Gregory Z 25 Backpack - 1525-1650cu in - 2009 BCS

Like it as a day hiking pack - easily carried up to 4L of water, 12 essentials, DSL, rain gear, extra layer, some food, 12 essentials etc. for all day hikes. The load is well balanced and the vented backpanel helps keep your back cool. In general with these vented designs the pack is less centered around your body so its not quite as good for jumping from rock to rock, but thats a compromise you make with the style so I won't knock it for that. Until the failure (get to it later) my only complaint is the top pocket (which is easy to access) is too small. I can barely fit my hand (I wear a mens medium to large glove) into it, which makes it a bit of a pain when trying to grab something out of it, so it was delegated to holding keys/cellphone/wallet which might be better suited in the interior pocket since I hopefully only need them at the end of the hike. I really dig the large hip pockets, adjustments, etc. on the pack.

On probably my 15th use the wire frame broke through the bottom of the pack on one side getting rid of the tension. This seems like a bit of a design flaw since there is not much reinforcement by this stress point on the pack. Forced me to reroute down the mountain and made for an uncomfortable hike out.

I'm sending it back in for repairs, so we will see how it goes, but I don't know if I'll trust this for longer/more technical climbs.

This pack has 2 features that are hard to find these days
1. A front panel that fits a helmet, wet clothes, food, or a laptop (for use around town)
2. Two side pockets that fit nalgene bottles.

The size of the pack is great - perfect for a day hike, or this is also my go-to bag for a weekend trip in town. The front pouch fits my laptop and it is super easy to take out the laptop at the airport.

The suspension is very comfortable. I've had about 28 pounds in it and it felt fine. I wouldn't go much heavier than that though. There are plenty of compression straps to make the back small when it's fairly empty. There's a zippered pouch area inside the pack, too, which helps organization.

My only complaint is that there is limited space that you can get to without opening the entire pack up. There is a small pocket on top of the pack, but that's it. I'd like to be able to get to my food without opening up my whole pack, but hey, I don't think many other packs this size do this any better. That's the only small drawback of an otherwise perfect pack.