Owner Review - REI Talus 50

Product: Recreational Equipment Incorporated Talus 50

Name: Matthew J. Gilbert
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Height: 5’ 10” (1.75 m)
Weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
Email address: mttgilbert@yahoo.com
City, State, Country: Tempe, Arizona, USA

Date: 9/29/2004
Backpacking Background: I have been backpacking since I was 17. I spend most of my time in the Superstition Mountains, on and off trail. Primarily I hike and backpack in the desert, but I have just begun canyoneering as well. I would say I generally backpack with a fairly light backpack but I wouldn’t call myself ultra light; my pack weighs about 30-35 pounds (13-16 kg) for a four day trip including food and water. My typical day pack (including food and water) weighs about 20 pounds (9 kg).

Manufacturer: Recreational Equipment Incorporated

Year of Manufacture: 2002

URL:  http://www.rei.com/

Size: Large (my torso: 18; my waist: 33)

Sizes Available:

 Medium: Fits Torso 17-19 in (43-48 cm); Fits Waist 30-48 in (76-122 cm)

Large: Fits Torso 19-23 in (48-58 cm); Fits Waist 32-52 in (81-132 cm)

Volume:

            Medium: 3,050 ci (50 L)

            Large: 3,400 ci (56 L)

Listed weight:

Medium: 3 lb 12 oz

Large: 4 lb
Weight as delivered: 4 lb 4 oz

Pack Material: Nylon/Polyester

Frame Material:  2 Stays made of aluminum and a sheet of HPDE

MSRP:  $125.00

Features (as listed by the manufacturer):

• Large technical top-loading daypack with side zip access features a unique compression flap and strap system for carrying winter gear.
• Fabric flaps and webbing straps hold a snowboard, snowshoes, shovel or other gear--or, flip to the side for securing skis
• Floating top lid has two zippered pockets to keep essentials close at hand and expands to take on increased loads
• Two shear-mounted buckles on front of lid and two straps in back fully adjust to accommodate larger loads and allow secure compression of gear
• Main compartment features a large hydration sleeve (reservoir sold separately) and plenty of room for hiking or alpine gear
• Molded foam back panel features suspension mesh that is cool and comfortable plus it sheds snow and leaves the dirt behind
• Curved, padded shoulder straps with sternum strap, padded hip belt with stabilizer straps
• High-density polyethylene frame sheet curves to fit the shape of your back and protects it from bulky, pointy loads
• Along with the HDPE sheet, providing frame support is an aluminum Y split mono-stay
• Two adjustable ice axe loops, two side tool loops and a daisy chain let you attach an assortment of gear

Product Description:

REI’s Talus 50 is an internal frame backpack adequate for weeklong trips. It loads from either the top, through a drawstring with an expansion collar, or from the side through a zipper which runs the length of the backpack. The drawstring at the top is covered with a removable, dual compartment, floatable pouch. Inside one pouch there is a lanyard with a key-ring. The top entry on the pack is tapered so that the front of the pack is higher than the back by about 4 inches (10 cm). This allows the pack to cinch shut without decreasing the space at the top of the pack. The expansion compartment is approximately 10 inches (25.5 cm) long in back and 6 inches (15 cm) long at the front. The expansion collar increases the internal volume by roughly 200 cubic inches (3 L). The pack is hydration compatible but has no holes to route the straw out of the pack. There are two compression flaps down the front with two adjustable ice axe loops below the flaps towards the bottom of the pack. In addition to the ice axe loops, there are two additional gear loops at the bottom of the pack, one on either side. There are three compression straps evenly spaced down both sides of the pack. On the front of the pack, under the compression straps there is also a daisy chain. There is also a compression strap that runs from the top and back of the pack, under the detachable compartments, and down to the top of the daisy chain.

The suspension is fairly standard to newer internal frames. The straps attach approximately 5 inches (13 cm) from the top of the pack and have load lifting straps which run to the top of the pack. The straps attach at the bottom just above the waist belt and have an adjustment buckle in the middle. The sternum strap has an up or down adjustment of approximately 6 inches (15 cm). Both halves of the waist belt also have cinch straps.  The pads on the waist belt extend about 10 inches (25.5 cm) out from the pack and are joined by 2 inch (5 cm) webbing with an adjustable buckle in the middle. The padding in the waist belt and the shoulder pads is approximately ½ inch (1.5 cm) thick. At the top there is a standard looped carrying handle. The back is a series of foam panels with channels for airflow.

