Backpacking background: I started backpacking two years ago with my wife and two children (ages 8 and 10 at the time). We have been car camping for 20+ years. Most of our backpacking has been three season camping in the Sierras, 6000 -12,000 ft (1800 m - 3658 m) and on the Northern California Coast. We mostly do a combination of car camping and backpacking. Our family recently switched from one 4 person tent to using two 2 person tents. I usually carry most of the weight and my internal frame pack weighs between 40-50 lb (18-22 kg).

INITIAL REPORT

PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Lowe Alpine
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.lowealpine.com/
MSRP: US$ 279.95
Listed Weight: 5lbs 4oz (2.89kg)
Measured Weight: 6lbs 2oz (2.81kg)
Listed Volume: 4000 + 1200cu in (65 - 85L)
Listed Load Zone: 55 - 70lbs (25 - 32kg)
Other details:
Material: NHC330 - "High abrasion resistant lightweight fabric" / N630 - "an extremly tough denier nylon fabric"
Internal water bladder storage
Floating Lid - Lid straps lengthen to accommodate added volume.
Pole holders
External bottle pockets
Built in rain cover
Custom Torso adjustment
Front door access to main area of bag.

PRODUCT INFO AND INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The Lowe Alpine Cerro Torre is a large pack suitable for carrying large loads for extended periods of time. This size pack is generally targeted towards hikers who are going out for more than a weekend or need to carry a large load.

The Cerro Torre falls into the TFX - Torso Fit Expedition range in their 2010 pack catalog and is described as a classic Lowe Alpine trekking/expedition pack. The key features listed in the catalog for this pack are:

TFX back system for maximum load carrying comfort.
Patented adaptiveFit hip belt for personalized comfort
Front entry system gives wide access to the contents
Strong lash points allow items to be added to the outside of pack

The TFX system has three levels of back systems: TFX6, TFX8, and TFX10. This pack utilizes the TFX10 system which includes -

TorsoFit - Used to adjust the fit to meet user's unique body shape.
TorsoMotion - Allows the torso to twist and the hip belt to rotate to allow the body's natural movement while hiking.
Supportive AirChannel - Allows for air flow on the back while at the same time giving support.
AdaptiveFit - Harness and hip belts automatically adjust to the wearers shape just my tightening them.
Rebound Foam - Very resilient foam designed to return to its original shape after being deformed for a long time.
I will be figuring out how to take advantage of these features and testing them over the next several months.

The pack is a 65:85 which is Lowe Alpine's new naming convention for their packs. This name shows that it is a 65 liter pack which expands to 85 liters.

The pack itself seems to be very well constructed. The seams are triple sewn, capped with seam tape and then sewn again. The pack has reinforcements at the high stress areas such as the where the shoulder straps are attached to the pack.
The zippers and pulls appear very durable. The buckles are made from some type of high impact plastic to keep them light and strong. There are enough straps and cinches to compress the pack and still have plenty of room to attach external items such as ropes, hats, and camp shoes.

The pack material is a combination of NHC330 - "High abrasion resistant lightweight fabric" and N630 - "an extremely tough denier nylon fabric". It feels durable and flexible. I could not find any information on weather the material is waterproof.

This is a top loader pack that also has two larger zippers on the front for accessing the pack without going in through the top. One of the openings in the front is low down on the pack and is an access to the sleeping bag compartment. The other zipper access opening is very large and opens into the main part of the pack. There is a panel between the two compartments to keep items our of the sleeping bag area. This panel zips all the way open and can be pushed out of the way to make one big compartment.

Behind the hip belt, on the sides of the pack, are two large open top pockets for storing gear or water bottles. The hip belt itself is well padded and adjustable both around the waist and also has straps to pull the pack closer to the body.

The top lid has two large compartments in it, one on the outside and one on the inside. The lid straps adjust to make the lid sit on top of the pack even when the pack is extended to the full capacity. The top lid also has international SOS signal instructions printed on the inside.

Along with the pockets on the lid for storage is a pocket on the lid to store the rain cover which is a bright orange cover that folds up and stores in the pocket when not in use. Putting the cover on the pack is very easy to do by unfolding he cover and stretching it over the pack. The cover has elastic around the edges and a drawstring to tighten it around the pack and is big enough to cover the pack when it is fully loaded.

The pads for the upper back, ventilated center back and upper shoulders seem well padded and designed. The pads on the shoulder belts do not seem to me that well padded for a pack this size. I feel that with this pack fully loaded those pads may not be adequate protection for my shoulders, but I will find that out in the field test. The hip belt has a quick adjust buckle to tighten or loosen the pack around my waist easily. The sternum belt is adjustable as well and also has some elastic in it which allows the strap to expand when my chest expands.

The center back vertical pads (shown in picture on right) seem like a good design for keep air flowing between the pack and my back. I may not fully see the benefit of that ventilation until the spring /summer season when I will carry the pack with only a shirt between me and the pack instead of a jacket.

A small pouch, that can be attached to the shoulder strap, came with the pack and looks like it will fit a GPS, Cell phone, or small camera.

On the outside of the pack are many places to attach items such as shoes, hats, gloves, etc. One of the features that I thought was really cool is the ability to easily strap on walking sticks to the sides of the pack. I often use my walking sticks but don't always want to carry them in my hands and attempt to strap them on to my pack somehow.

Lowe Alpine solved this issue for me by providing an adjustable elastic strap on the side of the pack near that center to wrap around my walking stick and then toward the bottom attached to the ice axe loop is a small disk with an X in it to put the pointed end of my stick into to hold it on the pack.

READING THE INSTRUCTIONS

There were no instructions that came with the pack and no information that I could find on the website. I did find out that this is a 2010 pack and it appears that Lowe Alpine has not released this pack to the public at the time of this review. I am on my own for figuring out how this pack works and what all the bells and whistles are on the pack.

TRYING IT OUT

Adjusting the pack to fit my frame was fairly easy. I first had to measure my back and then go to the Lowe Alpine website to get the color coding that corresponds with the length of my back. Once I got that I simply pulled the lower back pad away from the pack and slipped the "tongue" out of the pack, loosened the strap that holds the shoulder harness in place and adjusted it by either tightening or loosening it until the shoulder harness matched up to the color coded line on the lower back pad "tongue". This is hard to explain but easy to do with the pack in front of me. The picture on the right should help explain the adjustment process.

Putting on the pack was very as easy as any other pack that I have tried on. I first loosen all of the hip belt an shoulder straps, put the pack on my back and then adjust the straps so that the pack fits snug but not too snug.

SUMMARY

The Lowe Alpine Cerro Torre 65:85 is a large pack suitable for week plus trips, winter camping, or packing in a lot of gear for a weekend trip. It has many features that make it easy to organize such as front access zippers, three zippered pockets, water bottle pockets, hydration sleeve and walking stick straps. External straps and attach points will make it easy for me to cinch the load and strap down my extra gear.

This pack looks durable and should last a long time with the proper care. I am very excited to test this pack out in the field. Please check back in two months to see how this pack does in the real world.

Test Report by Sam Stamey

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