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Reviews > Packs > Internal and External Framed Backpacks > Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki > Amanda Tikkanen > Initial ReportInitial Review--Granite Gear Nimbus Lattitude KiReview Date: April 28, 2005 Name: Amanda Tikkanen Age: 23 Gender: Female Height: 5' 4" (1.6 m) Weight: 135 lbs (61 kg) Email address: uberpest at uberpest dot com (Website http://www.uberpest.com) City, State, Country: LaGrange, IN USA Backpacking Background: I have been backpacking and hiking for five years throughout Michigan and Indiana, covering several hundred miles, always with a dog by my side. Beau has been happily carrying a pack for almost three years. Before Beau I hiked with Lucy, who is now retired. My style of backpacking is moving from overnights to long distance hiking, including multi-day trips. While I don't favor ultralight equipment, I do like to go as light as possible while still being comfortable. Product Information: Manufacturer: Granite Gear Year of Manufacture: 2005 URL: http://www.granitegear.com Manufacturer's weight: 3 lbs 14 oz (1.76 kg) Weight as tested: 4 lbs 0 oz (1.81 kg) Manufacturer's volume: 3900 cu (63.9 L) MSRP: $240 (US) Rated load capacity: 50 lbs (22.7 kg) Warranty: Lifetime for defects in materials or craftsmanship to original owner Material: 70-denier Hybrid Cordura Ripstop fabric, Durastretch panels, fiberglass composite Tepex frame. Color: Ribbon Red (a bright red) and putty (a neutral tan) with black accents. Granite Gear offers a custom fit based on three measurements. The website describes these measurements well. The following are my measurements and the fit requirements from those measurements. Torso length: 17.5" (44.5 cm) Hip measurement at hip crest: 31" (78.7 cm) Chest at widest point: 36" (91.4 cm) Pack size: Short torso-14-18 in" (35.6-45.7 cm) Waist belt size: Women's medium-30-34" (76.2-86.4 cm) Shoulder strap size: medium-34-40" (86.4-101.6 cm) The standard shoulder straps for this pack are "trim" and the shoulder attachment points are set at a narrow setting. The narrow setting is supposed to fit women and those with narrow shoulders better than the standard width setting. There are a lot of fit options on this pack, with two widths and four lengths of shoulder straps, two sizes of pack frame and five men's and four women's hip belts. Item Description: The item arrived on April 21, 2005. A laminated hangtag describing the Latitude Ki was attached to the pack itself with a plastic tie. Inside the pack (inside the internal lid) was a current Granite Gear catalogue, the pack's owner's manual, and two small Granite Gear logo stickers, perfect for decorating water bottles or roof boxes. Also included inside the internal lid was a small stuff sack containing the following repair items: one 3/4" (1.9 cm) side-release buckle, one 1" (2.5 cm) ladderlock buckle, and two Phillips screws for the shoulder straps. This stuff sack was clipped onto a D-ring inside the lid. The owner's manual describes Granite Gear's line of packs, including how to customize the fit of the pack, what sizes are available, and the materials used to make the pack. This manual had a few minor typos, but was easy to follow to adjust the fit to my frame. Colors available are "Sage and Putty" or "Ribbon Red and Putty." As tested, the colors are Ribbon Red and Putty. "Ribbon Red" is a vibrant red and "putty" is a neutral tan. I was happy at the attention to detail this pack received. There are no loose threads, and the seams are all finished. Interior seams have been taped-a big bonus for keeping water out of the pack. The zippers ran smoothly and the buckles didn't have any hang-ups. The single durability issue I have with the pack at this time is that the spring-loaded cord lock on the internal lid jammed in an open state, allowing the lid to fall open. I was able to pop the jammed spring with the tip of my pocketknife, so it functions properly again. To say this is a panel loading internal frame pack is simplifying things a bit. The internal frame is unlike anything I've seen from other manufacturers. The Tepex framesheet is molded to the shape of a hiker's back, with three zones of flexibility-a rigid upper zone, a flexible lumbar zone, and a semi-rigid mid back zone. According to the manufacturer, the lumbar zone is flexible to allow natural movement while absorbing shock from the load. The mid back is semi rigid to allow flex while directing the weight of the load down onto the hips, and the upper zone is rigid to allow the load lifters to pull the load close to the wearer's back. There is a curve molded into the top of the