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Being fortunate enough to have an extended break from work, I traveled to
Europe to enjoy some outdoor activities in the Spanish Pyrenees and in the
Swiss Alps. Since I was only able to carry a limited amount of gear, the
Starlite pack served a variety of purposes in addition to its role as an
ultralight backpack. The first presented itself during the initial plane
flight. By removing the aluminum stays and sliding those into my checked
baggage, the Starlite was used as a carry-on bag for the long flight. In
this capacity, I found that it served quite well. I used the external mesh
pockets for frequently used items or those that I would want to quickly
remove before taking my seat. The pack is also about the same size as the
airline carry-on baggage limit, and fit well into overhead bins. Once at my
destination I simply slid in the aluminum stays and was ready to begin
hiking. Backpacking and Day Hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees:
The Starlite was carried on a backpacking trip in
 Ordessa
Gorge in the Spanish Pyrenees. As luck would have it, the first day of my
hike began with light drizzle, which became an off and on heavy downpour
that lasted throughout the day. For light weight backpacking trips I
typically do not use a pack cover since they add weight and usually do not
fit very well over the outside of my packs. Instead, I prefer to place items
that I need to keep dry into a water resistant bag inside the pack (usually
a kitchen trash compactor bag). This trip was no exception. The pack was loaded
and the roll top closure secured in place. No other pack cover was used
during the hike. With the pack being deluged with water the entire day, I
expected to find it saturated upon arriving at my destination. Surprisingly,
I found that a only small amount of water had entered the pack at the top,
making the contents loaded just under the roll top slightly damp. The rest
of the contents of the pack were completely dry. My experience is that the
manufacturer's claim that the dry bag closure "keeps your gear dry and
contained" is true. This is not a waterproof pack, and the manufacturer
makes no claims that it is, however, it gets high marks in the weather
resistant category.
The pack was loaded with somewhat more weight than I had carried in the
past due to the extended nature of the trip. Though I did not have access a scale I
estimate the total weight at between 25 - 30 lbs (11 - 14 kg). The
pack carried fairly well on the trip, however, with this heavier weight I began to
notice a problem with the load lifters on the pack.
Note: It should be mentioned that the issues described below were
communicated to the manufacturer and the design of the pack has been changed
to eliminate these issues. I will describe these problems anyway, since they
were part of my experience with the pack provided me for this test series.
First a quick description of this portion of the pack. The shoulder
straps of the pack are connected to the pack body with an acetal buckle. A
piece of ¾ inch (2 cm) flat webbing runs along the top of the shoulder
strap, through an acetal triglide to a point where it is stitched to the
strap. Another webbing strap runs from this stitched point, through the same
triglide, then up to an acetal load lifter located just below the pack's
extension collar. The purpose of this design is to allow the user to adjust
the angle at which the load lifter strap rises off of the should strap. This
is important since load lifters function optimally when this angle is at 45
degrees. The angle is adjusted simply by sliding the triglide up or down
along the webbing over the shoulder strap.
Back to the problem. The issue I began to notice as I hiked with this
somewhat heavier load is that the triglide, which determines the angle of
the load lifter strap, did not hold tension. In fact it would slide to the
highest point it was able on the should strap making the load lifters
ineffective and causing the top of the pack to hang back off my shoulders. I
believe this also put a considerable amount of tension on the webbing
described above that runs through the triglide, since the webbing on the
right shoulder strap tore where it connects to the top of the strap.
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Undamaged shoulder
strap assembly. |
The right shoulder strap
and torn webbing. |
Because the triglide kept sliding up to the highest point (where now the
webbing was torn), I eventually hand tacked it down to prevent it from
sliding off the end of the torn webbing so that I could continue my trip.
It should also be noted that the same type of triglide is used to attach
the lower webbing of the shoulder strap to the pack body. I found that
slippage also occurred at this triglide and even had the entire shoulder
strap disconnect at one point as I hiked. Clearly the triglide slippage
issue is one that creates significant problems for the hiker.
The other problem I found with the pack is with the webbing sleeves into
which the aluminum stays are inserted. When the stays are supporting the
weight of the pack's contents, the force of the load is transferred to the
top and bottom of the webbing sleeves. Unfortunately the webbing used in the
packs construction consists of a loose weave, and I found it was unable to
withstand the forces required to carry the load day after day. The bottom of
the right webbing sleeve tore, allowing the aluminum stay to protrude
through the bottom. This eliminated the ability for this stay to bear any load
since it just slid down to the bottom of the inner pack.
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| Torn stay sleeve. |
Product Update:
Since experiencing these difficulties, the manufacturer has changed the
design of the Starlite to eliminate these problems. A different type of
webbing has been used for the load lifters which allows the triglides to
maintain tension. The stay sleeves were also updated and now use a heavier
webbing with a tighter weave which should prevent damage by the aluminum
stay. The manufacturer has also begun folding over and sewing the webbing
which connects the lower portion of the shoulder strap to the pack body
after it passes through the triglide to prevent it from sliding off. The
manufacturer has sent me a new pack body which has incorporated these
changes and I have not experienced these same problems with this new design.
It should be mentioned, however, that I have also not had the opportunity to
go on another extended 7 week excursion either.
Other than the issues described above, there was no other damage to the
pack or body. The pack has otherwise held up well even after an extended
period of continuous use.
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The
initial design of the Starlite had several significant design flaws which
presented a major inconvenience for me. These flaws quickly became apparent
when carrying a heavier load - 30 lbs (14 kg), which is still below the
maximum weight of 35 lbs (16 kg) recommended by the manufacturer. Six Moon
Designs appears to be very willing to accept user input into the design of
their pack and appears to have corrected these issues with their current
version of the Starlite.