2007 GoLite Backpacks Preview

For 2007 GoLite overhauled its entire line of backpacks, replacing 28 models with just nine packs in three series. The nine packs are proclaimed to be tougher, more comfortable, more fully featured with broader functionality, and on the whole even lighter (what else would you expect from a company called GoLite?).

At the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market trade show in August, GoLite co-founder Demetri “Coup” Coupounas said there had been too much overlap among GoLite’s packs and that the line itself didn’t match the company’s core values of integration, light weight, and simplicity. The new 2007 GoLite line is stripped down (much like its packs) and “the more the line is simplified, the more we get people outside,” said Coupounas.

For the first time, eight of the nine packs will be offered in gender-specific sizes. While the men’s and women’s models offer different fits (women’s versions have narrower shoulder straps, torsos, and upper and lower hips, and a greater hip belt angle), they’re otherwise the same packs with the exact same features, because woman are “carrying the same things men are and using them the same ways,” said Coupounas.

The new GoLite packs will be available in January of 2007. For more details on a specific pack, visit its product page.

Venture Series

The Venture Series includes three full-suspension backpacking, trekking, and mountaineering packs with internal frame sheets that can accommodate 40-, 50-, and 60-pound loads:

Ultra Series

For the core ultra-light customer, Ultra packs offer minimum weight for fastpackers, thru-hikers, backpackers, peak baggers, and climbers:

Adrenaline Series

Not just light, fast and light, Adrenaline packs are designed for performance during fast-and-light sports like adventure racing, ultra-marathons, and fastpacking: