Personal Information

• Name : Graham Blamey
• Age : 61
  
• Height : 1.82 m (6' 0")
  
• Weight : 75 kg (165 lb)
• Email : gg@higray.fsnet.co.uk
• County : Essex
• Country : UK
• Additional product related information
  
• Torso :  53.3 cm (21")
• Chest : 106.7 cm (42")
• Waist :  86.4 cm (34")

Backpacking background

I first went camping at about age five and have been camping, on and off, ever since. I started serious walking about 21 years ago and backpacking a few years later. I have backpacked, with my wife Ginny, mainly in Europe and the UK. We have spent three weeks of each year for the last seven years, backpacking on variations of the GR11, a long-distance, high-level route, that follows the spine of the French/Spanish Pyrenees. We spend at least one day a week on long day-walks, and take a number of three- to four-day backpacking trips throughout the year. We also take part in several night and weekend orienteering events. Our backpacking style (tent, mid-weight packs, Therm-a-Rests etc.) although essentially traditional, is getting increasingly lighter as we explore the possibilities brought about by new materials and designs.

Product Information

Manufacturer	Gregory Mountain Products - California - USA
URL	http://www.gregorypacks.com/
Year of manufacture	2005
Country of origin	Not stated
MSRP	$139.00 US / £100.00 UK
Sizes available	S.   43 L / 2500 cu in    M.   48 L / 2700 cu in    L.    51 L / 2950 cu in
Recommended Loads	No recommended load weights are given on the website description of the pack as far as I can ascertain, but are listed on the hang tag that came with the pack @ 11-16 kg (25-35 lb)
Listed Weight of pack (from website)	S.    1.2 kg / 2 lb 9 oz M.    1.2 kg / 2 lb 12 oz L.     1.3 kg / 2 lb 14 oz
Weight of pack as Received	L.     1.34 kg / 2 lb 14.5 oz

Some features of the pack (taken from Gregory's website)

SUSPENSION FEATURES                         Wraptor™ Stabilizer, Internal Exo•Frame™, Sport harness, Gullwing™ waistbelt, Chimney ventilated backpanel

PACK FEATURES Top access, Large front and side mesh storage pockets, Silicone impregnated G 70 fabric, 210d HT nylon fabric reinforcements. Water resistant, Top pocket zipper, Mesh waistbelt pocket, Hydration sleeve and port, Dual ice axe loops and keepers.

The G-pack was shipped directly to me from Gregory's UK distributor, ESC-Outdoor.
Gregory in the US sell only from retail outlets and this practice is being followed in the UK.
Anyone in the UK wanting to buy or try a G-pack should, in the first instance, check the Gregory website and follow the links from 'Dealer Locator' in the left side-bar .
The pack shipped with a five page hang-tag.
 
For a more detailed description of the G-pack, see my INITIAL REPORT

Field Test locations and conditions.

During the Field Test period, I've used the G-pack on a couple of three-night backpacks and I've also used it as a day pack on a number of day walks. The backpacks were on part of The South Downs Way in the south east of the UK and The Mortimer Trail, which is in the English/Welsh borders. The terrain of the South Downs is mostly rolling downland, leading down to the chalk cliffs by the sea at the English Channel. Inland from the coast is farm and grazing land and areas of deciduous and coniferous woodland.

The majority of The Mortimer Trail runs through farm land which is permanent pasture, with most of the upland areas covered with woodlands which are managed for timber. It's a high level route, crossing three river valleys and although the hills are rarely over 305 m (1,000 ft), there are some strenuous climbs on the trail. It's also an historically rich area, being named after the Mortimer family whose presence in the area can be traced back to medieval times. The area also abounds with Iron Age settlements and Roman roads.

The weather in the UK through October was relatively mild with average daytime temperatures around 15 C (59 F) and nighttime temperatures rarely dipping below 7 C (45 F).  November averages were 10 C (50 F) during daylight hours and 3 C (37 F) during the nighttime, with overnight temperatures dipping to -3 C (27 F) on a number of occasions in late November.

Field Test

South Downs Way

For the three-night trip that I took on the South Downs Way, I was still able to pack fairly light due to the still mild temperatures and spell of settled weather. My shelter was the Shires Cloudburst single skin tarptent that I'd recently finished testing on BackpackGearTest. I was also able to take a fairly light sleeping bag, a synthetic-filled Vango Ultralight 700. The remainder of the main pack body was filled with;  a three-quarter length Therm-a-Rest sleeping pad folded and rolled, a Pocket Rocket stove and a canister of gas, a GSI-Outdoors Hard Anodized pot (0.95 L (1 qt)), lid and handle, a Trangia 0.6 L (0.63 qt) kettle, bowl, spoon and mug, a bag with spare clothes, a bag of food, and a bag with headtorch and other assorted bits a pieces. All of these items were in home-made nylon dry-bags of various sizes, either to keep them dry, or to keep small items together.

