Bushwalk Australia

I have around 8 packs, I think, but thinking about updating again. I’ve done most of my hiking with my Exos 48 and the model with the hip belt. It’s done a lot now and been repaired under warranty. There’s a lot of cottage brands available over in the US which are really good. I’ve definitely overloaded my Exos in the past. Great pack though.

Interested in opinions on packs of around 50 litres or so?

My favorite is an Atom Packs MO 50. I've got a 60 too. Also have a very worn out exos 48, a Bonfus Iterus 38, a Wilderness Threadworks Sonder, a Cactus Hector and a really old Macpac Torre.

The MO is reasonably light, tough for a UL pack and can carry a load comfortably. Highly recommended.

ULA Catalyst is the best I've ever had. The Circuit is a bit smaller but similar.

I own one pack; a Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50L. Comfortable, works for me, not the lightest, not the heaviest.

Had a GG Mariposa beforehand but 60L is a bit much most of the time.

Hang on, I don't talk about gear, what am I doing?? I just lurk quietly and pretend I don't talk about gear...

I'm 99% satisfied with my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest 5400. Best pack I've ever had, by a long way. It loses 1% for not having a lid pocket though.

I often do walks of over a week with it, and yet it closes up enough that it's great for day trips too.

HMG Junction 3400 here. 55L has served me well for trips up to 10 days so far. Will be interesting to see how it goes with an 11 day packraft mission coming up later in the year, but over the past nearly five years it's proved to be a very comfortable, flexible and mostly very tough rucksack. My own real criticism is that the Hardline 150 material for the hip and side pockets isn't as durable as the rest of the pack and I've had to patch/glue mine multiple times since. Tassie scrub takes its toll. In hindsight perhaps the Northrim is the better option to get.

That said, as HMG won't do a Porter 5400 with Northrim hip pockets, my next pack will be a custom made Southern Lites alpine pack of 85L (for packrafting and ski touring).

Previously I had a Arcteryx Bora AR63 which was a lovely pack and very comfortable, but weighed quite a lot in of itself and just not as flexible with actual packing. Once you've had a roll top, you can't go back, basically

Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest 55L is a pack I like alot, but I'm finding it's a bit too big for general hiking (3-5 days) and a bit small for Alpine touring. Also in white, its impossible to keep looking good as the white stains easily.

Alway been a Wilderness Threadworks fan, particularly the Sonder. I notice it comes in a 44L now! Good to see WT back making packs.

So I'm going to retire the Southwest and go back to a 3 pack, day, hike, alpine setup.

Currently my go to is the OrangeBrown OB 48. Only used it a couple of times but really like it so far. It's a bit different in that one of the side pockets is long enough to stuff your tent, which has proved to work well so far.

Got a Gregory 18 for day walks and it's fine, does the job.

For Alpine, not sure what I'll replace the Southwest with ATM

I might be the only one who votes for this manufacturer—Aarn.

I have a HMG Windrider 4400 (55L), really durable for a DCF pack, carries a lot for a light pack and it's black so not so worried about it staying clean like with the more common white versions. ULA also make great gear... I have an Ohm for shorter trips and some of their more recent offerings look really good. Also check out Southern Lite and Atom as others have suggested.

Interesting that HMG volume descriptions have now moved to litres instead of cubic inches (or maybe they have been for a while and i've been living under a rock?)

AARN here as well. Most of my walks are overnighters these days so the Mountain Magic 40 serves that purpose very well.

That they allow your centre of gravity to move closer to its natural location is a game changer for comfort and stability - the only downside is the fiddly straps.

headwerkn wrote:HMG Junction 3400 here. 55L has served me well for trips up to 10 days so far. Will be interesting to see how it goes with an 11 day packraft mission coming up later in the year, but over the past nearly five years it's proved to be a very comfortable, flexible and mostly very tough rucksack. My own real criticism is that the Hardline 150 material for the hip and side pockets isn't as durable as the rest of the pack and I've had to patch/glue mine multiple times since. Tassie scrub takes its toll. In hindsight perhaps the Northrim is the better option to get.

That said, as HMG won't do a Porter 5400 with Northrim hip pockets, my next pack will be a custom made Southern Lites alpine pack of 85L (for packrafting and ski touring).

Previously I had a Arcteryx Bora AR63 which was a lovely pack and very comfortable, but weighed quite a lot in of itself and just not as flexible with actual packing. Once you've had a roll top, you can't go back, basically

@headwrkn - did you end up getting the Southern Lites Pack?

My ULA circuit is the most comfortable pack I’ve ever worn. Will never wear anything else.

Wilkography wrote:@headwrkn - did you end up getting the Southern Lites Pack?

No, unfortunately Luke's lead times were too long to meet the deadline for our Vanishing/Provis trip last November.

I ended up getting a HMG Porter 85 - we all ended up getting one in the end - and adding a Sockdolanger Bow Bag to the back (front?) as an additional pocket/packraft bag/summit pack. Definitely needed all the space for that trip I didn't end up using the bow bag for its primary purpose on that trip (we just strapped our entire packs to the front, in and out of the boats too much to make inner bags worth the effort) but it works well for regular bushwalking trips too. You can put a surprising amount of camera gear in an 85L pack, hehe.

I'm still keen on a Southern Lite, when my 55L finally falls apart. You just need to be super organised or not in a rush, as with any in-demand artisan.

headwerkn wrote:

Wilkography wrote:@headwrkn - did you end up getting the Southern Lites Pack?

I ended up getting a HMG Porter 85

What weight were you carrying and how did it go without load lifters?

matagi wrote:What weight were you carrying and how did it go without load lifters?

27kg starting weight. That's including roughly 4-5kg of packrafting kit (rigged Alpacka Caribou T-zip and seat, CF paddle, PFD, inflation and repair kit, helmet), a few kgs of camera gear and 8.5kg of food.

It carried fine, HMG's "L" back length seems to suit me well in terms of fit, I don't find myself reaching for load lifters. I think 29-30kg is considered the upper 'comfortable' limit of the Porter 85? Of course it was a tonne more weight that the typical 12-17kg loads I'd usually take - that climb up to Moonlight Ridge sucked way harder than usual, hehe. Life got a little easier towards the end of the trip of course, once most of the food weight had disappeared.

Probably the only real downside of the setup was the just the overall physical size of everything, especially with the additional pocket on the back. It's hard to put into words just how tight some of the forest/scrub is between Kameruka Moraine and the Salisbury is, and I was regularly getting hung up on branches etc trying to squeeze through.