Initial Report

Initial Report
Six Moon Designs Comet Pack
May 18, 2005

Manufacturer: Six Moon Designs
URL: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com
MSRP: $180 US (with optional stays)
Year Model: 2005
Listed Weight: 27 ounces/765 grams, with optional stays (included for this test)
Tested Weight: pack with stays: 26.7 ounces/757 grams
                            pack w/out stays: 22.1 ounces/627 grams
                            stays alone: 4.6 ounces/130 grams
                            detachable hipbelt: 4.5 ounces/128 grams
                            pack w/out stays or hipbelt: 17.6 ounces/499 grams
Capacity:   main packbag 2600 cubic inches/42.5 liters
                   extension collar 450 cubic inches/7 liters
                   external mesh pockets 650 cubic inches/10.5 liters
                   total capacity 3700 cubic inches/61 liters
Tester: Colleen Porter
Tester biography can be found at the end of this report.

Product Description: A semi-frameless, top-loading, lightweight backpack. I say "semi-frameless" because of the option to include two aluminum stays, and because built into the pack is an internal sleeve designed to utilize a sleeping pad as a de facto framesheet. Several components of the pack are removable - the stays, the hipbelt, and the shoulder straps can all be stripped off. The main body of the pack is a typical cylindrical sack, made of 70 denier siliconized nylon, a heavier weave of nylon than the 1.1 ounce weave that I am accustomed to seeing. The extension collar is made out of 30 denier siliconized nylon, which is the more standard 1.1 ounce weave that so many ultralight products on the market are made from. The very bottom of the pack, which generally takes the most abuse, is made from a much heavier-duty 420 denier nylon pack cloth. Sewn to the outside of the main packbag are three large mesh pockets - one on each side and an even larger one on the back. The tops of these pockets are elasticized, but other than that there are no closures for the pockets. There are three compression straps made from 1/2 in/1.25 cm wide webbing, all of which are located across the back of the pack, rather than on the sides. Two of the three straps are over the rear mesh pocket. The Comet features two ice axe loops, both also made from 1/2 in/1.25 cm webbing, each with a thin hook-and-loop closure to hold the axe in place higher up on the pack. The extension collar does not cinch closed, rather it closes with hook-and-loop and then rolls down and is closed again with a buckle, much like a drybag closes. There is also a webbing top-strap which then buckles over the top of the packbag. There are hydration tube ports above where the user's left or right shoulder would be, but there is no dedicated bladder pocket inside the pack.

The shoulder straps and hipbelt are padded but minimalist. The straps and hipbelt can both be adjusted and moved up or down along the length of the pack, in order to fit a wider range of torso lengths. The Comet does feature a low-profile lumbar pad, which is sewn onto the pack body but is also attached via a large patch of hook-and-loop. This allows the lumbar pad to be folded down so that the hipbelt can be adjusted or removed.

Inside, the pack features a largish pocket, sewn against where the user's back would be. This is the Pad Pocket, intended to use the wearer's sleeping pad as a framesheet. The pocket does not extend all the way up the interior of the bag, but stops about 7 in/18 cm below the top of the main packbag. There is a hook-and-loop closure that attaches over the sleeping pad and tightens the Pad Pocket as best it can. There is also a very small pocket, about 3 in/7.5 cm deep by 8 in/20 cm wide, at the top of the main packbag on the user's right side. It opens and closes horizontally and seals with a hook-and-loop closure.

Field Information: Testing will primarily occur throughout southern California.   May and June will see our local mountains still thawing out from the appallingly heavy winter we just had (second wettest year on record, almost 38 in/97 cm of rain), so I hope to hit the trails there as the roads re-open (landslides & washouts). Late July will see me camped on the coast for a week, and after that I hope to get up to northwestern Montana for at least two weeks, during which I will be paddling on Flathead Lake, day-hiking in Glacier National Park, and otherwise tootling around in the wilds. In addition, I run/walk almost daily on the creekside trail system that passes by my house.

