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Owner Review: Imlay Canyon Gear - Kolob Pack
with Optional Aluminum Frame
| Personal Biographical Info: |
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| Name: |
Todd Martin |
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| Age: |
40 |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Height: |
5'11" (1.8 m) |
| Weight: |
150 lbs. (68 kg) |
| Email Address: |
todds_hiking_guide (at) yahoo (dot) com |
| Location: |
Phoenix, AZ USA |
| Date: |
July 17, 2004 |
| Background: |
Thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1994. Moved to Pacific Northwest 1996
and enjoyed day hiking excursions in the Columbia River Gorge area, followed
by some backpacking along the Pacific Crest Trail. Moved to the desert
southwest in 1997 and have been actively day hiking most weekends. I generally
take 2 weeklong trips to the Grand Canyon each year. Backpacking philosophy
has been rapidly moving towards ultra-light gear. My current base pack
weight (not including food or water) measures about 10 lbs (4.5 kg). Have
also been participating in canyoneering since 1997. Web master for Todd's
Desert Hiking Guide at:
http://www.toddshikingguide.com/ |
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Product Information: |
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Manufacturer: |
Imlay Canyon Gear (http://www.imlaygear.com/) |
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Style of Product: |
Canyoneering Backpack |
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Color: |
Blue, purple and black |
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Year of Manufacture: |
2004 |
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Listed Weight: |
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg) |
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Weight as Delivered: |
3.2 lbs (1.5 kg) |
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Capacity: |
2450 cubic inches (40 liters) |
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Material: |
1000 denier Cordura fabric with heavy duty mesh side panels |
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Field and Test Information: |
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Location(s) of test:
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The Kolob Pack has been carried on many canyoneering
trips in Arizona and Southern Utah.
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Terrain:
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Canyons in the desert southwestern US are
typically dry and rocky interspersed with multiple water filled potholes.
Several approaches required long sections of off trail hiking on slick rock,
sand and through thick brush.
Elevations ranged from 2000 to 8000 feet (600 to 2400 meters)
above sea level. |
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Product Description: |
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The Imlay Canyon Gear Kolob Pack is a medium sized pack specifically
designed for the sport of canyoneering, an activity which involves hiking,
climbing, swimming, scrambling and rappelling. In order to address the unique
needs of this sport, the Kolob pack contains many thoughtful design features not
found in a typical backpack. The most obvious one that I noticed immediately
is that the side panels of the pack are constructed entirely of heavy duty mesh. The
mesh allows the pack to drain quickly after dragging the pack through a wet
canyon pothole or pool. Other features include: |
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The Kolob Pack in a
wet and wild canyon. |
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Outside: |
- Removable, zippered pack lid (which also features a mesh bottom
panel).
- Dual side cinch straps which feature side release buckles. This
allows larger items to be quickly lashed to the side of the pack.
- Contoured and padded hip belt and shoulder straps which are lined
with 3D mesh.
- Shoulder straps are attached with side release buckles, to allow the
canyoneer to remove the pack quickly in an emergency.
- Chest strap.
- Load lifters to reduce weight on the shoulders.
- Rear stow pocket with strap closure.
- Bottom of the pack is reinforced to protect against wear and tear.
- Durable haul strap.
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Inside: |
- An 0.75" (1.9 cm) foam back pad in a zippered pocket which
protects the wearer's back from sharp or hard items in the pack, and also
doubles as an emergency bivy pad should I have to spend an
unanticipated night in a canyon. The pad also provides a small amount of
floatation to the pack.
- Zippered mesh
water bladder pocket with a gap at the top of the pack through which to route
the drinking tube.
- Gear loop which allows organization of technical hardware.
- Optional: Removable aluminum frame which adds rigidity to the pack
for those trips where I am carrying a heavier load.
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Construction:
As mentioned earlier, the body of the pack for this test is made of 1000 denier
Cordura. The sides of the pack and extension collar are a heavy duty mesh, and
3D mesh
(a wicking and somewhat elastic fabric) is used for the harness / hip belt
lining. All straps are made from flat webbing, the adjustable shoulder straps
are 1 inch (3 cm) in width, the hip belt is 1½ inches (4 cm) wide and the
compression straps are ¾ inch (2 cm) in width. Most seams are sewn with a single line of
straight stitching and
taped (to prevent fraying). The quality of workmanship appears high throughout
the pack. |
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| Kolob Pack |
Harness system |
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Stuffing the Pack: |
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The first decision to make when packing the Kolob Pack is whether
or not to use the aluminum frame. The frame for the pack consists of two
plastic sheets into which two short 3/8 inch (1 cm) diameter aluminum poles are inserted (basically
aluminum tent poles, though somewhat thicker and with a larger diameter).
