GoLite Trek Pack

I like this pack a lot.

This pack really has no frame other than a sheet of foam that makes up the backing. This is nice because when the bag is mostly empty it rolls up easy for tent storage.I have plenty of room with this bag and it is more of a problem filling the bag enough. It needs to be properly filled enough for the compression straps to tighten the pack up giving it its frame like stiffness. I typically just loosely stuff my sleeping bag in the bottom of the pack to help fill space. For short overnight trips I leave the top of the pack at home.

No bruised shoulders or bad stitching here, those people may want to loosen up on their shoulder straps some and tighten their hip belt and/or repack their bags and be sure to be at or below manufacturers recommended carry weight.

Used this pack on a three day hike on the Northwest trails of Mt. Rainier, this pack completely let me down, in fact I got rid of all my GoLite gear except for their rain gear. Back to full internal frames for me, shoulder straps left my arms bruised. Top pocket kept sliding all over the place. I was also packing only 28 pounds.

The ultra light movement isn't for me. I like comfort, Should of took my Osprey.

The GoLite Trek is a fine pack for one that weighs only 2lbs. I've carried well over their recomended weight and found it to be resonably comfortable. The pack has numerous features most modern packs have, hydration compatible, it holds my 3-liter bladder fine. The large mesh pockets on the side and back are very useful. The top lid however seems poorly designed. The fabric used on the packbag is fairly durable, however If you travel off trail a lot you will abraid holes in it.

The suspension works fine for not having any framesheet. It held a 45-lb load with relative comfort. I think with the modern lightweight gear available in tents and bags today you could get a 7-day trip out of this pack. The pack holds the large size Bear Vault inside, for bear country although it's a tight fit.

On the negative side I found the pack to be a little less stable then some packs for climbing tough off-trail routes and for x-country skiing. If you stay on trails though it's fine.

One other comment, don't buy the black, get a lighter color. It was the only color in stock when I purchased mine and it cooks you on hot summer hikes.

A very good pack for the money I paid for it.

Good volume to hold your gear if you're getting into ultralight backpacking. The two mesh pockets on the sides securely hold nalgene bottles. The large mesh pocket on the rear has enough room to hold my rain gear, tarp, stakes, and ground cloth or bivy. The interior has a hydration sleeve that works well in holding standard platypus containers.

For weekend trips in three seasons I don't take along the top lid -- don't need the volume. Some people complain about the top lid falling to the ground when you open the pack, but there is an easy fix for this -- see my site at http://mysite.verizon.net/gdwelker/id38.html for the fix.

Straps and belt are very comfortable with a more than full load. I do have some problem with the plastic fitting holding the chest strap to the pack strap rubbing on the inside of my arm when my arms swing and the chest strap is not fastened, but this is probably just the way I am built and I have a fix for it.

I hiked the entire PCT with the GoLite Trek Pack. I didn't use the 'brain' of the pack and even still the pack seemed to be able to accommodate any load, whether it was 7 days of food, or extra rain gear for Washington. The only reason I don't give the pack a 5 star rating is that the stitching on the shoulder strap came undone early on and I had to treat the thing delicately.