Backpack Experience/Other Packs Used: I’ve used a wide range of backpacks, from the heavy (almost 7 lb/3 kg), to the ultralight (14 oz./400 g), from external to internal frames, even frameless. I have carried as much as 50 lbs/22.5 kg, but typically my base weight is much lower than that. By myself, base weight hovers around 13 pounds, and when I’m out with my husband we share gear so it drops even lower. However, on family trips the weight climbs back up again – diapers, kids’ clothing, extra food and water. So I tend to use different packs, depending on what the trip calls for. The packs I can remember using are: an ancient 1970-esque external frame pack, a Eureka Talon external frame, an Eddie Bauer 3400 internal, an REI Alpine, a GoLite Breeze, a Gregory Electra, a Gregory Z-pack, a GoLite Infinity, and a Granite Gear Virga.

Initial Impressions: When I pulled the Comet out of the shipping box, I was surprised by how... well... formless it felt. At the risk of being pejorative, almost flimsy - not in a quality sense, but in the sense that it seemed to have no bones. I knew in my head that it was essentially a frameless pack, but I guess since I was getting it with stays I somehow expected them to magically create a frame. But nope, here was a typical floppy frameless pack, with two stays to add some stiffness. Funny how the subconscious mind supplies us with assumptions.

After a cursory inspection, what was the first thing I did? Opened up the gear closet and started loading the pack. First I pulled out my trusty old 6-section Z-Rest, folded it into three layers, and slid it into the pad pocket. Easier said than done, as the Z-Rest's foam isn't known for being slippery. I finally wrestled it in and proceeded to load the pack up with about 18 lb/8 kg of water and gear. I then noticed a problem with using a Z-Rest as the framesheet - the seam between sections buckled a bit as soon as I held the pack upright (I had packed it with the pack laying down, in an attempt to make sure I packed it tightly with the pad laying flat). So instead of the sort of stiff, flat backpanel one expects from a plastic framesheet, the back panel bulged out a bit in the middle. I decided to commit to the ultralight design of the pack and remove the stays, to see how the integrity of the pack would hold up.

The pack held its shape just fine after removing the stays, so I put it on and began walking around the house in it. At this point I had made no adjustments at all to the suspension - the belt and shoulder straps were in the positions they had originally been in. After putting it on, I realized that I would have to adjust the shoulder straps so that they attached lower on the pack. Toward the top, after they have looped over the shoulders and begin to rejoin the packbag, the straps join together into a "V," and then a single webbing strap wraps around a webbing ladder on the backpanel and then feeds into a buckle. This allows the straps to be adjusted for various torso lengths. The problem was that the end of the straps, the "V," was too close to my neck and so the straps were rubbing against my neck quite uncomfortably. Adjusting the straps was quite intuitive and I was able to do it easily and quickly. I guessed how far down I should move the straps, and when I put it back on the straps felt much more comfortable.

Then, I wore the Comet for an hour-long walk along the creek that runs by my house. Initially it was quite comfortable, but inevitably I began having to make adjustments as I walked. This was, after all, my inaugural use and I still needed to find my adjustment "sweet spot." The hipbelt gave me no problems, even though I am over seven months pregnant (all you non-pregnant folk out there can just think of it as a pot belly) - I didn't have to fiddle with it at all. In the course of the hike I adjusted the shoulder straps, tightened and loosened the load lifters, and moved the sternum strap up, down, loosened and tightened it. I was unable to find the perfect adjustment on this hike, and I already have a theory why. See, I believe that load lifters are beautiful things, but if the load lifters do not have a firm, stiff base from which to do their job then they become much less useful. In the Comet, without the stays in, the load lifters are at the mercy of how tightly packed the top of the packbag is. This holds true for any frameless pack with load lifters - they will pull the top of the packbag forward over the shoulders, but unless the bag is packed super-tight they will really just pull the fabric forward, which does little to help center the load properly over one's center of gravity.

Now some might argue that with 18lbs/8 kg, who needs load lifters? They might be right, as I am not very experienced with frameless packs and still have some learning to do. But I personally am convinced of the beauty of good load lifters, so my trick will be figuring out how to make them useful when the aluminum stays are not in the pack. Or perhaps I will surrender and always put those extra 4.6 oz/130 grams of aluminum in the pack. We shall see. The Comet will go on its first backpacking trip this upcoming weekend, loaded with gear & food for a family overnighter. This should be a good opportunity to test the Comet at the upper limits of its recommended weight capacity.

