Golite Speed

“Hope you all can handle it. Anyone out there use the Golite Speed pack? In my quest for lightening my load, my next big weight reduction is my pack. I currently use a Gregory Forester. On my last hike 2 nights 3 days I had my pack weight at 23lbs with food and water. I was comforatble at this weight and I am now ready to go for a light weight pack.
The Golite speed seems like a good choise to me. Feed back anyone?”

“I don't have the Speed, but I do have the Breeze and Day packs.
Both are well made and pretty dang tough.”

“I have the Trek and am very satisifed with its preformance.”

“Jerbear the trek is the heavier duty one right? do you think that it is alot tougher than the silnylon ones?

Stove Stomper, have you had any problems with abrasion on thse packs? That is why I am thinking that the spped might be better for me, it has a Cordura bottom.
Where do you guys use them?”

“You could look at the granite gear vapor trail, I like my pack, I don't think there's too much of a price difference there.”

“I'll check it out ynamiynamiynami oops repeated too many times.”

“I use mine everywhere.
No problems with abrasion.
They are not silnylon. That's pretty light and will get holes.”

“I have a Golite Trek and I just bought a Granite Gear Vapor Trail. The Trek is bigger, but has no frame and less cushion on the hip belt. It looks like I can fit everything for a 6-day trip, including my bear cannister in the Vapor Trail, so I'm going to try it out next week.

My back wasn't feeling so great after trips that I used the Trek on, so I'm hoping the Vapor Trail will work better.”

“Good luck with your new pack. I have also been looking at the new Gregory G-pack.”

“LT,
Check out the Marmot Talus, Little under 3 lbs. I was scoping it out this weekend. Wicked good lumbar support and belt. 2200 cubes...$139 bucks.....
As you saw I had the Equinox Katahdyn 1 lbs 6 ozs. at pa-palooza. $89 smackers on Binkleys site www.backpackingdeals.com
I had too much weight in it approx 28 lbs.
I ended up with a good welt on my shoulder.
I have it down to about 20 lbs now and that should be better. The only thing I did not like was the lumbar belt, that should be better with less weight and I guess it is made to hang from your shoulders more, hence the welt.
Remember I'm a NOOOBIE and don't really know jacksquat....haha
Hope to see ya soon Bud :-)”

“LT,
Dewd, Moosejaw has that Marmot Talus on sale for $111, Ya might wanna Check with BBinks too he can usually get stuff factory direct for certain companies that might save you a few bucks and gives him some Dame Gum Bidness Too....”

“I have a "medium" Speed and find it very nice for my typical weekend winter trips in the Ozarks. Comfortable between 18-25 lbs. I've never carried more than 25 lbs in it. It even comes with a built in Platypus.

My favorite feature is the abundance of external mesh pockets for lightweight stuff like vests, gloves etc.”

“I returned a Speed because when I got it home I noticed that the stitching holding the shoulder straps on were coming out. I didn't get another one, not completely because of the stitching but also because I didn't know if it was really what I wanted.”

“I just got the Speed last weekend. I haven't tried it out yet, but I can tell a difference in the shoulder straps when I put it on. Hope it works out!”

“Then there is the Mountainsmith Ghost. Did you get a chance to look mine over on the Devil's Path trip?”

“geesh, so many choices...”

“The Granite Gear Virga (1 lb. 5 oz., 3200 cu in) got a good review in BPer Mag., and BackcountryGear.Com has 'em for $10 less than everyone else ($85 + $5 s&h).”

“Lthiker-yes the trek has much more substansual material in all the right areas.”

“I thought about the Virga, but ordered the Vapor Trail because I thought my bear cannister would fit better in it.”

“Also, the hipbelt on the Vapor Trail is more to my liking than on the Virga.”

“I've also thought about the Osprey Aether 40.

Wow, 20 on topic, serious posts. That's probably a record!”

“The Speed may be my next pack, but it doesn't have ALL the features I want. A better hip belt with two water bottles attached to the hipbelt would make the Speed more suited to my hiking. I have trouble reaching water bottles in the pack sides while I'm wearing the pack. I use a platy with tube with my Breeze and Day packs but I don't like not knowing how much water I have left.”

“Stove Stomper, Golite has a new pack out called the Race that is a modifide version of the speed, check it out. Pennsy, yes I saw your Ghost and I like that pack also. So many choices though. I am going to try that one on, I also want to try the G-pack from Gregory, I like the Gregory harness.

I can't beleive this thread has not degraded to someting perverted or political.”

“Osprey looks like they have stopped making the Aether 40 and have a new 45. 2lbs even for a large and 3000ci.”

