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Long Term Report - Gregory Whitney Pack
October 28, 2004
Personal Information:
Name: David Sowards-Emmerd
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 8'' (1.73 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Email Address: drunken_marmotATyahooDOTcom
Los Altos, California, USA
Date: October 28, 2004
Backpacking Background:
I began backpacking semi-frequently about three years ago, soon
after moving to California. I generally take weekend (1 night)
trips, and occasionally take 3-4 day trips. Most of my
backpacking experience is at moderate altitude, 6,000'-12,000'
(1,800-3,650 m), in conditions ranging from dry desert to hail/heavy
snow in the mountains. In winter and spring I split time between
Southern California (SoCal) deserts and snowshoeing/snowcamping in
the mountains. Summer and fall I tend to stick to the high country.
My pack weight has generally been in the 60-90 lb (27-40 kg)
range (including food/water and a bear barrel) over the past few
years, but recently I've been buying lighter gear. So now before
each trip I'm stuck deciding whether to go lighter, or just carry
more 'toys' to make up for the lost weight.
The product was received on April 1, 2004.
Product Specifications:
Manufacturer: Gregory Mountain Products
www.gregorypacks.com
Model: Whitney
Model year: 2004
Size: Waist Belt - Small
Shoulder Harness - Small
Frame - Small
Color: Midnight Blue
MSRP: $329
Manufacturer's Specifications:
Volume: 4,950 cubic inches / 81 l
Weight: 6 lb 9 oz / 3.0 kg
As measured by tester:
Total Pack Weight: 7 lb / 3.18 kg
Top Pocket Weight: 10 oz / 285 g
Product Description:
The Gregory Whitney is a large (4,950 cubic inch / 81 l) internal
frame pack with a very supportive, but flexible frame intended
for carrying load up to 65 lb / 30 kg. Numerous pockets and access
to the internals of the pack from almost every possible direction
make this pack very organization oriented. For a much more detailed
description of the pack, along with photos, see my Initial Report.
Field Use - Field Testing Period:
For details of the initial field testing of the Whitney, see my Field Report.
Field Use - Long Term Testing Period:
In addition to backpacking, I took the Whitney on two more training hikes
(August 25 and 29 2004) up Black Mountain (see my for a description of the
Black Mountain trail see my Field Report. I carried 40 lb / 18 kg and
46 lb / 21 kg loads respectively to the top, drinking a beer and dumping
several quarts/liters of water at the summit to lighten my downhill load.
I used treking poles on the first of these two hikes and did not have any
problems with bumping my arms into the side pockets or water bottle pocket.
On both trips, the pack carried the load well on what is in parts a steep,
dusty and slick (loose scree mixed with dust) trail.
Sept 11-12, 2004
Location: Torrance, CA
I packed up the Whitney for a weekend road trip (staying in a hotel) down
to Los Angeles to watch our local soccer team play an away game and do a
bit of bouldering at Stoney Point on the side. Of course this meant I
packed much more junk than I needed for a hotel overnighter (including a
new cannister stove!). However, it was a very convenient way to get from
the 'off-site' hotel parking to the hotel since I don't own any rolling
luggage. The various pockets and dividers made organization a breeze.
Sept 18-19, 2004
Location: Vogelsang, Yosemite National Park, CA
Conditions: 20 - 40 F / -7 - 4 C on Saturday and remained below freezing
during the day on Sunday (water bottles half froze overnight)
Description: 19 mi / km loop with 2,000' / 600 m elevation gain
Elevation: 8,500-10,500' / 2,600-3,200m
The temperature for Saturday night was predicted to dip as low as 19 F / -7 C
at 8,500' / 2,600 m, so I packed for a winter trip without the
snowshoes/skis. The total load ended up around 45 lb / 20 kg. I
arranged outerwear so that everything I might need when stopping on the
trail was easily accessible - gloves and wool hat in one side pocket,
windshirt and headband in the front pocket, water filter and a bit of
food in the other side pocket, and a fleece jacket quickly accessible
through the front panel. I packed the tarp and groundsheet for the
tarp (my wife insists on briging this) on the sides of the pack right
next to the side access panels to prevent objects from migrating between
the main compartment and the side pockets. However, this effectively
cancels out side access to the main compartment - see below under Things
'I Don't Like'.
