D
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The Ranger 35 arrived earlier today and I have had a chance to take a bit of a close look at its set up and configuration.
The pack is a one size fits all package. There is no adjustability to the frame itself. The hipbelt is permanently attached to the pack so it has no ability to move up or down the pack.
The pack bag material is much the same as is used on most of Gossamer Gear's backpacks, which is to say it is a very tough material.
As weighed on my calibrated scale, the pack I received weighs 33.2 ounces, so just an ounce over two pounds/ 907 gm.
The main bag opens by a zipper that opens to the half way point down the bag on each side. Although it doesn't travel the entire length of the bag, for those who prefer a panel loading configuration, the entire main bag is easily visualized with the zipper open and it is very easy to reach into the bottom of the bag. This will allow easy placement of gear and clothing and allow every item to be seen and reached. Keep in mind that this is not a tall bag, this is a 35 liter backpack.
As with most backpacks, the main bag by itself is NOT a 35 liter capacity, although it is the majority of what this pack's load carrying will hold. There is also an outer zippered pocket which provides quite a bit of space for carrying things like first-aid items, knives, extra socks, etc. It will easily hold a number of items plus a rain cover.
There is a mesh front pocket which is made out of a tough and stretchy material that expands quite a bit, an which will hold a lot of stuff. There a pockets on the hipbelt and stretchy pocket on each side of the pack near the bottom-front which are sufficient for at least one liter bottles. It seems that they could be easily reached.
The frame is similar to the one used in one of the most comfortable large backpacks I have ever had: a Dana Designs Astralplane. This pack was a huge bag. It used an internal composite frame 'sheet' that was inside an internal pocket at the back of the pack, which was stiff and yet had a good basic contour to the panel. Unlike the 'hoop-style' frames on many internal framed packs, the frame sheet provides no doubt as to it's ability to not only control the floppiness of the bag. And it is highly efficient at transferring the weight to the hip belt.
The Ranger's composite frame sheet is held in a pocket with a velcro closure at the top. It can easily be removed and put back into place. On the back of the pack's exterior there is a great deal of padding for a pack of its size. There is no padding in the middle which creates an airflow tunnel. Additionally, the padding is a resilient (from what I can see) foam covered with a thick open mesh fabric which also would seem to promote a lot of airflow.
That same material and padding is on the hipbelt and shoulder pads.
The shoulder harness felt pretty comfortable without a load, but from experience it will be very adequate depending on the amount of weight carried. The same applies to the hipbelt. I do have some concern about the WIDTH of the padded surfaces being too narrow as it applies to weight distribution, but again, I would need to put increasing load weight into the pack to determine what I felt is an upper weight limit for comfort.
Sizing. As mentioned above, it is a one size fits all. For reference, my backpack sizes usually fall in the Medium or Medium/Large range. My spine length sits at around 19". Unloaded, I was able to get a good fit for the pack. With the shoulder harness lengthened so that the hipbelt had proper placement to be able to wrap around my hipbones, the shoulder harness still sat at the preferred location as it wrapped around my shoulders. So to me, it appears that for those within at least a small to large pack size range and adequate adjustment for fit should be readily doable.
The quality of the sewing seems of high quality. I could not readily see any defects in construction.
I am going to really put a lot of hard wear and tear on the zipper and the other bag fasteners and closures. I know that Gossamer Gear takes great pride in its quality, but I also have seen hardware failures with broken harness and hipbelt buckles with a couple of their packs. Now, those failures were not frequent and were quite a while ago, and Gossamer was very quick to respond to this problem. BUT, to me the buckle and fastener material looks and feels different in a direct comparison I did with my Mariposa. To me the likely explanation is that there is a new plastics formulation allowing for less material to be used and yet remain just as resilient, or even more so. I'll see, and I'll be making some inquiries to Gossamer as well.
I am impressed with the external compression straps and external attachment points for things like microspikes or an ice axe or dangly bits like sandals or wet underwear
. I hate dangly bits on my pack, but I know it is something that Camino users do to help increase the carrying capacity of smaller packs.
There is also an internal sleeve for hydration bladders and opening ports in the bag so that the drinking tube can be placed externally.
I have no immediate plans to take the pack out for a spin under load. I'm not yet up to that. If anyone has a question about the pack that I can answer, I will gladly do so. One caveat, though. Please do not ask me if this would be a good pack for you to use on Camino.... I wouldn't have the foggiest notion if your criteria for things like weight, comfort, or usability is similar to mine. All I can do is to relate what its objective characteristics are like (expected toughness of the material, function and type of frame, adjustability, etc.), and what my subjective feelings and experiences might be using the pack.
The pack is a one size fits all package. There is no adjustability to the frame itself. The hipbelt is permanently attached to the pack so it has no ability to move up or down the pack.
