Product Description: a full-featured internal frame women’s backpack. It features Gregory’s Adventure Suspension, Auto-Cant harness, Adjust-A-Cant™ waistbelt, Flo•Form® II waistbelt padding, and the Flo•Form® II women's shoulder harness. It also has a detachable top pocket that converts into a waist pack, side access zippers, a sleeping bag compartment with separate zipper, and 2 vertical front pockets that zip open lengthwise. Please refer to my Initial Report for an extremely detailed breakdown and description of the pack’s features.

Field Information: Due to near-constant illness in my household during January and February, I have only been able to fit in one trip since I wrote my Initial Report – and even then I was in the throes of a sinus infection. Yes, dear reader, I do it all for you. The trip was an overnighter in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness, located in the Trabuco District of the Cleveland National Forest. This area is part of the Santa Ana Mountains, a small coastal range whose highpoint is 5687’ (1733 m) Santiago Peak and whose lowest point is unknown to me but probably below 700’ (213 m). My testing took place at elevations ranging from 1966’ (597 m) to 1120’ (341 m). The weather shifted quickly between overcast and clear. The temperatures ranged from the mid-80s (30 C) to below freezing (based on an 8 am reading of 30 degrees [-1.1 C] in the shade, and the fact that everything left outside the tents was covered in frost when we got up).

Field Testing: I loaded the Electra up with about 27 pounds (12.25 kg) of gear and food, well under its maximum recommended load. I tried valiantly to overpack, but I’m just going to have to try harder next time. Based on how my 27 pounds filled the pack, I can tell that in order to get the load over 40 pounds (18.14 kg) and really give the pack a proper test, I’m going to have to attach items to the outside of the pack. I’ll list what I carried and then describe how well it all fit.

Black Diamond Megamid, with pole and optional floor

Wilderness Experience Alpine Solo Long (sleeping bag)

MSR Miniworks EX

Small first aid kit

Cook kit (all contained in a 3-cup [710ml] pot)

POE Max-Lite Women’s sleeping pad

Therm-a-rest ¾ Guidelite pad (carried for a friend)

200 weight fleece pants, wicking tights, 100 weight fleece zip-neck, GoLite Coal jacket, liner gloves, fleece hat, poncho, and rain jacket (just in case I didn’t like the poncho).

A small bag of essentials (headlamp, batteries, sunblock, toothbrush, paperback, etc.)

Roughly 2 pounds (0.9 kg) of food

4 liters of water in a bladder, with tubing

20 ounces of milk (591 ml), carried in the canted bottle holder

I packed the sleeping bag in the designated compartment. Everything was in its own stuff sack except the clothing, which I stuffed into the crevices between the other items in the pack. The Megamid pole was carried in the exterior mesh pocket, tucked under the compression straps. The Miniworks, the first aid kit, the gloves and hat were all packed in the exterior zippered pockets. The jacket, poncho, and essentials bag were all in the top lid. After pushing everything down as far as I could, I pulled the cord to close the top of the bag. It did not close completely, leaving an opening with a radius of about 2 inches. Then I pulled the cord on the extension collar until it closed. The Electra has a top strap, which is sewn onto the pack bag on both the front and back, then buckles over the top of the pack bag before the top lid is buckled in place. I was surprised to find that the top strap was barely long enough to be able to buckle over the top of the pack bag, even though I didn’t think I had really filled the pack to capacity. I struggled to pull the ends of the strap together but was eventually able to get the buckle closed. I do not know if this is a construction mistake on the part of Gregory or if it indicates that the pack bag should only be packed as high as the top strap can close over.

On the trail, the Electra carried beautifully and required little adjustment while walking. The only exception to this was the hipbelt, which I did have to fiddle with occasionally. I will dedicate another paragraph to that. I found that the balance was made even better by adjusting the top lid straps so that the pack curved toward me and the top rode so that it arched just slightly over my shoulders. There was no noticeable swaying of the pack as I walked. As long as I was standing up straight and walking, I was mostly able to forget that the pack was there.

