User Review: Dana Design ArcLight Glacier

Reviewed September 11, 1998 by an anonymous hiker

Rating: rated 4 of 5 stars
Design: internal
Size: 5500
Number of Pockets: two huge ones+top fanny pack
Max. Load Carried: 45 lbs.
Height of Owner: 6'
Price Paid: about $300

This is the most comfortable pack I have ever carried. I carried about 45 pounds in my pack on a 10-day trip to northern New Mexico and I am very pleased with the pack. The hip belt is supremely comfortable and the bag is perfectly sized to fit clothes and other junk in the two pockets, easily accessible stuff in the top pocket, and heavy cooking stuff on the inside. I used the two straps on the bottom to carry my tent. Overall a very useful and durable design.

Two years ago I went on a similar trip to New Mexico carrying a Lowe Alpine Contour Elite. My hips were so sore each morning I began thinking backpacking wasn't for me. Luckily when I purchased my Dana my interest was rekindled. I carried about 45 pounds in the pack and I have only a few quips:

1) one of the fiberglass rods inside the pack ripped out at the bottom so I couldn't fully tension the suspension (which put more weight on my shoulders), but I hardly noticed any difference in comfort because I was carrying only 30-35 pounds by then.

2) I sent the pack back to the manufacturer after I returned from the trip and after over two months Dana still hasn't FOUND it, let alone fix it. I think it got shipped to the wrong place so this may be an isolated case. The guys at the gear shop said it was the first Dana they had ever seen that had failed.

But overall the pack is awesome and probably the most comfortable pack you can buy for $300.

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