Gossamer Gear Gorilla 2013 short term review:

Gossamer Gear Gorilla  2013 short term review:

I’ve now taken my Gorilla Pack on 18 hikes and carried 129 miles, so I think it’s time for a short term gear review.  I've also done about 1 mile of bushwacking through slide alder and devils club with this pack so far.

No rips or tears in the mesh and I've done
some bushwacking with this pack.

I really like this pack.  I think my favorite thing is how well it rides.  I have not yet taken this pack on an overnighter but I have loaded it up with all my overnight gear and felt it would be comfortable.  I’m going to escape and do a backpacking trip with the pack just as soon as I can get away.

I also like the hip belt pockets.  I use one pocket to keep my car keys in.  Now I don’t have to dig for my car gets at the end of my hikes.  Without a hip belt pocket I always bury my keys in a deep secure place in my pack and then when my hike is over I have to dig and dig just to find my keys when all I want to do it sit down or go to the bathroom or put my dog in the Jeep.  No more, with the keys in the hip belt pocket I can get them out fast and have my car open in no time.  One problem though, twice I have left one of the pockets unzipped.  Luckily nothing fell out when I did that.  I hope I can remember to keep them zipped up so I don’t lose my stuff. 

I’ve been using one pocket for my car keys and my satellite messenger and the other pocket for collecting moss samples or holding my point and shoot or my IPod.  Moss samples ride safely in my little hip pocket and the envelopes I keep them in are easy to reach.

I have not been using the top pocket on the pack at all.  At first I thought I would use it to hole my car keys but I found that it was awkward to get into my pack with my car keys dragging the top down when it was open. 

I have not yet used to pack to carry snow shoes but I have used the ice axe loop and found that it works well and I like that it is positioned on the side of the pack instead of in the middle.  If it was in the middle it would make it harder to get into the front mesh pocket.

The hip belt clip seems to be very sturdy, I had been worried that it would break but my worries seem to have been unfounded.

My one complaint about this pack.  I have to clip four sets of little clips together in order to close the top all the way.  I miss the old purse string closure sometimes.  I wonder if I could close the pack securely but only clipping the outer clips and the two drawstring clips.  It’s not a big deal but it’s more fiddly than I would like.  But, on the plus side with all the exterior pockets I don’t have to get into my pack very often.

Update:

I finally got to take this pack on an overnight trip.  I went out for three nights with my daughter.  The pack carried beautifully!  I'll never go back to my old normal weight backpack.   Having a pack that fits right makes all the difference I think. 

We went about 15 miles in total and my total pack weight was about 30 pounds.  I carried all the food for 2 people for 3 days, so 6 days worth of food for one person. 

Full trip report from the hike is here: http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/search/label/Bogachiel

It was a good pack until it broke and I could not get Gossamer Gear to help me repair it.  I do not recommend GG equipment due to the poor customer service that GG is getting famous for.