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Berghaus Quartz Rucksac First
Look
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Price:
£150.00
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Weight: 2550 grammes claimed (size 4 -
medium)
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Features:65+10
litres capacity, Cyclops III back system with EVAbreathe
foam technology, occipital head-clearance cavity in frame
top cross bar, Ardura 1000D fabric with Jnr Ballistic /
Ardura 420 S reinforcements, side-zipped main compartment
access, twin ice-axe loops, offset base compartment with
drawcord divider, pre-curved grabber hip fins, twin 5-littre
expansion side pockets, zipped internal and extermal lid
pockets, key clip, hydration system pocket and outlet,
compression straps, rope compression strap, wand pockets,
hip-belt pocket, weird wet clothes hump, big haul
loop.
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Until this year Berghaus's large capacity load haulers were looking a
bit tired. Not bad packs, but somewhere in the middle of the peleton,
while others romped off ahead. The Extrem range of technical sacs was
an honourable exception, but for load-hauling you really need more
support.
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Quartz takes a well-earned rest.
That hump is for wet kit
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Enter the updated 2002 range with straps akimbo and more features
than you can shake a trekking pole at. Big daddy of the new family is
the 150-quid Quartz aimed squarely at the jugular of big haulers like
Lowe's larger Crossbows and Karrimor's Independence. At that sort of
price you expect something pretty special and first impressions are
that the Quartz delivers.
Sacs aren't generally 'sexy' but the Quartz screams quality with
tough feeling fabrics, neat construction and classic red / yellow /
grey colours, reinforcements in all the right places and so on. Nice
looks, but does it work?
Back System
The key to any pack's comfort is the back system. The Quartz uses
the new Cyclops 3 back in a choice of three fixed lengths - by
contrast the cheaper Atrek is adjustable, but ask yourself how often
you actually adjust the length of your pack. It's better to have a
simpler, lighter fixed length, as long as it fits. Essentially it's a
proven internal frame with two main staves plus cross members, but
it's the details that make this stuff work.
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Okay you can't see much of it,
but the balance
between comfort and support from the new EVAbreathe
foam matrix and the density and shape of the straps
and hip belt felt spot on
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The density and type of foam used is essential for trip-long comfort
and here Berghaus has made a big effort. A new so-called EVAbreathe
matrix foam in the back system and, neatly, on the inside of the
shoulder straps, is claimed to be both breathable, high wicking and
much less compressible than other foams. The construction uses
overlapping honeycomb-type holes, which you can feel throught he
wicking fabric cover.
We've also found strap and hip belt foam density and shape to be
crucial. The best hip belts aren't massively padded, but combine a
soft inner foam with a stiffer, contoured outer - check. Ditto
shoulder straps, which work best when contoured to curve outwards in
front of the shoulder and again don't need a huge amount of padding -
check.
To get an initial impression of the Quartz's load-lugging
abilities we stuffed it full of heavy kit - a couple of ropes, some
climbing hardware, a tent etc - to simulate a big trekking or
mountaineering approach load, then took off up the nearest big hill.
We've found before that while most packs will be okay up to around
40lb or so, it's the really big weights that sort out the contenders
from the also rans.
And on the evidence so far, the Quartz is a contender. It felt a
little bouncy at first, but judicious tightening of the twin
top-tension adjusters and the hip-belt compressions straps, which
neatly also compress the sleeping bag compartment, sorted that out
leaving us with a solid, stable, comfortable carry even with a big
load. The hip-belt is excellent with just the right combination of
comfort and support. Close to Crossbow territory we reckon, but from
a lighter pack.
On a hot day, we didn't have any problems with back sweatiness
either, so tentative first impressions are that the generous foam
padding does the job. Not to soft and not too firm.
The Incidentals
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Bellows side pockets lie flat
when not in use, but provide
an extra 5-litres apiece of carrying capacity when called
upon
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There's a lot more to the Quartz than the back system, Berghaus has
gone to town on a series of design inovations. If you've ever
struggled to access the lower sleeping bag compartment with a full
sack, battling with the reluctant hinge effect of a horizontal zip,
you'll appreciate the Quartz's slanted side access, which lets you
get in and at it, with minimum hassle. Ditto the similarly
well-protected side-zip on the main compartment. Neat and, as Alan
Hinkes points out in current magazine ads, you don't need to lie the
pack down on its back system and get it wet.
The lid pocket is roomy, with enough of a lower lip to stop stuff
rolling out at the slightest provocation and the expandable side
bellow pockets are neatly constructed though we might have preferred
a longer zip and some Fastex quick release fasteners on the side
compression straps.
Other details are good - big wand pockets, hydration system
pocket, a small - too small? - zipped pocket on the hip belt, a rope
compression strap under the lid, and, erm, a weird aerodynamic hump
in the middle of the back. A what?
Actually it's a zipped-pocket with a mesh drain hole at the
bottom. The idea is that you can stash your wet gloves or jacket and
excess water can escape rather than contaminating the rest of your
pack. To be honest, it's a bit small and will have trouble coping
with larger shell jackets. As we haven't yet used it, the jury's
still out.
Detailing
Apart from all the neat innovation stuff, Berghaus has taken the
time to sort out some of the little touches that often get
overlooked. So, the shoulder strap loose ends are actually anchored
so they don't flap around, as are the main straps on the rear of the
sac. Zip access points are well covered and so on. One thing we
didn't like were the non-anchored Velcro-fastened upper axe straps -
leave them undone and you'll lose them for sure, but it's a
relatively minor point.
Oh, finally, there's a thing called an 'occipital cavity' in the
top frame cross member. It's a curve in the frame so that when the
pack's fully loaded, you can look up without your head being
obstructed by the pack. Neat idea, we'll report back after using it
more extensively.
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Provisional Verdict: First
impressions, and that's what these are, are very, very
positive. It's a very comfortable sac, very stable, with a
supportive and breathable back system even with a heavy
load. Build quality and materials feel great and the
innovative details like the zip side access to the pack are
the icing on the cake. We have a couple of minor quibbles -
we'd like a bigger hip-belt pocket and some quick release
buckles on the side compression straps for ease of using
wand pocket and accessing the side pockets and main
compartment access points. We reckon the Quartz has all the
qualities to make an excellent multi-day trekking /
backpacking or expedition approach sac. At just over 2.5 kg
it's not the lightest pack around, but the trade-off is
increased comfort and stability. We're about to take it for
a long weekend's backpacking, so watch this space for a full
rundown.
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Pushed for time:
Very red, very good load lugger that puts the Berghaus
trekking range back up near the front of the field again.
Comfortable, stable, supportive with a lot of small but
useful innovations. Watch this space.
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