The frame is then inserted into the zippered interior pocket which contains
the foam back pad. The second decision is whether or not to carry a water
bladder. Both these choices need to be made up front since it is
difficult getting them into the pack once it's been filled with the
rest of the gear. The
bladder is placed in a mesh pocket which rests against the foam back pad and
is secured at the top with a side release buckle. There is a gap at the top
of the back pad below the collar through which the drinking tube can be
routed.
With these items in place I could now concentrate on filling the pack
with the rest of my stuff. The pack features an inner gear loop at the top
of back pad which allows me to clip technical hardware like carabineers,
rappelling gear etc., keeping it organized and allowing for easy access. It
should also be mentioned that the pack is conveniently sized to accommodate
one or more
Imlay Canyon Kegs which many people like to carry when canyoneering.
With most of my gear in the pack, it is then closed by tightening the
cinch cord
which runs through the mesh extension collar. A top compression strap is
then secured across the load and clipped into place with a side release buckle.
It is also possible to use this strap to lash gear to the top of the pack
(like a rope) if using the pack with the lid removed. If using the pack with
the lid, simply place it over the top and secure it in place with two
cinch straps fitted with side release buckles.
Okay but what about that wetsuit and extra water bottle I couldn't fit
in because I decided to bring that inflatable camp chair? Extra gear like
a wet suit or rope can be
lashed to the outside of the pack using the side compression straps. Since
they are fastened with a buckle it's a simple matter to place the wet suit
along the side of the pack and clip the straps around it, much nicer than
trying to slide it underneath the non-releasable compression straps found on
most packs. The rear stow pocket makes a pretty good place to stow a water
bottle and it will fit one as large as a 2-liter (0.5 gallon) soda bottle.
A strap along the back of the pocket does an okay job of holding the bottle in place. I have
found, however, that in a canyon with many short drops into water I prefer
to just toss the pack down into the pool and rappel down after it. The
impact of the pack hitting the water can dislodge items in this stow pocket,
so I don't believe it's a good idea to place anything there that I care
overly much about losing or that doesn't float. Personally, I don't like to store drinks there
since water is heavy and the pocket is too far from the pack's center of
gravity. I've mainly been using it as a trash pouch for bottles and cans
that I find as I hike. |
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| Mesh side panels |
Shoulder strap
assembly |
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With the pack stuffed it's now time to swing it over my back and start
hiking. The pack features fully adjustable hip belt, shoulder straps and
load lifters which all work in the conventional fashion. The straps provide
plenty of range of adjustment for my 18.5” (47 cm) torso and 32” (81 cm)
waist. The shape of the contoured shoulder straps and hip belt provide a
good fit and with the 0.75 inch (1.9 cm) padding are quite comfortable. The
3D mesh on the underside is soft and absorbs some sweat, helping to prevent chaffing. For
light loads typically associated with day trips, my experience is that the
load lifters do a good job of keeping the weight of the pack off my shoulders without the use of the aluminum frame. On overnight trips or those
where I'm forced to carry a lot of heavy gear, though, I find that the pack
leans backward and pulls back on my shoulders. For these types of trips the pack is more comfortable when used with the aluminum frame.
The frame provides rigidity to the pack and allows it to ride in a more
vertical position. Since the frame uses straight aluminum poles which are
not contoured in any way, I find that the frame provides a somewhat stiff
and board-like feel to the pack though it's not at all uncomfortable (certainly not
as uncomfortable as having the load of the pack pulling back on my
shoulders). I have carried the pack on a number of long hikes and overall
find that it rides quite nicely. |
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| Top view |
Pack, aluminum frame and bivy pad |
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Description of Experience and Comments on Product
Performance: |
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So how does the pack perform in the canyon conditions for which it's made? Many
canyons, particularly in the southwest US, consist of interlinked, water
filled potholes.
