Vaude Packs - Front Runner?

“As some of you may recall, I'm looking at options to Lighten my load by, in part, lightening my pack. As the process evolves, I found myself paying aa little more attention to these Bavarian-made lightweights.

I recently picked up a Vaude Splash 25 as a day-hike-with-a-bladder pack, and I really like it. Despite its specialty design for bicyclists, it works perfectly for me, as I hike along a day's trail.

I found a couple of the larger capaccity Vaude packs (4000 ci) to be very light for their capacity, and they appear to be made sturdy enough. THose I'm looking at are 5# 10 oz and 4# 10 oz. - a very reachable goal, and almost a full 2# less than my S. Tioga.

While Vaude has a "headquarters" of sorts in Mel's neighborhood (Mammoth Lakes), they are still a new brand out here. Does anyone else have any experience with these?”

“I've examined Vaude before, and was not impressed with their quality -- poor stitching and inferior materials. I'm a lightweight freak (some would say super lightweight freak) -- for up to 10 days in the field, hiking 25+ miles a day, I use a modified Lowe Alpine pack... I forget what it is called, but it has about a 40 liter capacity. I modified it by cutting away every extraneous strap and feature I didn't need... empty it weighs just under 20 ounces... it's lasted over 2.5 years and has seen maybe 2,000 backpacking miles on it, plus has seen some tortuos abuse when I've used it as a crag pack to hold and haul my climbing gear. I even made an external mesh pocket on it, so I could stash Bilbo whenever he became illtempered and tried to bite and sting people. What do you think of this?”

“I appreciate the observation, TT... I must admit, I've no personal experience with Vaude, but they seemed a light pack - relatively speaking - and it caught my eye. I'll keep digging - thanks.”

“Vaude makes a waterproof pack, but there stuff does not impress me.”

“Well Obi, I'll be letting everyone know. I picked up a VauDe Grand Canyon at wholesale price at Canoecopia from the regional rep. The suspension is very comfortable and adjustable, the quality looks equal to other high end packs from general examination. But it hasn't had a trail test yet. It's part of the H20 line, meaning it is waterproof but not submersible -- for that you need the Blue Canyon, but these packs have gotten good reviews from Backpacker Magazine field testers.

The weight is good for the volume (about 5lbs for 5,000ci -- no two measurements seem to agree) and it won't need a rain cover.

Anyway, I guess I'm the guinea pig this summer. Reports to come.

BTW, their cycling paniers look really nice.”

“My son Henry carried a VauDe Asymmetric 50 for 6 days in Olympic NP last summer.
It is 50 litres and he liked it OK.
The major feature was we got it for $65 from Eastern Mountain Sports.
They have other VauDe packs too.
This pack is pictured in my photo page.”

“Have a Vaude 14+3 bike pack, but I use it for hiking too. The Aeroflex suspension system works great in hot weather. Best ventilation I've ever had on a pack.Good craftsmanship and I'm currently looking for Vaude pack in the 50L+ range with the same system.”

“I have several of those;
Tour 60, (2)Tour 50 and a 40....
Yeah, I know, but I have to outfit several hikers, and there are several other larger packs.

The Aeroflex back system is good and those packs carry 30+ pounds well.

http://www.thegorgeoutdoors.co.uk/acatalog/The_Gorge_Outdoors_Vaude_rucksacks_109.html

I bought one from these guys a few years ago.
The model names have changed and you can find thier stuff on European websites.”

“I have the Vaude quest tent and I absolutely love it. I would buy more of their stuff iffin it was readily available.”

“I got one of my rucksacks from Telemark Pyrennes in France and one from The Gorge Outdoors in England.

I had seen it at Eastern Mountain Sports and when I went back they were gone.”