There's a small thread on OM - search under "Gourdon".
These do look great - I'm thinking about using one as a stuffsac for my sleeping bag and spare clothes and then once camp is set up, using it for peak bagging.
Funnily enough one just arrived in the post, about ten minutes after the article appeared on the site - now that's what I call service :-)
Review, hopefully, next week, if it rains enough. Looks good, obvious weaknesses are lack of hydration system compatibility and no pockets, but if you can live with that and want a simple, waterproof day pack, it looks pretty damn good and at a great price.
I ordered mine yesterday lunchtime and it arrived in the post this morning. I'm going to use it for the first time in the Beacons next weekend and will let the forum know how it is out on the hills.
I thought about buying one of the ortlieb bags a while ago but after seeing the price decided against it. So while on a multi-day trip, I fashioned a daypack using one of my OutdoorDesigns drybags (from BackpackingLight), guy lines with socks as padding for the straps and my Thermarest for back-padding. In theory I thought it was great, forced me to carry just what I needed. In practice, it worked fine for a few hours, then the 'straps' started to annoy me. The next day I was back to carrying a half empty 'multi-day pack'.
I think I'll be adding one of these to the Xmas list. Thank God for Alpkit, realisingly that not all us 'Outdoor Nuts' are prepared to pay daft prices for great ideas :-)
it looks, and im sure it is, a great product. but im dissappointed OMM have decided to brand it as ultralight. Minimalist & lightweight yes at 453g for 25L, but ultralight well hmmm......
How many nits have you collected so far Morph? ;-) I used mine for a bit of shopping, <Sacrilege! I hear you cry> walked home from Tesco, about 2 miles, and got caught in 2 severe cloudbursts, the rain stung my back through a Superfly,a 100 fleece and a merino baselayer. I got home and opened my strange little beast to find that everything was absolutely dry. I got some strange and worried glances through the windscreens and windows of passing cars which may have been due to its unusual looks and bright orange colour but I think it was more about the insanity of walking along the road in such atrocious weather conditions. I bought the orange version for its visibilty as I shall be using it mostly on my bike. BTW, Ortlieb X-Plorer, 35L, 640g, available at Gear Zone for £38.50; 59L, 790g, at £42.50.
i used mine (25ltr) as a daysac during a walking day in the central highlands in early december in rain, high winds, sleet and snow.
it ain't the most comfortable 'daysac' in the world, you'll notice a massive difference in terms of stability compared to a traditional daysac, but, OTOH, mine competantly carried a 1 litre steel flask, 2 litre platypus, sundry marsbars, a sigg aluminium lunch box and a montane extreme smock + hood, spare maps, wooly hats, gloves, head torch and a bothy bag, all with reasonable comfort and total 'weatherproofness' over a really shitty day.
most of the time i just wore a merino baselayer and a paramo Fuera windproof, so although the backpad isn't fabulous, its not exactly rubbish either.
the big gripe has got to be the webbing straps, put simply they are pretty slick which means they don't stay in position long - which is enormously irritating and can only be remedied by tying the bloody things up or taping them into position - meaning that when you go from wearing a pile/pertex smock to just wearing a baselayer/windproof the 'sac is baggy and ill-fitting - conversely if they're set for wearing with thin garments it can be great fun actually getting them on over a much thicker smock.
that said however, £17 is never going to buy a great daysac, and the fantastic thing the Gourdon does is give the backpacker flexibility of having a stowaway daysac and drybag in one.
i intend using mine on multi-day 'exploring' trips - as a conventional drybag for my vunerable down kit stuffed into my rucksac for the 'A to B' bits, and as as a daysac for the erxploring bits where all i need is water, food and waterproofs/warm kit and camera.
for this role £17 is an absolute bargain, not only is the price great, but it genuinely does both roles well - though i'll be replacing the webbing tape ASAP...