Canyoning in these conditions involves climbing or rappelling into a pool,
swimming to the other side, then climbing out only to start the process all over again. My
preferred technique is to toss my pack into the pool, climb or rappel down
after it, then use it for floatation for the swim. I'll then climb out the other
side and haul the pack out after me. Under these conditions it is important
to have a pack that quickly drains since it will repeatedly fill with water,
and water is very heavy. Manufacturers
of canyon packs have approached this problem by either putting a bunch of
grommet holes in the bottom of the pack, or through the use of mesh. My
experience is that grommet holes can take some time to drain a water filled
pack and can become blocked by items stored within it. With the large
mesh panels, the Kolob pack drains instantly after exiting a pool. It also
means that the pack fills with water instantly when it goes into a pool,
so it is obviously important to keep anything I want to stay dry in a dry
bag or keg. Swimming through these pools, it's also nice to have a sturdy
handle like the one featured on this pack to lift it back out and onto my back.
For long swims I'll usually wear the pack on my back with the hip belt
secured. In this fashion, with dry bags or kegs in the pack to provide
floatation, I can swim comfortably on my back using the pack to keep my head
well out of the water. If traveling in swift water currents, it would not be
a good idea to have the hip belt secured since the weight of the pack could
prove to be an encumbrance or the pack could snag something and potentially
hold me
underwater. If such an event occurs the releasable shoulder straps on the Kolob
Pack could prove to be a critical safety feature and provide a good chance of escaping a pack that was weighting
me down
(though I have not had to use this feature to date).
Many canyons in Arizona require approaches that lead off trail and
through thick brush. One thing I have found with the Kolob Pack is that the
mesh side panels significantly increase the likelihood of snagging tree
branches or the barbs of one of the many species of prickly plants we have
in the desert. This is somewhat of an inconvenience since I find myself
having to stop and remove the offending plant in order to continue my hike.
It also increases the possibility of damaging the pack. Along these same
lines, the mesh is the weak point as far as the pack's durability. It does
not have the same abrasion resistance as the Cordura fabric, particularly
when it comes to rough sandstone canyon walls and the manufacturer does not
recommend this pack for tight, narrow canyons where a considerable amount of
sideways scraping is involved. I find that I tend to baby this pack more
than I would my old beat up rucksack I previously used for canyoning. This
kid glove treatment has paid off to date, as I've yet to get a hole the mesh
(I've witnessed others who were not so delicate with their equipment wear
holes in the mesh the first time out).
One other feature that I'd like to mention is the contoured pack bottom.
While this might not appear to be a terribly exciting design feature, it
actually serves a very useful purpose in a canyon setting. Canyoneering
almost always involves a trip from the top of a canyon to the bottom. As a
result, if climbing is involved, it's a good bet that I'm climbing
downwards. A boxy or squarish pack bottom is much more likely to catch on
rocks during a down climb, a potentially dangerous situation since this can
pitch my body forward and throw off my balance. The rounded bottom of
the Kolob Pack is less likely to snag and as a side benefit does not provide
any sharp corners which are usually the first areas to show signs of wear
and tear when the bottom of the pack scrapes against rocks. |
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Contoured pack bottom |
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Summary: |
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| Canyoneering in the US is still a fairly
immature sport and as a result there are simply not many canyoneering
specific products on the market. As a result, most canyoneers I know are
using old backpacks, often self modified with grommets in the bottom. These
packs can work and may even be preferred in cases where a lot of scraping
and crawling through narrow, twisty sandstone passages are required
(conditions which take a heavy toll on gear). For canyons which contain a
lot of water, my experience is that these packs fall short of one
specifically designed for the sport. Imlay Canyon Gear has designed a very
nice pack for the canyoning enthusiast and one that is particularly suited
to these wet trips. Though I try to treat it somewhat gently on these trips,
it has become my preferred pack for canyoneering. |
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| Likes:
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- Attractive looking
- Comfortable pack to carry
- For medium loads, the load lifters keep the weight of the pack off
my shoulders, for heavier loads the aluminum frame does the same
- Drains immediately after exiting water, doesn't soak up a lot of extra
water weight
- Lots of great features for the canyoneer including the internal gear
loop, releasable compression and shoulder straps and heavy haul strap
- Rounded bottom doesn't snag on rocks while down climbing
- Good size for day hikes or an overnight trip
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| Areas for Improvement: |
- Mesh side panels snag on branches and brush and are a weak point for wear and tear
- Rear stow pocket doesn't hold items very securely, particularly if
throwing the pack into canyon potholes
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Read more reviews of Imlay Canyon Gear gear
Read more gear reviews by Todd L. Martin
|