“RE: Summer 2-3 day weekend packs.
I just got a Marmot Talus...
Binks is going to kill me.....
The Equinox Katahdyn kills my shoulders even with only 22 lbs in it...I'm a whimp.....
I tried the Marmot Talus on and it has way better hip belt support. The thing I need is for the pack to rest on my hips and not on my shoulders.....seems most ultralite packs are more of a shoulder slung pack. I had a hard time finding a good hip belt ultra light small weekend pack. When I found the Marmot Talus and tried it, i really liked the way it fitted alot better. The parts that I liked best where that all the weight 20+ lbs mostly rested on my waist. here are the specs:

Shell material: 420d Broken Twill Nylon
Reinforcement: 840d Zeus HT Nylon
Weight: Medium: 3lb 0 ozs / 1.3 kg
Medium: 2200 cubes
Suggested U.S. Retail: $139.00
got it for $89 no tax free shipping @ marmot mountian works
F U N C T I O N A L I T Y
Removable 3D DriClime® mesh belt combination of 3D DriClime® and Leno mesh, this belt offers lightweight, excellent load distribution with maximum breathability. Particularly comfortable over climbing harnesses. Gives you the option to leave behind when not needed.
Hydration pocket and port designed to hold hydration pouch systems
Double bellows pocket expandable space for stashing small items so they don't get lost in the main compartment
Padded sunglasses pocket quick, safe access for your shades
Water bottle pockets each hold 2 liter size bottles
C O M F O R T
Biospan™ Marmot's unique, patented load control system. BioSpan allows you to customize the fit of your pack, whether you need more control (snugs the pack to your back), or want to loosen the load on your shoulders (distributes the weight to your waist).
Ultralight Frame System combines Marmot's BioSpan, an air channel backpanel, single 6063 aluminum stay, yoke shoulder straps and a removable 3D mesh waist belt. The focus of this system is on light weight, breathability and comfort.
Compression Molded Backpanel Highest level of comfort and durability

For $89 bucks i figured it was worth a try for a weekend pack, if it does not work I will find another use for it.....haha
Take care Brother!!!
HAHA on the "Pa-palooza Death March" Boy Am I glad I bailed on Saturday.......
Take care
Tim”

“So far, no innuendos or rosanna-annadanna's on this thread yet either ?”

“O'yeah
one other cool thing about this pack the inside lining is a Golden Rod color. It's like having a light inside your pack, it makes it wicked easy to see and find things in there...
I thought that was a cool idea”

“Marmot Talus, 3 #s.
Too heavy for me.
2# max.”

“SS,
I know, I know WICKED HEAVY...haha
I will have to dump my www.backpackingdeals.com 1 liter nalgene bottle w/h2o to cover the difference...haha
SS, does your golite hang mostly from your shoulders ?”

“I wear a fanny pack with snacks and first aid stuff. The Breeze or Day pack rests on top of it and it acts like a hip belt.
Little real weight on my shoulders.”

“That's a neat idea StoveStomper. I hadn't thought of that.....”

“Sounds like Schweet set-up

o'well......

I gotta be different...haha”

“Why thanks, Mozart.

I'm just full of ideas, or at least I think that is what people keep telling me I'm full of. ;)”

“Vapor Trail Vapor Trail Vapor Trail (even if they do spell it wrong!)”

“If they made the Vapor Trail with some usable outside pockets, it would be pretty close to the dream pack I want.”

“I looked at that, and with the webbing straps it's not going to be difficult to attach one. I've got an REI one at 6oz it's a bit heavy for what it is, but I'm on the lookout for a lighter one.”

“who sells vapor trails, rei?”

“yep”

“it's a dangerous thing posting on here, I buy far more gear than I would have done otherwise”

“vapor...... ok cool, there are so many packs...

O' THE CHOICES !!!!

They need to have a Pack-o-rama where you can go to one place and try them all :-)”

“buy a Kelty Gale for $80 bucks (just a little over 3 lbs.) and start wacking off the extra strapping and stuff. Then you will have a tough 2.5 lb pack.”

“what strap can be WHACKED? haha!”

“I think that i am going to find the Osprey Ather 45 and try it on for size.”

“Let me nkow what you think. I can't find one to put on here lin Lex, KY.”

“Here's a picture of me and my GoLite Day pack during my Smokys AT hike last week.
Notice the fanny pack holding the Day pack up. The fanny pack waist belt is under my shirt.”

“Those pockets on the Vapor Trail will work for me.”

“wingding0 - The Vapor Trail does not have any pockets.”

“The Product Info for the Vapor Trail says... Durastretch side pockets are large enough for quart water bottles or fuel bottles and do not snag on brush


The lower side compression straps go right over the pockets, much like my Gregory Reality did. I rigged it so the straps went inside the pockets, so tightening the compression straps didn't seal the pockets shut. I'll bet the same thing could be done for this pack.”

“yes, it does have pockets - they are large stretch pockets. Here's a quote from REI:

"Durastretch side pockets are large enough for quart water bottles or fuel bottles and do not snag on brush"

My Vapor Trail came last week - the pockets will hold lots of stuff.”