framesheet, above the shoulder strap attachment point, which is supposed to allow the user to fully crane her neck back to look up. Granite Gear calls this the head-room pocket. Two shoulder straps attach to the frame via #2 Phillips screws. These well-padded shoulder straps are easy to adjust via pre-drilled holes to accommodate different torso lengths. The shoulder straps pivot on the screws to follow the shape of the wearer's shoulders. This is supposed to be more comfortable than fixed shoulder straps. Heavy Cordura fabric covers the outside of the straps, and the interior is covered with smooth Durastretch. Running from the top of the shoulder straps to the top of the pack are two gray load lifter straps. The excess length of the load lifters is held in place by two D-rings, one on each shoulder strap. The back of the frame sheet is padded with what feels like a memory foam pillow. It is soft, yet supportive. Durastretch covers this padding. The hip belt, like the shoulder straps and back panel, are very well padded with Cordura on the outside and Durastretch on the inside. In addition to this cushy padding, there is a High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) exoskeleton on the hip belt. According to the owner's manual, this exoskeleton is designed to transfer more of the packs weight to the user's hips. The hip belt attaches to the framesheet via two hip stabilizer straps, one hook-and-loop closure patch, and one #2 Phillips screw. The hip belt can be swapped out for a larger or smaller belt, but does not need to be removed for fine tuning the fit. The pack body is made of Cordura nylon with a Durastrech panel in the center of the pack. There are four pockets, two on each side of the pack. The upper pockets are gusseted to allow for expansion and zippered with YKK weather resistant zippers. The bottom pockets are open and seem to be just the right size for water bottles or rain gear. My concern with the bottom pockets is that the bottom corner nearest the framesheet is open, which may be to allow rainwater or a hydration tube out of the pocket, but it could also allow small items, such as a flashlight, to fall out unintentionally. On the sides of the pack is a zigzag shaped system of nylon webbing straps, which can be used to compress the load, as well as for attaching items such as sleeping pads, tent poles, or sweaters. Two ice axe loops are sewn on to the bottom front of the pack. The Durastretch panel on the front of the pack overlaps with Cordura at the top and the bottom. The bottom of the pack is a bathtub style. The loading style of this pack is different from what I'm used to-top loaders. With a top loader I just dump everything in, shake it down, and hope I can still find it later. With the panel loader I have to load the pack like it was a suitcase. I do this via a Durastretch panel that runs the length of the pack from top to bottom. On each side of this panel there is 2-way a weather resistant YKK zipper. If both zippers are fully unzipped, the panel flips open either to the top or the bottom. This feature is supposed to allow access to gear stored anywhere in the pack without unpacking the gear on top, like a top loader. At the back of the inside of the pack there is a hydration pocket, which is secured with a shock cord net. The port for the hydration pocket is directly behind the wearer's head, where the Durastretch panel zips over the top of the pack. Once my tent, sleeping bag, etc. are loaded, two buckled straps inside the pack wrap around the gear, compressing it and holding it in place. At the top of the inside of the pack there is what appears to be a sil-nylon stuff sack. This is the floating internal lid. It clips to the inside of the pack with two side release buckles. The bottom of this lid has thin foam padding. When I held the lid up to a bright light I could see die-cut holes in the foam, presumably to reduce the pack's weight. The manufacturer claims this lid can be used as a seat. To me the padding seems too thin to make a comfortable seat. However, this lid could easily be used to store small items, such as a headlamp, notebook, and other nighttime essentials. Once in camp I would only have to unclip the lid and tote it into my tent. It could also be used to store clothes and be an instant pillow. Since I use lids on packs for more than just holding small, frequently accessed items, I miss an external lid for things such as holding sweaters or sleeping pads. Hopefully the series of compression straps on the outside of the pack will work well for this purpose. After the gear is loaded and the Durastretch panel is zipped up, another set of two