The Cloudburst shelter in its stuffsack more or less set the overall height of the pack and next I packed the sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Smaller items, like my first-aid kit, I was able to slide down in between the larger items. Next to pack was the bag of clothes which was easy to squeeze down into any gaps left around the other items. The bag with the cooking and eating gear is fairly rigid and 'un-squashy' so this (along with the bag of food), sat on top of all the other kit. I was carrying all the food for myself and my wife (and our little dog), mostly dehydrated.  The bits and pieces bag was squeezed in around any gaps. I packed my 2 L (70 oz) Platypus hydration bottle in the right side pocket and easily trailed the hose over the shoulder strap and had the bite valve at a convenient place on the front of the harness.

Although the G-pack has an internal sleeve for a hydration bottle, I'd chosen not to use it on this occasion as, when I'd used it on day walks, I'd found it difficult to get water out to fill up my dog's drinking bowl. I had no need to use the side pocket for anything else on this occasion as the G-pack was loaded well under its capacity. In the other side pocket I put my dog's drinking bowl and a spare Platypus bottle. The main pocket stayed empty on this trip, but I knew it would come in useful if we had any rain and I wanted to stash a wet waterproof jacket or overtrousers. I cinched it up tight using the compression strap and it stayed pretty close to the main body of the pack. The hip-belt pockets I found a little bit of a puzzle as, when the pack is on they adopt a curved shape, so I didn't want to put anything too big or rigid in them. They proved an ideal place for a pair of liner gloves though. Into the top lid pocket of the pack went my Montane windshirt, a Berghaus Paclite waterproof smock and a pair of lightweight waterproof overtrousers.

All-in-all the G-pack was nowhere near capacity (as can be seen from the picture left) and I didn't need to extend the lid at all. The total weight for the pack and contents (including a full Platypus) was just on the 10 kg (22 lb) mark, well under the stated 11-16 kg (25-35 lb) maximum suggested by Gregory. To lift the pack on at the start of the trip felt more like hoisting up a day-pack. It was really easy to adjust the hip-belt straps to fit me and once I'd got this part comfortable I adjusted the shoulder straps. I found the padding of the hip belt perfectly adequate at this weight load and the cant (angle) of the belt and lumbar pad is just right for me. Similarly the shoulder strap padding, although I was conscious that the distance between the straps seemed to be quite wide, each strap seemed to be well to the outside of my chest, almost as if they'd slide off my shoulder if I leaned too far to one side. This distance between the shoulder harness straps was most noticeable when I went to fasten the sternum strap. I needed to use all the strap's length and there wasn't much spare left. This might be a problem later in the test when I might be wearing more clothing layers, but for now it was just comfortable.

Once I started walking, the G-pack seemed to settle in and conform to my back shape. Because I have a slightly rounded back I usually choose packs that have malleable stays that I can bend and shape, to give me as near a perfect fit as possible. This isn't possible with the G-pack as it gets its stability from a fairly rigid framesheet (I unfairly described this in my Initial Report as like wearing a sheet of plywood). With any sort of load in it and when it's properly adjusted, it seems to adapt to my back just enough and proved to be really comfortable, it certainly 'hugged' most of my back for it's entire length. There was certainly more than enough hip-belt left once I'd adjusted it and I found I had about 25 - 30 cm (10" - 12") hanging down on each side. When I'm wearing more layers I might need some of this extra belt, but for the moment, it was ideal to tuck the surplus into each hip-belt pocket.

Throughout the three days of this trip, the G-pack proved to be comfortable and perfectly up to the task. The actual (and perceived) reduction in weight over my conventional backpack (about 1 kg (2.2 lb)) that I would have used for this trip was noticeable. I had no problems unpacking and re-packing my kit at the end and beginning of each day, although at times I did miss the two compartment system that I was used to.

I did find it a little difficult to remember the Wraptor system strap adjustment. This needs an upward pull on the strap to tighten and a downward push on the buckle to lengthen the strap when removing the pack. I found I needed to feed a lot of strap through the buckle in order to give me enough room to remove one arm and swing the G-pack off. Similarly, when putting the pack back on, I instinctively went to pull the harness strap down to tighten it then had to remember to pull upwards instead. I'm sure I'll get used to it in time.

When I'm using a pack of this size and with this weight of load I like to take the majority of the weight on my hips and I keep the hip-belt fairly tight. I noticed that I had to frequently tighten the belt due to 'slippage', but I put this down to the 'newness' of the strap and I'm hoping that, in the future, this will stop being a mild nuisance.