The pack bag material is much the same as is used on most of Gossamer Gear's backpacks, which is to say it is a very tough material.
As weighed on my calibrated scale, the pack I received weighs 33.2 ounces, so just an ounce over two pounds/ 907 gm.
The main bag opens by a zipper that opens to the half way point down the bag on each side. Although it doesn't travel the entire length of the bag, for those who prefer a panel loading configuration, the entire main bag is easily visualized with the zipper open and it is very easy to reach into the bottom of the bag. This will allow easy placement of gear and clothing and allow every item to be seen and reached. Keep in mind that this is not a tall bag, this is a 35 liter backpack.
As with most backpacks, the main bag by itself is NOT a 35 liter capacity, although it is the majority of what this pack's load carrying will hold. There is also an outer zippered pocket which provides quite a bit of space for carrying things like first-aid items, knives, extra socks, etc. It will easily hold a number of items plus a rain cover.
There is a mesh front pocket which is made out of a tough and stretchy material that expands quite a bit, an which will hold a lot of stuff. There a pockets on the hipbelt and stretchy pocket on each side of the pack near the bottom-front which are sufficient for at least one liter bottles. It seems that they could be easily reached.
The frame is similar to the one used in one of the most comfortable large backpacks I have ever had: a Dana Designs Astralplane. This pack was a huge bag. It used an internal composite frame 'sheet' that was inside an internal pocket at the back of the pack, which was stiff and yet had a good basic contour to the panel. Unlike the 'hoop-style' frames on many internal framed packs, the frame sheet provides no doubt as to it's ability to not only control the floppiness of the bag. And it is highly efficient at transferring the weight to the hip belt.
The Ranger's composite frame sheet is held in a pocket with a velcro closure at the top. It can easily be removed and put back into place. On the back of the pack's exterior there is a great deal of padding for a pack of its size. There is no padding in the middle which creates an airflow tunnel. Additionally, the padding is a resilient (from what I can see) foam covered with a thick open mesh fabric which also would seem to promote a lot of airflow.
That same material and padding is on the hipbelt and shoulder pads.
The shoulder harness felt pretty comfortable without a load, but from experience it will be very adequate depending on the amount of weight carried. The same applies to the hipbelt. I do have some concern about the WIDTH of the padded surfaces being too narrow as it applies to weight distribution, but again, I would need to put increasing load weight into the pack to determine what I felt is an upper weight limit for comfort.
Sizing. As mentioned above, it is a one size fits all. For reference, my backpack sizes usually fall in the Medium or Medium/Large range. My spine length sits at around 19". Unloaded, I was able to get a good fit for the pack. With the shoulder harness lengthened so that the hipbelt had proper placement to be able to wrap around my hipbones, the shoulder harness still sat at the preferred location as it wrapped around my shoulders. So to me, it appears that for those within at least a small to large pack size range and adequate adjustment for fit should be readily doable.
The quality of the sewing seems of high quality. I could not readily see any defects in construction.
I am going to really put a lot of hard wear and tear on the zipper and the other bag fasteners and closures. I know that Gossamer Gear takes great pride in its quality, but I also have seen hardware failures with broken harness and hipbelt buckles with a couple of their packs. Now, those failures were not frequent and were quite a while ago, and Gossamer was very quick to respond to this problem. BUT, to me the buckle and fastener material looks and feels different in a direct comparison I did with my Mariposa. To me the likely explanation is that there is a new plastics formulation allowing for less material to be used and yet remain just as resilient, or even more so. I'll see, and I'll be making some inquiries to Gossamer as well.
I am impressed with the external compression straps and external attachment points for things like microspikes or an ice axe or dangly bits like sandals or wet underwear
. I hate dangly bits on my pack, but I know it is something that Camino users do to help increase the carrying capacity of smaller packs.There is also an internal sleeve for hydration bladders and opening ports in the bag so that the drinking tube can be placed externally.
I have no immediate plans to take the pack out for a spin under load. I'm not yet up to that. If anyone has a question about the pack that I can answer, I will gladly do so. One caveat, though. Please do not ask me if this would be a good pack for you to use on Camino.... I wouldn't have the foggiest notion if your criteria for things like weight, comfort, or usability is similar to mine. All I can do is to relate what its objective characteristics are like (expected toughness of the material, function and type of frame, adjustability, etc.), and what my subjective feelings and experiences might be using the pack.
OMG... I completely overlooked them. I just looked at my pack and sure enough they are there just as pictured. I am embarrassed. I was so focused on so many other things about the pack that I blanked them out. Eventually I would have seen them as I started actually using the pack, but I was just too focused on a quick overview of the main features.
) It is quite comfortable, and I think that it will work well for the Camino.
