Podsacs New vs Old

I was wondering what experience people have had with the new generation of Podsacs.

 Just heard from Pod that some of the original range are set to be discontinued. The iconic Super Teardrop, teardrop and Escape Pod will be no more. Perhaps the other old style packs will be next (Cragsac, Black Ice)

The original Podsacs were all about no compromise materials and bombproof construction. These qualities seem to be less in favour with style, features and weight being the new priorities. The new packs are reviewed well in magazines though.

The sale to equip uk and far east production are changing the type of pack available and the image of the brand. It may be a case of buying one of these original packs whilst you can. 

I Disagree.

I have just purchased an alpine 30 based on the fact that it was touch and durable. The pack appears bombproof and made with good materials. It is basic as far as features which was also a requirement of mine.

Now having said all that the new Lux range due out in May seems to be lighter with maybe less durable materials but still quiet basic as far as features go.

I suppose only time will really tell if the quality of the packs will diminish.

The guys at Equip - same company as Rab - have emphasised to me, on several occasions, that keeping Pod's standards as high as ever is a priority for them, they also have Pete O'Donovan on board as an adviser, I think.

The idea behind the Alpine packs released last year, was to create a more contemporary pack with traditional Pod values of toughness, durability and bombproof construction. The Lux packs are a slightly different, lighter beast, but the use of Cordura fabrics and traditional Pod construction should mean that they're durable for their weight, though clearly they're not going to be as tough as a full weight traditional Pod sac.

I haven't used a Pod Alpine pack, well, I've used a Granite and that seems pretty hardy, but I still have my old Pod Cragsac which is really basic, but prodigiously tough. It's survived years of abuse including almost a year of being dragged, unsympathetically, across South America.

But anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say, is that the new ownership doesn't necessarily mean a fall off in standards, Equip seem to understand what Pod is all about pretty well and while they may be making the brand less niche, they don't want to lose core values.

I don't see why the new packs shouldn't be as good or better than the originals, in the same way as I can't see why the latest Rab sleeping bags shouldn't be as good or better than the originals.

With the Lux packs, I think it's a question of realising it's about being tough for the weight rather than being outright bombproof.

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

There seem to be some cases of people damaging their Alpine Podsacs which suggests that they may not be as robust as the original range.

After the POD sellout many of the original packs became lighter. The pre sell out podsacs were amazingly well built, heavier but the build quality of my original cragsac and Xpod seems superior to the podsacs I have bought since the sellout. Both packs remain undamaged and in good condition after over twelve years of use. 

The original 1000D Cordura material may be heavier but seems to be tougher than the new variations, thats why POD still use this on all of their cragging sacs as they expect such sacs to take the most abuse.

This seems like something of an error to me. In the past if you wanted a bombproof comfortable bag POD was the obvious choice without question. Now they're just another over featured pack from the far east!

There are a number of people like me that would rather buy a second hand original than any new bag. The problem is no one who's got a super teardrop ever wants to sell it!

Speaking of which, if you do get offered a yellow one, it's probably mine, which was stolen last week!