As the back is fairly rigid, I found I had to have the shoulder straps fairly tightly adjusted too, to keep the pack close to my back, but I didn't notice any slippage here. I did notice that my back got fairly warm after a couple of hours of fairly strenuous walking but as the weather was fairly warm I wasn't too bothered by this, it was no more than I'd expect with a pack and load of this size and I soon cooled down when I stopped and took the pack off for a spell.

The Mortimer Trail

We were expecting the weather for this trip to be colder than on the South Downs Way and we anticipated some rain over the three days, so I packed my Hilleberg Nallo 2 tent which is a bit bulkier and heavier than the Cloudburst and a heavier fleece jacket and trousers and slightly warmer sleeping bag. The extra bulk of these items plus a little extra food, made little difference to the packing of the G-pack and at 12 kg (26.5 lb) it was still well within the pack's carrying capacity.

The weather did prove to be cooler, so I had a thicker layer on under my windproof top most of the time. This is when I really noticed that the sternum strap was a little tight, even though it was at it's limit. I'm pretty thin, so I don't think there would be enough adjustment there for someone broader than me. I also (at the start of this trip) kept feeling that the pack was hanging away from my shoulders at the top and I kept having to tighten the top load-lifter straps. When I finally took the pack off to see what the problem was, I found that the rear of the floating lid was hooked over the load-lifter strap buckles (see photo below). Every time I moved, the lid released the buckles and the straps slackened a bit. I had to remember every time I took the pack off to make sure the lid was free of the straps. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't happen with more in the pack and the lid set a little higher.

One thing I haven't devised yet is somewhere to fix my camera pouch. Ideally, I like it somewhere on the hip-belt, near to the right hip but there's nowhere suitable so I have it hanging off the belt at the front.

As it turned out, the trail was wet under foot but it didn't actually rain, we just had a little early morning mist and some interesting cloud inversions, so the waterproofness of the Silnylon fabric wasn't tested.

I was really pleased with the comfort and feel of the G-pack during this trip, and I'm looking forward to loading the pack up even more during the coming test period which will now be during mid-winter here in the UK.



Further Testing

I'm looking forward to using the G-pack through the winter (and any trip from now for the next few months can be regarded as a winter trip). I'll be using my Hilleberg Nallo 2 tent, a heavier sleeping bag and pad, and will need to pack extra clothing. I'm confident that the pack will cope with this extra load as it should still be within the stated capacity.

Conclusions

In my Initial Report I posed some questions, generally:

Is the pack comfortable?
# Most definitely. It's a very comfortable carry and adjusts and fits to my back well .
 
Is the padding on the harness and hip-belt sufficient for the heaviest load I might carry?
# The padding, which at first seems a little thin compared to heavier packs of this size, is so carefully made and distributed that there are no sharp or lumpy bits digging into my hips or shoulders.

Is it stable and can I make adjustments on the go, to counteract the different demands of the terrain?
# Generally yes, it feels quite 'back hugging', although it will take me a little while to get used to the Wraptor system when adjusting the shoulder straps.

How easy is it to load and unload?
# In this respect, it's just a big bag and I have to be careful about where and how I pack things, but it's not a problem. I do miss the compartment system that I'm used to but hopefully it'll teach me to consider how I pack things.

How easy is it to reach items that may have migrated to the bottom of the pack?
# So far I've been careful to avoid this, although on one occasion my Petzl headtorch slid down below the larger items and I had to partially unload the pack to retrieve it. I think that's why it's important to put smaller items together in stuffsacks.

How useful are the lid, hip-belt and mesh pockets?
# The lid pocket is certainly useful, it's the only 'real' pocket apart from the main pack. It's fairly capacious and I think I'll be able to load a lot more into it than I have. The key clip inside it is also useful although it is quite deep in the pocket which means that a lot of the pocket has to be opened to reach it.
The mesh side pockets I found invaluable for stashing things; I preferred to have my hydration bladder here and it's good that they're quite deep. The big front mesh pocket I haven't really utilised yet but I'm sure I will as I load the pack nearer to its capacity and need the space.

If the mesh pockets aren't loaded or cinched down, will the surplus material be a liability and snag on passing branches?
# No problem there, the big front mesh pocket that I didn't use kept quite close to the pack once I'd tightened the compression strap on it.

How durable is the pack material?
# So far so good. No signs of wear or tears on any parts (although I must confess that I haven't treated it as roughly as I might a heavier pack).

How weatherproof is the Silnylon and will I still need to carry a separate pack cover?
# So far this aspect hasn't been really tested. I put a pack cover in the top pocket just in case, but that was more for when I left the pack outside the tent at night. During the days that I've used the G-pack, no real rain has fallen on it.

Likes so far
Very light weight
Very roomy
Well made
Comfortable

Dislikes so far (mild)
Wraptor strap system takes a little getting used to
Sternum strap not long enough for me



I am grateful to BackpackGearTest and Gregory Mountain Products, for the opportunity to test this pack .