The Whitney carried my bear cannister (vertically) very comfortably - I
couldn't tell it was in there other than the added weight. I definitely
did not feel the ridge around the middle of the cannister (Garcia model)
which has been a problem with smaller, lighter weight packs. I should
mention that I did have a cut up RidgeRest sit pad in the hydration
pocket between my back and the bear cannister. I also used
the Whitney as a half-pad for sleeping, and overall it worked quite well
but I did run into a few problems that can easily be avoided. First, the
shoulder straps occasionally catch on my legs when I'm rolling
around (I'm an active sleeper) and I found my feet catching on the hipbelt
rather frequently, often moving the pack a foot or so out from under me.
However, if desired, I could have removed the hipbelt and shoulder straps
preventing this problem. Also, I should note that part of the reason I
woke up so many times was that dust was blowing like a storm into and
inside of our teepee style tarp for the first half of the night until the
snowfall sealed off the bottom edge from the outside. Overall, the pack was
very comfortable and stable on this trip, and at times I forgot I was wearing
a pack at all (I'm sure the scenery helped with this!)
Sept 21, 2004
Location: Los Altos/Stanford, CA
Conditions: Cloudy and 55 F / 13 C
I biked to work (6 mi / 10 km and 200' / 60 m gain one-way) today with the
Whitney on my back, carrying a 25 lb / 11 kg
load of clothes, food and a thermos. The pack was relatively comfortable on
the hips and back with plenty of ventilation, but shifts up and down a bit
(alternating sides) with each cycle of the pedals. However, the upper end of
the pack made it impossible to keep my head up and of course everything in
the top pocket shifted forward (I was wearing a bike helmet, but the pack
was still in the way even without it). Overall, I think any pack that
extends much above my neck will not find much use as a bike pack.
Oct 2-3, 2004
Location: Island Lake, Desolation Wilderness, Eldorado National Forest, CA
Conditions: Cloudy, 60 F / 16 C on Saturday with about an hour of rain
Sunny and cooler on Sunday
Distance: 8 mi / 13 km roundtrip with 1200' / 370 m elevation gain, and
more hiking with the pack top converted into a hipsack.
Elevation: 7,000-8,200' / 2,100-2,500 m (plus day hike to 9,500' / 2,900 m
This was a pretty straighforward short hike in to set up camp before
attempting a quick peak or two.
Unfortunately, the weather came in quickly and canceled our plans after
most of the elevation gain was out of the way. One thing I noticed on this
hike is that the pack squeaks a lot more when almost all of the weight is
transfered to the hips. On this trip, I loaded the pack a bit lighter,
weighting in at about 35 lb / 19 kg. On the short-lived peak climb,
I carried the top pocket (as a hipsack) completely full. Shortly after we
were forced to retreat because the thunderstorms in the distance were
quickly moving closer, we were caught in a downpour for approximately 30
minutes. During this soaking the contents of the top pocket remained
completely dry. Hip hickeys on this trip were pretty minimal.
October 13-17, 2004
Location: Dusy/Palisade Basin via Bishop Pass, South Lake Trailhead, Inyo National Forest, CA
Conditions: See below
Elevation: 9,800'-12,300' / 3,000-3,750 m (plus day hike to North Palisade
at 14,242' / 4,341 m)
Description: 10 mi / 16 km hike in with ~3,000' / 900 m of elevation gain to
get to base camp.
The pack was loaded for a 4 day trip including two 100' / 30 m double ropes,
a climbing helmet, and assorted climbing gear for a Class 4 peak hike
(almost all of which never got used). Everything except the helmet and a
RidgeRest sleeping pad just barely fit inside the pack and was fairly well
balanced - total weight approximately 55 lb / 25 kg. The hike in was sunny
and cool with temperatures ranging from 45-60 F / 7-16 C. Routefinding
across a boulder field occupied us for the last quarter of the hike. Good
pack stability was nice here jumping between car-sized boulder tops. Once
in camp, I set up my sleeping system using the Whitney as a half pad. This
time I removed the shoulder straps from the top to avoid my feet catching
on them in my sleep - a quick and easy solution to the problem. Two more
days of unseasonably nice weather at 12,000' / 3,650 m passed with a
successful summit of North Pal. Waking up the next morning, we were greeted
with 6'' / 15 cm of fresh snow, strong winds, and more snow falling. This
was very disheartening, since we had a good 2.5 mi / 4 km of scrambling
across steep ridge after ridge of snow-covered boulders and huge rock slabs.
