Reviewer Information

• Name: Cora Hussey
• Age: 23
• Gender: Female
• Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
• Weight: 150 lb (70 kg)
• Email address: cahhmc "at" yahoo "dot" com
• Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
• Date: March 2, 2004

Basic Product Information

• Manufacturer: The North Face
• Year of Manufacture: 1999
• URL: http://www.thenorthface.com/
• Listed weight: Unknown, the style has changed considerably
• Weight after use in this review: 2 lb 7 oz (1.1 kg)
• Size: Large
  • Pack torso measured at 18 in (46 cm) between hip belt and shoulder straps
• Listed Capacity: 2300 cu in (38 L)
• Adjustability:
  • Hip Belt Circumference: 23 to 51 in (58 to 130 cm)
  • Shoulder Straps (front only, not including pack torso): 16 to 29 in (41 to 74 cm)
  • Sternum Strap: 5 to 8 in (13 to 20 cm) between shoulder straps
  • Sternum strap cannot be adjusted up or down on shoulder straps

Product Description

Fitting

I provide the measurement range for this pack in the basic product information above. I have about a 19 in (48 cm) torso (torso measurements depends on what landmarks I use, this measurement is from pelvic top to seventh vertebrae). The large size Exocet fits me quite well. The hip belt rides on my hips, the sternum strap on my sternum.

Packing

In addition to the pockets detailed above, the Exocet has two compression straps on each side of the pack to cinch the load down. The top lid comes over an extension skirt and attaches to one buckle in the front. The extension skirt has a drawstring only on the top end (not where it attaches to the pack), and a rope compression strap runs over the skirt and under the top lid. The top lid is fixed at the back, and so it does not extend up or down.

Other Details

The Exocet, though simple, does have some nice extras. Mine has a key clip on the inside of the top lid pocket, and I have found it invaluable many times to have a safe place to clip my keys to. A daisy chain runs up the front of the pack between the two bellows pockets, and a single ice axe loop sits at the bottom of the daisy chain. This has made it pretty easy to attach an ice axe to the pack, although I have to tie it to the daisy chain or tuck it under the lid attachment strap.

Field Testing

I have used the Exocet in the Rockies of Colorado and the Sierras of California. Temperatures ranged from 90 F (32 C) to 15 F (-9 C), and conditions ranged from snowy, icy, and windy, to sunny and dry. Elevations ranged from 2,000 to 12,000 ft (600 to 3700 m), and terrain was mostly mountainous. I have used the Exocet mostly as a daypack and a climbing pack. I occasionally use it as a skiing pack or as an overnight pack.

Important Usage Points:

+ Product as Advertised: Almost completely
Comments: The one thing I disagree with in the advertising is the claimed stiffness of the suspension. It advertises that the foam in the back adds to the suspension, but in fact the foam is so soft that I have rolled it up and sat on it on a few trips. Other than that, it has the listed pockets, straps, and configuration that were advertised when I bought it.

+ Comfort: Good
Comments: The most accurate term I can think of to describe the comfort of this pack is: "Square". What does this have to do with comfort? Well, the pack is pretty square. The shoulder straps are not curved very much. In short, the entire thing puffs up exactly like a square when I pack it full. It is certainly not uncomfortable, but it feels like carrying a padded box around on my shoulders with slippery shoulder straps, and sometimes I feel like there should be more to be had. However, that is not to say that the pack is necessarily uncomfortable. When packed up correctly, the padding on the back panel protects my back from getting poked, and if the contents are stiff enough then the pack does transfer a fair amount of weight to my hips. The hip belt does not suffer from the same slipperiness as the shoulder straps, and the sternum strap definitely adds a lot of comfort over the longer haul. As for loads, I would say that I have found this pack comfortable for loads under 30 lb (14 kg), but this is really dependent on the contents -- I would much rather carry 35 lb (16 kg) in it than skis with an additional 5 lb (2 kg).

+ Stability: Great
Comments: For the most part, this is a pretty stable pack. I can tighten the shoulder straps and hip belt and feel like the Exocet is relatively well glued to my back. The hip belt does not slide around, and the sternum strap adds a great deal of stability. However, when I pack larger things on the outside, such as strapping a pad to the side or back, or skis to the sides, the pack quickly becomes unweildy. Skis are especially uncomfortable when the pack is only partially full and very floppy. But when used as a basic big daypack, and having outside dangling items limited to a rope under the rope compression strap or an ice axe in the axe loop, the Exocet has proven to be pretty stable.

+ Versatility: Good
Comments: This pack has been a jack of all trades but a master of none for me. I take it climbing and it performs pretty well, but there are some items such as hip belt gear loops which I wish the Exocet would have. I take it skiing, but it is pretty floppy with skis on it. I take it on dayhikes, but it is usually too big for anything but winter snowshoeing trips. My favorite thing to use it for is carrying my rope and other gear to the crags for day climbing, at which it excels. However, I am certainly a pack user who likes details, and since the Exocet definitely has a high degree of simplicity it makes sense that I am always wishing for little details to make my life easier.

+ Packability: Excellent
Comments: This is one thing I really like about the Exocet. It is just the right size for my rope, rack, lunch, and fleece for a climbing trip. Or, it is just the right size for my bivy, warm parka, lunch, and a light rack for an alpine trip, or forget the rack for a skiing trip. My 1 L (32 oz) water bottles fit in the bellows pockets on the front. The top pocket easily takes my map, sunglasses, and warm hat. It is a nicely sized pack for those gear-intensive days that I have learned to love so much. In addition, though the foam along the back does little to help the suspension, it does a lot to pad my back from poking things I might have incorrectly packed inside. The one gripe I have about packing is that when I really stuff the Exocet full, the lid does not fit over the top very well and hits me in the back of the head. So, I simply pack it less than its full volume.

+ Durability: Great
Comments: This is one of the stronger aspects of the pack, in my opinion. The body of the pack shows very little wear despite what it has been through with me. The top skirt waterproofing has come off, and the stitching has come out from the folded-over ends of the hip belt, but other than that the pack is pretty much at 100% functionality. One other thing is that sometimes the sternum strap slides out of its attachments to the shoulder straps and falls off. So far, this has only occurred to one side of the sternum strap at a time, so I have not lost it yet. The main reason why I would not say the durability is excellent is because the stitching tends to begin to come out in the weirdest places. For example, it has begun to unravel from the interface between hip padding and the webbing, and between the two fabric covers of the foam at the back of the lid-pack interface. However, once a line starts to unravel it seems to spontaneously stop and not affect anything about how the pack functions. Weird.

Summary

The Exocet is a durable basic large rucksack. It performs admirably in many situations, but it has dazzled me in none of them. I can coax it into doing such crazy things as carrying skis when fully loaded, but mostly it is a relatively comfortable way of carrying lots of gear for a day trip.

• Upsides for me:
  • Durable
  • Well sized for many applications
  • Some nice extras like a key clip and long zipper pulls
• Downsides for me:
  • Slippery shoulder straps
  • Back padding could be stiffer
  • Lid does not pull down over a full load
  • Square-like and not very ergonomic

Read more reviews of The North Face gear
Read more gear reviews by Cora Hussey

Reviews > Packs > Frameless Backpacks and Day Packs > TNF Exocet Backpack > Owner Review by Cora Hussey