Test Considerations/Strategy: The Comet appeals to me because it seems to offer a lot of versatility at a very attractive weight. At 2600 cu in/42.5 L, the main packbag is small enough that it could easily serve as a daypack for family hikes and as a solo pack for my shorter trips, but with the extra 1100 cu in/18 L of capacity afforded by the exterior mesh pockets and the extension collar, I could conceivably even pack it with a weeks’ worth of food & gear for myself. With the aluminum stays in, it can carry up to 35 lbs/16 kg (but I wonder how comfortably). Where is the true comfort cutoff point?

I also wonder – how small can I cinch it down by using the three external compression straps? Could the Comet be versatile enough that I could even use it as a hydration pack on my daily trail runs? For those runs, I carry 1 quart (1 liter) of water, a couple of energy gel packets, a granola bar, a 100-weight fleece, a rain shell, hat, sunglasses, and liner gloves (I usually go out at 5 am, so it’s a little chilly). I will be sure to give it a try, just to see.

Six Moon Designs suggests using the Comet as an adventure racing pack. I’m not a racer, but I know a lot of places where I could put the Comet through a pretty good gamut of conditions. I will also have the opportunity to use it on and in the water (saltwater and freshwater), lined with a drybag. I’ll be able to see how much water seeps in through the drybag-style top or the seams. Can I paddle a boat or a kayak with the Comet on, or will my elbows bump it constantly? Will saltwater cause any damage to the pack?

The “advanced suspension system,” with its reliance on the sleeping pad as part of the suspension, intrigues me. I have tried using folded or rolled sleeping pads as informal frames in frameless packs, with mixed results. I’ve seen other packs that incorporated the pad more formally, and from what I’ve seen before I’m not completely sold on the idea. Since the Comet has removable aluminum stays, I can play around with testing the suspension with the pad alone, with the pad & stays both, or with the stays alone. I have three different sleeping pads that I would want to try in the Comet – a Z-Rest, a Prolite 3 short, and a TorsoLite from Bozeman Mountain Works. These are common ultralight sleeping pads and will allow me to test the Comet with seven different varieties of suspension.

The lumbar pad is intended to keep the pack from hugging the back completely and to offer some ventilation. I have yet to find a pack that can ventilate my back adequately, so I’m looking forward to seeing if the Comet can keep me cooler than I’m used to. I don’t use an ice axe, but can I carry my trekking poles in the loops? After all, sometimes I need to ditch the poles for short stretches. I have some packs whose axe loops work very well for trekking poles, but others that don’t work for that at all.

I’m also concerned with durability. While Six Moon uses a heavier denier of siliconized nylon than some other silnylon packs on the market, it’s still silnylon and as such in my experience isn’t terribly abrasion-resistant. They have used a heavier-duty pack cloth on the bottom of the pack, so hopefully it can take the standard abuse of occasionally being dropped on the ground. But is the siliconized nylon strong enough to take the strain of being used as a packbag? It will be pulled on by the weight of the gear in the pack, the strain of the compression straps, and the strain of the seams that attach the exterior pockets. Can it take all that pulling without disintegrating at the seams? How tough is the mesh used for the exterior pockets? Will it snag or unravel?

Many thanks to both BGT and Six Moon Designs for the opportunity to be involved in this test.

Tester Name: Colleen Porter
Gender: female
Age: 30
Height: 5'8"/1.73 m
Weight: 159 lb./72 kg (over 7 months pregnant right now)
Email address: tarbubble at yahoo dot com
Location: Orange County, CA

Backpacking Experience: I have been hiking for fifteen years, backpacking for eight. I've only been serious about it in the last three and a half years. I mostly hike on established trails – bushwhacking is rarely planned. I like gear to be simple and light, and I do make some of my own equipment. On my own I pack pretty light (about thirteen lbs/6 kilograms base weight) and am always trying to get lighter, but I am often on family trips with my three-year-old son and the weight usually doubles. My usual backpacking haunts are the San Gabriels, the Sierra Nevada, the Grand Canyon, and the Mojave and Colorado deserts.

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