Owner Review by Pat Pieper

Owner review: MountainSmith Ghost Backpack

Reviewer Information:
Name: Pat Pieper
Age: 42
Gender: female
Height: 5' 7" (1.7 meters)
Weight: 150 lbs (68 kilos)
Email address: crow<at>skylab<dot>org
City: Tampa
State: Florida
Country: USA
Date: March 17, 2004

Backpacking Background:
I backpacked some in my early life, scouting and weekend trips, but mostly just pined away for the trail until my son was grown and since then I have been making up for those more responsibility laden years. I took a 78 day winter semester Outward Bound course where I learned that hiking with 10 other people and carrying a really heavy pack makes for about as bad a time as a person can have outdoors. The first thing I did after getting back was research lightweight backpacking gear. My base weight, everything minus food, water and fuel, is around 11-13 lbs (5-6 kg). I almost always hike alone. I hiked the PCT ( Pacific Crest Trail) in 2001 and then hiked most of the Florida Trail and the entire AT (Appalachian Trail) in 2003.   I've done some foreign backpacking travel in SE Asia.

Product Information:
Manufacturer: Mountainsmith
Year of Manufacture: 2001
URL: http://www.mountainsmith.com
Listed weight : 2 lbs 6 oz (1.08 kg)
Capacity: 3000 ci (49 L)

Description:
This is a lightweight, internal frame, front-loader, pack. It opens with a zipper. It has two mesh water bottle pockets on either side of the pack   It has a small internal zippered pocket and a hydration bladder pocket with a porthole to stick the bite valve through. It has an ice axe loop. It also has a shock cord on the outside of the pack. Instead of stays it uses a fiberglass hoop for its suspension system. It has a hip belt.   The fabric, it's made of, is a strong, lightweight nylon fabric called Dimension Polyant.

Field information:
I bought this pack in the spring of 2001. I carried it on the entire PCT, most of the Florida trail, and the whole AT. A total of 5700 miles (9173 km). I carried as much as 35-40 lbs (16-18 kg) in it but usually around 20-25 lbs (9-11 kg). The longest time between resupplies was 9 days.

Review:
There are lots of adjustments: two straps on each side of the hip belt, the hip belt, the shoulder straps and most wonderful of all, the load lifters that are attached to the fiberglass hoop suspension system that takes the weight off of my shoulders well.   It's light and offers good support.   It's a front loader so it's easy to get to my stuff. It has two mesh water bottle pockets on either side of the pack that can be reached easily while hiking. It has a small internal zippered pocket and a hydration bladder pocket with a porthole to stick the bite valve through. It has an ice axe loop. It also has a shock cord that holds my closed cell foam pad.   The zipper is tough and withstood being stuffed to its full capacity. It's the best carrying lightweight pack I tried.

The problems I have had with this pack are:
The straps rubbed rough spots on my clavicles. There is not a lot of padding in the straps but I don't think that is the problem. I think it might be because of how they need to attach to the suspension hoop the makes them ride not so comfy on the clavicles.   I don't know if other people have had this same problem.   Could just be my clavicles.

I have to constantly pull on the straps because they loosen all the time. Everyone I talk to with a Mountainsmith pack had this same problem. Another hiker I talked to said they called the company about it and they said that there was something they could do to fix it, but they wouldn't fix mine.

The biggest problem I have had with this pack is the fiberglass hoop ends poked holes in the bottom of my pack and the hoop came out just 2 weeks after buying it.   I called Mountainsmith and they sent me a loaner pack, on the PCT, while they repaired mine. The loaner pack's fiberglass rod broke before I even got back my repaired backpack. The pack continued to wear badly where the hoop ends met the bottom of the pack and I tried to reinforce them with nylon tape and duct tape.   I can now stick my fingers through where the fiberglass hoop ends have worn holes in the bottom of the pack. I called Mountainsmith and they told me to send it to them. They then called and said that it would be really expensive to fix and that I would have to pay for it.   They offered to trade my backpack for a coupon for 30 percent off a new pack. So they do not stand behind their "lifetime warranty". Everyone I met had the same problem with this pack.

One other thing, the pack fabric is de-laminating at the top. I patched the holes in the bottom of the pack with some Shoe Goo, duct tape and nylon patches and I'm hoping to put some more miles on this pack. The straps and the rest of the pack are still holding up fine.

Things I like about this pack:
lightweight
carries all my stuff
lots of adjustments that take the weight off of my shoulders

Things I don't like about this pack:
straps rub on my clavicles
straps don't stay adjusted
fiberglass hoop ends wear holes in the bottom of my pack
I don't feel like the company honored their "lifetime" warranty"

Conclusion:
Overall I think this is a great pack for the long distance, lightweight hiker.   Although I did probably carry close to 40 lbs (18 kg) in it on a few days, I wasn't happy doing it. It still carried all right, no sagging or straps digging in, it just felt heavy. But for most days when my weight was 20-25 lbs (9-11 kg) it did great. I would probably buy this pack again.

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