Granite Gear Leopard V.C. 46
This bag is lightweight, customizable, and really great at fitting in everything you need without a sacrifice in quality. I use this bag mostly for two-night backpacking trips with roughly a 25-30lb load in the Northeast where there's lots of water around.
Pros
- Light
- Useful pockets
Cons
- Bit tight for hydration sleeve
I've used this bag a handful of times after buying it when looking for a smaller and lighter bag (Deuter Act Lite 65+10). It is a lot smaller than my other pack so it took some playing around to get everything to fit, but otherwise carried everything well and comfortably. There are a ton of straps and buckles that keep the bag compressed and closed, so it is not ideal if you need to access things inside your bag often, but I didn't find it to be too much of a hassle.
It somehow fits in a lot of features (pockets, sleeves, straps) in while keeping the overall weight relatively light. The materials of the bag and stitching seem very good, though I found a buckle and a cinch sewed on backward.
Other than that, it definitely looks like it will last a long time. The "beaver tail" flap I found to be really useful, sort of acting like a extra pocket for rain gear and clothes. The molle straps have even come in handy, offering a good way to hold a cat-hole trowel and a camera lens.
Overall, I'm very happy with this bag!
Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $65
Nearly great pack, with a few design quirks. But really hits the empty space between packs that are too light and too heavy.
Pros
- Strong where needed
- Great size for careful packers
- Very comfortable
- Versatile, for many different load volumes.
Cons
- Far too many small straps
- Hip belt is too light compared to the overall capacity of the pack
- Apparently discontinued
It took me forever to find a pack the could carry a good 35 pound load comfortably while keeping the pack weight reasonable.
Granite Gear seems to have a great feel for this balance.
I wish there were fewer straps, but they seemed to have thrown every strap they could think of here.
But, for a versatile, strong, and comfortable pack this is VERY hard to beat. Love it and will manage to not whine about the straps.
Source: bought it new
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Historic Range: $57.73-$229.95 Reviewers Paid: $65.00 |