Granite Gear Vapor Trail Pack

Owner Review
March 28, 2006

Tester Information

Name: Raymond Estrella
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3" (193cm)
Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Email address: rayestrella@hotmail.com
City: Huntington Beach
State: California
Country: USA 

Backpacking Background: I have been hiking for over 30 years, all over the state of California. I have also hiked in Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho. I hike year-round, mostly in the Sierra Nevada, and put 555 miles (894 km) on my boots last year.  As I start my 4th decade of backpacking I am making the move to lightweight gear, and smaller packs.

The product

Manufacturer: Granite Gear
Web site: www.granitegear.com
Product: Vapor Trail Pack
Size: Large (Also available in Short and Regular)
Year manufactured: 2004
MSRP: $ 160.00 (US)
Weight listed: 2 lb (0.91 kg) Actual weight 2 lb 4.1 oz (1.02 kg)
Volume: 3,600 cu in (59L)
Torso length: 21-25 in (53-64 cm)
Color: Sage/Black (Also available in Sky/Moon)
Warranty: (from company web site), “If you are not satisfied with one of our products for any reason, return it to the store where you bought it or contact us about sending it back for repair or replacement.”

Product description

The Granite Gear Vapor Trail is a very light weight backpack aimed at users that have their packed weight down to thirty pounds (13.6 kg) or lower. Mine is predominantly black with some green Cordura on the face and bottom of the pack.

The main pack body is made of 70-D Hybrid Cordura Nylon Rip-Stop. It is very light feeling, but has proven to be pretty tough in the field. The same material continues past the top of the pack in the form of an extension sleeve. The sleeve is 16.5 in (42 cm) long. There is a flat nylon drawstring at the top of the sleeve that secures with a cord lock.

The bottom of the pack is made of green 210-D Cordura Nylon, as are two flaps running vertically on the face of the pack. (See photo) These flaps act as anchoring points for the compression straps so that they will not pull out of the lighter weight fabric used for the body. On one flap “Vapor Trail” has been stitched and on the other, the Granite Gear name and logo.

On either side of the pack at the bottom is a pocket constructed of Schoeller Dynamic stretch fabric. (This fabric lines the inside of the shoulder straps and hip belt as well.) The pockets are cut on an angle to facilitate bottle removal while the pack is being worn.

The pack has six compression straps on it, two on each side and two across the face. The four on the sides each have a National Molding Duraflex Stealth side-clip buckle on them. At the top of the pack there are two more compression straps that criss-cross the opening. These are used to close the pack, and secure it.

The frame is made of a high-density polyethylene material. It is sewn to the back pad of the pack. The pad seems to be made of a piece of .75 in (19 mm) foam, covered with Schoeller Dynamic stretch fabric. The pad connects to the main pack body at the sides and bottom. This results in a large pocket that can hold just about any size of hydration bottle. I have used up to a 1 gallon (4 l) bottle in it. At the top of the pad is a sewn-on grab loop.

Above the pad are the sewn-in shoulder straps. The straps are contoured for better fit, and have two adjustment straps on them. The ones at the top of the shoulder adjust the distance the pack body rides away from my body. The one at the lower end of the shoulder strap pulls the pack down onto my shoulders changing the balance of weight between hip and shoulders. The shoulder straps have high density foam inside them. A sternum strap crosses the between the shoulder straps. It is mounted on a sliding connection. Each shoulder strap has a D-ring attached also.

The removable hip belt is made of this foam too. Besides the Duraflex Dual Stealth side-clip buckle at the front-center, it also has a slip-clip buckle at each side to pull the bottom of the pack closer in to my back.

Field Conditions

The Vapor Trail has been used from a low elevation of 280’ (84 m) below sea level in Death Valley, to a high point of 14,496’ (4,349 m) elevation six days later at the top of Mount Whitney. The temperatures on this hike ranged from 105 F (41 C) under scorching sun, to 27 F (-3 C) and snowing.

I used it for a summit attempt of Mount Shasta in 2005. It was 13 F (-11 C) on that trip. I used it for spring and summer trips to San Jacinto, Domeland, and San Gorgonio Wilderness’s. I used it on a wet spring hike in Cleveland National Forest. I have put around 300 trail miles (493 km) in the books with the Vapor Trail on my back.

Field Use

2004 saw me purchasing a lot of packs. As I updated my hiking gear with an eye toward cutting weight and lowering volume, I kept finding out that I just did not need all the room I thought that I did in a backpack. I had read a lot of good things about the Vapor Trail and bought mine in July of 2004. I had got my pack down to 21lb (9.5 kg) for a three day hike to Mount Langley and figured that the 30 lb (13.6 kg) recommended top end weight would work well for me.

And it has done so. The above mentioned hike was purposely Spartan. I was trying to see how low I could go. (Still quite a ways off Dave’s 17 lb [7.7 kg] for the same trip.) My average pack weight for a three day trip is more like 25 lb (11.3 kg).

The Vapor Trail has a lot of room for such a light pack. In fact it is easy to overload it. On our hike from Death Valley to Mount Whitney, the day that we left Lone Pine and went up to the Portal, and then on to Lone Pine Lake, the pack felt terrible. I did not understand it as the previous 106 miles (171 km) it had felt great on my back. Here is a picture packing the Vapor Trail at Lone Pine Lake.

At the trail head of the Whitney trail is a scale for hikers to check their pack weight. I found my problem. I was at almost 33 lb (15 kg). I was carrying my boots at the time, so once I put them on it helped a lot. Plus I dumped a lot of extra water as I knew we had plenty of water on the trail, something we did not have on the hike out of DV. Going back to 28 lb (12.7 kg) felt wonderful.

I use a Platypus or Camelbak  hydration bag with the Vapor Trail most of the time. I like the way it slides between the pack and the frame. It is much easier to access than a pocket inside the pack itself. On the DV trip I also carried two Nalgene bottles in the outside pockets. I had as much as 5 liters (5 qt) of water at any given time. The side pockets are not too bad to get a bottle out of, but are difficult to get them back in with the pack on.

I have always been a fan of the top-loading pack. Even in the old exterior frame pack days I carried a firefighter’s frame with a full length great-sack, so I am used to packing in this manner. The stuff that I would carry in the top lid of a pack that has one, I carry in a small sack and place it at the top of my packed load.

The straps are very comfortable. I have narrow shoulders for my height and have no problem with them sliding off. I do always keep the sternum strap buckled as that is where I carry my HighGear AltiTech II. The straps were not as comfortable during the overloaded stage mentioned above, but to be honest, after a rough-on-the-feet 104 miles (167 km) in the previous 4 days, it could have just been me.

The sleeve at the top of the Vapor Trail can get a bit cumbersome. It is very long. I try to fold it over itself, back down the body of the pack, but it does not work that well.

The pack is so light that on my trip to Shasta last year I slid the Vapor Trail inside my Bora 95. I used it to carry my the gear I needed to climb the peak along with my sleeping bag and stove in case of a forced bivy. Coming back down carrying the compact Vapor Trail made glissading much easier than it would have been with the larger pack on.

The pockets work OK for standard Nalgene bottles. I can get them out with little difficulty. But if the lower side compression strap is pulled tight, getting them back in can be a chore.

I had been concerned that the full pad against my back would mean a warmer carry than with other packs, but that has not proven to be the case. Even in Death Valley my back was no hotter than the rest of me. Here we are giving our packs a break, just outside of Death Valley. I was carrying a 3 l (3 qt) hydration bottle and two Nalgene’s.

In conclusion I can say that I am very satisfied with this pack. I plan on using for quite some time.