Kelty Illusion

“Been a while since I've been on.

Anyway, I just picked up a couple of these packs for the wife and I. I like that they have a lot of feature of most internal frames (exterior pockets, shoveit pocket. top lid, sleeping bag compartment, etc.) but is still only 3.7 pounds.

Anyway, before i give these a real whirl, anyone heard any scuttlebutt about these?

Thanks, all and hope the hiking is going well.

SJN”

“I just wanted to say,

ROSEYMONSTER IS BACK!!

:-)

So ya been to any more really, really exotic backpacking locations lately???”

“I have a Ladies Illusion for about a year now..no complaints here. Good pack for 3.6 lbs, and it holds everything. Only downside is don't carry over 32 or so lbs...then it isn't as comfy.”

“Hey Lizs! I have returned, for now anyway. Ya know how you just kinda go in and outta phases? I was outta TT for a while and now I'm sorta back in. I'm really dying to go backpacking so I just gotta hang here with the rest of the jonesers.

Exotic. Hmm. Nothing quite like S. America. I went to the Grenadines a few months ago and sailed around on a $3 million yacht. That wasn't exactly roughing it tho :) How about you? How's Iowa these days? My family roots are from outside of Dennison anyway. The Newcom Prarie is there and thems my roots.

Thanks sarbar. That's good to hear. I thought it was good middle ground for lightening up without sacrificing some of the benefits of a full internal frame.”

“I'm now in SE MN, not toooooo far from home. I didn't realize -- or didn't remember -- you have roots in Iowa. Cool.

And what the heck are you doing on a yacht? You independently wealthy, or what?!??
>8-O”

“Hey! Glad to hear sarbar has had a good experience with this pack. I have been casually looking around for a real pack for BowlderSon, since he is ready for one. Of course, he's still growing, so that's an issue. I looked at the Deuter (?) pack, but it seems heavy and there was something else about it that didn't seem to be a good match for the boy, can't remember what. We went in to REI, where there's a great pack fit helper there, and he put B-Son in a Kelty pack. Good pack, about the right size, felt good to him, but heavy, almost 6 pounds. So I hunted around a bit, and I found (on Kelty's web site) the Illusion. It has the same adjustable suspension (for either different people or a growing person), about the right capacity, and only 3½ pounds. REI doesn't carry that one, though, so I kind of gave up on it for now. But I found it on backcountry.com for, like 120 bucks (normally 170 or something) and almost bought it. But didn't. A month ago, their price was back to the original price. Yesterday, I found them offering it for 68 bucks with free shipping!! So I ordered one. Heck, at that price, with free shipping, it's worth it to buy one, have the boy try it out around the house, and if it doesn't feel good, just pay to ship it back. I think they say they have about 35 of these left.”

“Bowlder my son has used the Coyote...since he started backpacking....he is 16 now and perfectly happy with it.”

“It may have been the Coyote that he tried at REI. Yeah, that was a nice pack, but if he's going to be carrying around 30 pounds total on various trips for the next couple years, an extra 2 or 3 pounds of pack is a pretty decent percentage of total weight. We'll see how the Illusion fits and feels....”

“It arrived yesterday - testing to commence this week!”

“Let me know”

“OK, testing will be delayed - this will be part of B-Son's Christmas booty. I did open up the package last night - wow, that's a really nice pack! And only a bit over 3 pounds!”

“I have used this pack for about 10 days on the trail. It's OK for the price/weight but takes a little work to get it dialed in properly, mainly bending the stays so they work with your back. I like the Dynema fabric and it seems to be solid since I tend to be hard on my gear. But the mesh exterior pockets are a little wanky and the stitching has come out on a couple border fabrics for these pockets. No biggie. I also don't like the plastic cord cinchers that they use (they are attached to the pack and seem to pop off after a few uses). I also think the hip belt could be a little beefier.

But again, for the price and the weight, it's a decent pack. My wife just used it on an eight dayer but really it's better suited for three or four.”

“Thanks, rosey!”

“I cut the upper mesh side pockets off... they just snag on everything.

That mesh business on the front panel is good for stuffing used socks into, but that's about it. The sides are too low to actually carry anything, and the way the mesh tapers inward towards the top just funnels your stuff out onto the ground (behind you, where you don't realize it's missing until it's long gone). I agree the hipbelt could be better.

But I'm generally happy with the pack. This is my first panel-loader, and I'm officially a convert. Won't look for a pack without it anymore. Anyone tried the Moountainsmith Vero or Sting?”

“I forgot to come back to this thread after BowlderSon used his pack on our 2-nighter in Yosemite a couple weekends ago.

The only tricky part was that he's a little too thin for the hip belt to tighten properly. No problem, we just utilized the shorty pad he was bringing anyway (just a square cut from an old closed cell pad), folded in in thirds, put it around his waist with the belt over it - voila!! He probably complained less about the load on this trip than he ever has (not that he ordinarily complains much), even though he was carrying a heavier load. He said it felt a little top heavy, so we packed it a little different on the way back to the car. All in all, he liked it!


Here's a pic of boy and pack. Note the fuel bottle in one of the back mesh pockets, his water bottle strapped onto one side, and there's a small bottle of MaxiGlide in the left lower mesh pocket. The pads are secured by just one strap around the entire pack.


last edited: 1/26/07 5:08:23 PM”