Field Information:

I’ve had this backpack for about two years. I have used it for desert backpacking, forest/mountain backpacking, canyoneering, and a tundra backpack trip. The lengths of the trips have ranged from overnighters to weeklong trips. I have found this backpack to function exceedingly well in all the situations I have used it.

Overall the pack rides very well. The load lifting straps on the shoulders and the cinch straps on the waist really helped keep the weight secure against my back. The compression straps did a great deal to stabilize the weight. Since there were so many compression straps distributed over the bag, it was easy to cinch up the pack real tight, which in turn kept the weight (and my center of balance) very close to my body. Despite the load being close to my back the air channels are deep enough to keep air circulating.

Packing the pack might leave something to be desired for those who prefer compartments, for me it worked great. The main compartment is just a large tube with no compartments or dividers (except of course the pocket for the hydration, which is located on the inside against the back, and is composed of a large mesh bag suspended from the pack). I find that with an undivided compartment I can eliminate my need for stuff sacks, thereby eliminating a few extra ounces, and minutes spent packing, while on the trail. I simply stuff the last thing I will pull out in first and then each additional item (in reverse order of its use) in on top of that one. The stuffing action for each subsequent layer packs the lower layers even further in. I end up with a pack with no wasted space. Bulky items like Nalgenes, food, stoves, fuel, etc. go on top and the compression strap holds them securely in place

Desert: The packs ability to endure all the snags and thorns in the harsh desert environment has not ceased to amaze me. I have done a fair amount of traveling off trail which generally subjects me, and my gear, to a tremendous amount of abuse. The pack has been snagged on catsclaw, brushed against cholla, scraped against exposed rocks, as well as countless other abrasive surfaces. The material has been thick enough to take all this with only a few minor snags and no rips whatsoever. The channels on the back panel do a great deal to keep air circulating; my back (and the pack) still get soaked, but there is enough evaporation that the coolness makes up for the wetness.  The hydration compartment is large enough to hold two 70 oz (2 L) Camelbak bladders. 140 oz (4 L) is typically sufficient for an overnight (two day) trip, for any longer Nalgenes or some other water container becomes necessary.

Forest: During the forest and/or mountain trips I have used the pack it was exposed to a great deal of moisture. It never really poured, but there were light showers consistently through the day. I never used a cover or anything but despite the constant wetness most of the items in my pack stayed pretty dry. The only things that really got wet were the ones in the upper pouch near my head.

Tundra: The conditions on this trip were optimal; warm days, cool nights, and no rain or other inclement weather. The backpack performed very well in this ecosystem as well, but really I just wanted to brag about ‘packing on the tundra (that’s impressive to us desert folk).

Canyon: It was in the canyon that the pack really proved its worth to me. The conditions in the canyon were really hard on the gear. A good portion of the day was spent crawling, scrambling, jumping, or climbing from boulder to boulder. The rest of the time was spent in the water; wading, falling, or out and out swimming. The pack (and most of its contents) was soaked all day long. Normally this puts a big burden on the fabric, I’ve even had packs rip under the load, but the pack took it just fine. The pack was even streamlined enough that I could wear it into the water and swim through the deep parts without ever having to take it off. It even gave me a little extra buoyancy. The water soaked through the fabric, but all the important (and bulky) items inside (sleeping roll and clothes mostly) were in waterproof liners. It was also in the canyon that I discovered another feature of the backpack. It can be used as part of a bivy-sack. The nights were colder and wetter than I had anticipated and all I had with me for night-warmth was a poncho and blanket-liner. I would roll up in the blanket then cover myself with the poncho. Normally this works fine, but there were high winds and light rain for part of the night and the poncho just wasn’t doing enough. So I had an idea, I took everything out of the backpack and rolled up in the blanket, and then I stuck my feet into the bottom of the pack, stuffed the blanket and poncho into the top, and cinched the extendable collar up around my waist. The backpack kept the rain and the wind off, insulating my feet, and there was more blanket and poncho available for my torso and my head. I slept warm the rest of the night (and the nights after that too.)

Summary:

Overall I was really pleased with the performance of this pack. The pack was actually intended for cold weather campers, but I found all the features to be designed in such a way that they were useful to all sorts of different types of backpacking. The pack is durable, it rides well, and it’s a fairly reasonable price for a pack, especially when the versatility is considered.

Some things I liked:

            -Rugged and durable construction

            -Reasonable price tag

            -Expansion capacity for longer trips

Some things I didn’t like:

            -Hydration compartment should have a routing slot through the pack