We set out early at 7 am, and took a total of 14.5 hours to cover the same
ten miles we hiked a few days earlier in under 6 hours including
routefinding. This was the longest single period I've ever hiked with a
55 lb / 25 kg pack on my back. Obviously, stability and balance here was
extremely important, with 10-20' / 3-6 m falls frequenly possible as we
slowly made our way through the steep snow covered boulders - luckily, the
Whitney performed admirably. Also quite lucky, I packed almost all my
outerwear accessible, as later I needed every bit of it as we hiked out
in the dark and this minimized the snow that made its way into my pack on
our way out. This was one fun (most of the time) epic trip! However, after
the long day and 4+ layers on my bottom half, I had the worst hip hickeys
every. My right hip is still purple two days after returning from the hike.
Things I Like:
- The Whitney carries a heavy load relatively comfortably on hips, shoulders
or a combination of the two. However, on longer hikes I have gotten pretty
bad hip hickeys - my right hip still has a purple spot from this two days
after the Palisade basin trip, although this may partly be due to the mix
of 4 bottom layers worn on the hike out.
- It is very easy to organize gear due to the large number of pockets.
- No noticeable wear and tear so far.
- Top, bottom, side and front panels provide excellent access to most anywhere
in the pack.
- Excellent ventilation for such a big pack
- The water bottle pocket is much easier to get a bottle into and out of
than the standard mesh/stretch side pockets. However, it's really only
useful as a water bottle holder - I could probably stuff a windbreaker in
it, but that's about it. However, even when I'm carrying a hydration
bladder, I still tend to bring along a nalgene bottle.
Things I Dislike:
- On the side pockets the divider is poorly designed - it only separates a
little over half of the side pocket from the main pack. Thus items migrate
out of the main pack body. Suggested improvement: replace with a full mesh
panel with a D-shaped panel/zipper to completely separate the side pockets
from the main compartment - or simply make the side pockets completely
separate. Additionally, the zippers on these dividers become unzipped
almost every time I pack the main compartment close to full.
- The over-the-top compression strap could be a bit longer so that it reaches
far enough to snap closed when the pack is very full or when I want to secure
a rope on top of a relatively full pack.
- The side compression straps could definitely be improved - an internal
compression strap across the mesh divider (inside the pocket) and
compression straps above and below the pocket would be a huge improvement
in the useability factor of the side pockets and also provide excellent
compression.
- The 3/4'' / 2 cm buckles snap together very tightly - they sting
fingers in the cold - and are extremely difficult to unsnap with
winter gloves. The positive side to this is that it is difficult
for them to come undone accidentally.
Nitpicks:
- It would be nice to be able to completely remove the sleeping bag
compartment divider.
- Aside from Gregory tradition, why not use a snap buckle for the 5th
strap connecting the pack top (hipsack) to the main pack? If the pack
top was left behind, I could see this as being an issue (buckle flopping
around), but I don't anticipate ever using the pack like this.
- The main pack waistbelt and top pocket waistbelt have different sized
buckles; a large buckle isn't really needed here since I can't fit that
much in the top pocket, but since one is used, it would be nice to
see a 2''/ 5 cm buckle used so that it could function as a replacement
for a broken waistbelt buckle.
- The water bottle holder needs a shorter keeper strap. I generally twist
the strap 3 or more times to effectively shorten it. On my last trip with
the pack, on a faceplant in the snow, my water bottle shot straight out of
the pocket while my Platypus stayed put in the other sides mesh pocket!
Random Observation:
The pack seems to squeek a lot more when all the weight is on the hips (load
lifters tight, and shoulder straps loose above the shoulders but tight on
the chest.)
Future Use:
Overall, I've been very happy with this pack for larger loads, however, as
I will be testing a Granite Gear immediately after this test concludes,
the Whitney will probably be set aside for a while. However, I've been
happy overall with the pockets and load carrying ability of this pack and
it will not be relegated to the closet for long , unless I'm happier with
the Granite Gear pack...
Read more reviews of Gregory gear
Read more gear reviews by David Sowards-Emmerd
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