The EXPED Thunder 70L men’s pack performed well at carrying heavy loads with many features allowing for ease of packing. This pack was a work horse carrying climbing, mountaineering, and backpacking gear during the testing. The Thunder 70 would make…
Using the Mayhem 30L during a variety of sports and locations gave me the feeling that Mountainsmith knew they wanted to make a badass all-around pack but the 30L fell a little short of the mark. When I first received…
When it came to choosing the best pack for my adventures, every time I was forced to make the decision — should I try and stuff everything into a smaller, lighter pack, or suck it up and use my larger,…
This bag is sleek, comfortable, and easily adjustable. It is high-volume (55L) but not too bulky. The removable day pack integrates seamlessly with the rest of the pack and is useful both as one unit and two separate packs. I…
Bag junkies, unite. The Gregory Tetrad is two packs in one, which means when you buy it, you have another one. That alone makes it pretty great. However, its collection of thought-out features go a long way toward supporting that…
Ski touring is a gear-intensive sport. It can be tough to find a pack that holds gear specifically how you like it. I’ve often found that many companies developing packs to hold gear in innovative ways can forget one of…
A good alpine climbing pack is a beautifully simple piece of equipment. It should be lightweight, reasonably durable, carry high and tight on the back, and have a minimalist design to stay nimble in the mountains. The EXPED Black Ice…
The Deuter Trail Pro 36 is a pack for long day hikes where comfort and additional space for gear are necessary. It also performs exceptionally well for short multi days trips, mostly in the realm of summer mountaineering or backpacking…
If you’ve seen my gear closet you know I have *a few* backpacks…and by a few I mean enough to start a small retail store. I have tried several different brands – Northface, Osprey, Gregory, Columbia, and now Deuter. One…
The Deuter Trail 28 SL accompanied my partner and I on my climb of Skywalker Couloir, a snow climb in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Colorado. We hiked through several miles through backcountry forests, crossed raging streams, and ultimately climbed…