The angle of the hipbelt can be adjusted, meaning that instead of having it attached to the pack bag at a predetermined angle it can be raised or lowered a few degrees – depending on the user’s preference. My preference is to have the belt on my hipbones and off of my abdomen as much as possible, so I have set the belt at the lowest angle possible. Alas, the downward pressure of the load always causes the belt to eventually scoot up just a bit higher than I like, so once or twice an hour I tend to unbuckle the belt, shrug the load up a bit, re-buckle the belt where I like it, and cinch it as tight as I can. However, the Electra’s waistbelt scoots up far less than in any other pack I have used.

I used the detachable top lid as a fanny pack for a short sunset hike. It was as comfortable as could be and worked perfectly. I carried snacks, water, rain jacket, and essentials in it.

The exterior zippered pockets are tapered – wider at the top, narrower toward the bottom. This made it somewhat difficult to pack harder items into the pockets. I ended up stuffing softer items toward the bottom of the pockets, where there was less usable capacity.

On the second day of the trip I noticed that the upper points of my hipbones were sore, right where the belt rode. Not so sore that it hurt to put the belt on, but sore enough to notice when I touched them. I am guessing that this is partially due to going a bit too long between backpacking trips, and perhaps also because I am using a size Small hipbelt, instead of the size Medium that Gregory’s measurement system says I should use (I was shipped the wrong size belt, but after consulting with Gregory I decided to attempt testing with a size Small). I have already ordered a replacement hipbelt in a size Medium, and hope that this will be more comfortable. This will be covered in My Final Report.

There was also some slight soreness on my collarbone, where the straps pressed against me. Once I have the replacement hipbelt installed on the pack, I am going to have someone from my local REI take a look at how I have the pack adjusted, just in case I’m doing something wrong with how I wear the shoulder straps. This will also be covered in my Final Report. Aside from that, the shoulder straps stayed in place at all times and I never had any problems with them chafing against me at all.

Summary: Overall, the Electra is a promising pack, with a few minor flaws and nitpicks. I will have to work harder at testing it with the sort of pack weights it is intended for. This should not be a problem, as we have family backpacking trips planned for March and May (for which I will be the pack mule), and I will be on a 5-day Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim trip in early April, which will require 5 days of food and a full days supply of water in some stretches.

Likes: Stable carrying – no swaying or pulling back. The hipbelt is the best I have ever used. Detachable top lid/fanny pack is also stable and a very useful feature.

Dislikes: The top strap seems too short to allow packing to capacity. I would rather have a second mesh pocket on the right side of the pack, instead of the water bottle holder. The pack is 10 ounces (283 grams) heavier than Gregory’s advertised weight – over half a pound.

Tester Name: Colleen Porter

Age: 29

Gender: Female

Height: 5’8” (1.7 m)

Torso Length: 17.5” (44.5 cm)

Weight: ~ 140 lb. (64 kg)

Email: tarbubble at yahoo dot com

Location: Orange County, CA

Date: February 23, 2004

Other backpacks used: Eureka Talon, Eddie Bauer 3400, REI Alpine.

Bio/Background: I hike and backpack primarily in Southern California, in deserts, mountains and most everything in-between. Trails run the full spectrum – rocky, eroded, rutted, overgrown, and sometimes nicely maintained. I've been hiking since I was a kid, backpacking since I was 20. I used to be a casual, occasional weekend backpacker, but in the last 2 years have gotten much more serious about it. I go solo when I can, but more often I am out with my husband and toddler son (yes, we take him backpacking). I would say I am a very open-minded backpacker, and am comfortable with a minimum of extras. I enjoy simplicity in my equipment. I used to say, “I'm out there for the walking - everything else is peripheral,” but as my son approaches an age where hiking all day with him becomes almost impossible, I may grow to appreciate time in camp a bit more.

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Field Report

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