Backpack

[JW1069]

After Giant, I knew I needed a new pack and in particular one capable of holding a hydration bladder. After trying on a few of the packs at EMS, the Talon 33 stood out for being light weight, but the rep cautioning me not to over-stuff the pack sent up a flag. My goal was to find a suitable day pack and not a 2-3 nighter. After checking the Osprey site later, I decided to go with their Kestrel 32 (not stocked at EMS for some reason).

After yesterday's long hot hike of Colvin & Blake, I'm very happy with this pack! It holds the Osprey 3L bladder well, carries the weight on the hip belts and probably would have provided great ventilation for my back if there had been any breeze at all. The zipper loop pulls are nice and the whole layout works well for my needs. The outer mesh pockets (one main on the back panel and two side bottle pockets) easily held the items I wanted to access the fastest. As a day pack, this one seems ideal to me.

Also, I used the $50 off $200 coupon in the Entertainment book to combine the Osprey pack and 3L bladder plus a Platypus 2L bag for my hybrid water filter. Gear can get expensive so I'm trying to add high priority items when there is a good discount off the retail pricing.