straps and buckles further compress the load near the wearer's spine. The Durastretch panel does give with the load somewhat, but it seems to hold the load in place well. Initial Impressions: Trial of Item I took this pack on a 3 mile (4.8 km) road walk with a load of about 25 lbs (11.3 kg), which included my tent, sleeping bag, camera, some towels (to fill out the pack) and two 5 lb (2.3 kg) sandbags. The temperature was about 25 degrees Fahrenheit (Celsius), a strong wing was pushing at me from the side and a mix of snow/hail was falling. The YKK weatherproof zippers held up well to this wintery mix. Since this mix was relatively dry, I am looking forward to seeing how these zippers will hold up to various types of rain. As for the suspension, this pack did extremely well. Since the manufacturer claims the pack can handle loads of up to 50 lbs (22.7 kg), I hardly noticed that I was carrying any load when I was carrying half its rated capacity. The head-room pocket in the framesheet is already very nice. I was able to look at birds flying overhead without bumping my head on the pack. Hopefully this will make it easier to take pictures of things up high as well. One note on the load lifters: these straps seem excessively long. When I was out in the wind the straps whipped around and smacked me in the face a few times. I will have to figure out a way to keep this from happening again in the future. The bathtub style bottom of the pack was a little disconcerting to me. The Durastretch panel does overlap with the bottom of the pack, but small items do fall out through this overlap. If a stuff sack were to open or if you have the habit of randomly tossing small things into a pack (as yours truly is guilty of from time to time) you may find yourself to be missing these small items somewhere down the trail. Careful packing should remedy this problem, though I wish there were a hook-and-loop tab there to ease my fears. Testing Plans: Testing for the Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki will be primarily in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and throughout Indiana. In 2004 I had an aborted trip to hike Michigan's 80-mile (129 km) High Country Pathway (HCP). I plan to test this pack on a multi-day trip while I complete this hike. Other trips will be long day hikes and 2-3 night trips. Base weight for my trips is 15-20 lbs (6.8-9.1 kg), with food and water making the load 20-30 lbs (9.1- 13.6 kg) for 1-3 day trips and possibly 40-50 lbs (18.1-22.7 kg) to start the 6-7 day circuit of the HCP. Also, I am currently training for my United States Forest Service (USFS) Pack test. This is the physical fitness requirement for the USFS Red Card certification, which would allow me to work on a wildfire crew. The test requires that I carry a 45-lb (20.4 kg) pack for 3 miles (4.8 km) in 45 minutes or less. People I know who have completed this test successfully suggest that a well fitting internal frame pack is my best bet for passing the test. I will be using the Nimus Lattitude Ki not only for my training hikes, but also for the pack test itself. I feel this will be an excellent opportunity to test the manufacturer's claims that the pack can handle loads up to 50 lbs (22.7 kg). Training hikes will be 4 or more miles (6.4 km) 2-3 times per week, with longer hikes on the weekends. Terrain for the training hikes is hilly, since I live in a region of the Midwest carved by glaciers and dotted with glacial moraines. Stream crossings are likely. Thick brush is encountered often. In regards to weather, winter is officially gone, but spring temps in the Midwest often dip near freezing, and have just in this past week during my initial testing. Michigan and Indiana are known for their damp climates and are likely to change from hot and dry one day to cold and rainy the next. I expect temperatures to range from the mid-30s F to near 100 F (2-38 C) over the course of the next six months. Since I will be using this pack for loads nearing the suggested capacity, I am concerned mostly with the carrying capacity of the pack as well as comfort under the maximum recommended load. Flex and fit of the pack will be essential while completing my USFS pack test. Considerations for the test include, but are not limited to: Comfort and fit
Thank you to BackpackGearTest and Granite Gear for the opportunity to test the Nimbus Latitude Ki. I look forward to testing this pack. Read more reviews of Granite Gear gear Read more gear reviews by Amanda Tikkanen Reviews > Packs > Internal and External Framed Backpacks > Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki > Amanda Tikkanen > Initial Report | |||