Mountainsmith Juniper 50

Good pack at a good value. Spacious, easy to load and unload.

I bought this pack for my wife to use on light to moderate hikes. She says it is very comfortable and balanced very well. This pack was easy to adjust to her size; she is 5'1" and petite.

This pack has the same duffle zip to main pouch as my Lariat and is a life saver when packing it full or getting to something without unloading the pack. It is quite spacious and holds every thing my wife needs to pack, sized as advertised.

The summit packs we use as day packs and hold far more than you would think, everything for a day hike plus. The summit pack on this Juniper 50 recycled my wife and I both like better than the one on my Lariat 65 and the juniper 55 because it has a duffle type zipper and a stretchy exterior pocket. This makes it handier to use and the exterior pocket packs two 16oz. bottles with ease. Honestly I can fit more in the wife's summit pack then in mine.

The only con I have is the shoulder straps and back padding are better on my Lariat and the Juniper 55 than on the recycled packs. Although the wife says they are still very comfortable even loaded to capacity, in terrain it rides good. The compression straps adjust to different loads very well keeping the pack tight and close.

The construction appears to be as good as that of my Lariat pack both material zippers and stitching. This pack has only been on a few outings so time will tell. If it doesn't prove to hold up over the summer I will update this review, but I have no reason to think it won't.