Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Gear Review - Z-Pack Arc Blast Backpack

The Backpack I purchased for the Long Trail hike was the Z-Pack Arc Blast, the first decision for buying this was the weight of course. It came in around 1.3 lbs which is remarkable when you receive it and start to fill it. Lots of room! To be fair our packs were a little heavier as I purchased a few of the add ons which consisted of two belt pouches and a lumbar pad. This added a small bit of weight but nothing that was really noticed.
When the packs arrived, I say packs as I purchased on for my charming wife as well, when they arrived I was still astonished how light these were. In fact I thought that this couldn’t really be a good pack. Even when they were unpacked I still had some skepticism about how these were going work out on the trail.  I again watched some of the Z-pack videos to make sure we had the initial setup correct which went well. The only thing left was to pack them and start hiking.  We completed some local day hikes with the packs fully loaded to get some idea how these would feel, Like the Tent I was pleasantly surprise how well it worked and how well it felt. Of course these were just day hikes so it really is hard to get a feel for it. We did do a few overnighters and again all was good. This gave us the confidence that these would work good for us.  On the long trail we didn’t have any issues at all, the pack was easy to carry VERY comfortable in spite of me carry some additional weight. If I had to find something that I didn’t like it would have been the small strap used for the shoulder straps. Not a problem early on but I suppose it worked in a bit over the course of the trail. I may have caused the issue myself  because I mentioned I did carry a little more weight than I planned. I had to assist my wife and take some of her gear. Other than that , Very impressed with the construction and how it held up during our hike.  I did notice that they now make a backpack with a zipper the “Arc Haul-Zip backpack” . The zipper may make it a little more convenient to get gear, this I would like to try. The Arc Blast is a top load and it takes a bit of time to dial in how to pack and the order to pack in. That’s life on the trail though.
Some of the features are
·         Our ultralight Flexed Arc frame keeps the pack stiff so that most weight is carried on the hips instead of the shoulders.  Which seemed to work well
·         The frame is curved to allow air flow and keep your back cushioned from the pack's contents. The air flow I didn’t notice but it was very hot during or long trail hike. There was a space between the pack and the back so the contents did sit on your back.
·         The shoulder straps and load lifter straps worked well after the initial set up
·         The belt is done with "V Style" webbing so that the top and bottom circumference can be adjusted independently. This helps wrap your hips much more securely, and prevents the belt from sliding down. This is another good option, I did watch other hikers with the single belt and it just didn’t seem to work as well as this.
Roll top closure ,Side pockets, Large stretchy mesh center pocket ,Side compression straps, top strap, and base straps,  all come together to complete the package. All the items were well thought out and work well for a day hiker/ overnight hiker and the thru hiker.  
A little on the expensive side but well worth it in my opinion. 



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