a few outings during this test that I chose to take a
lighter pack instead of this one. However, I have a friend who is a
semi-professional photographer and he has expressed interest in this
pack. I will see if he can put it to use because I would hate to see
such a nice pack go unused.
|
Triumphs:
- Easy access to the belt pack contents while wearing pack
- Well constructed
- Hip belt pouch works quite well
|
Opportunities:
- Water bottle pocket too short
|
|
This
concludes
my report. I would like to thank the folks at MindShift Gear and BackpackGearTest.org
for the opportunity to test this product.
|
|