Gregory G-Pack Tested

Gregory G-Pack Tested

Price: £100.00

Weight: 1200 grammes (medium - 48 litres)

Features: Three back sizes - small, medium and large (43 / 48 / 51 liters), Wraptor Stabilizer suspension, Internal Exo-Frame, Sport harness, Gullwing waist belt, Chimney ventilated back panel, silicone-impregnated G70 fabric with 210d HT nylon reinforcements, water resistant, top access, top pocket with zip. mesh waist belt pockets, meash stuff pockets side and front, hydration sleeve and port, dual ice axe loops and keepers, external compression straps.

Light but supportive, carries very nicely. Lightweight fabric may balk at abrasive use.

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The Concept Gregory Packs is an American company with a big profile in its home market. The company's based in California and has been going since the late 70s, when it was founded by Wayne Gregory, who is still in charge of pack design. Packs are something our trans-Atlantic cousins do rather well - witness the success of Osprey in the UK - and Gregory is just starting to become available here - April 2005.

The G-Pack is a minimalist lightpacking sac aimed at 'the weight conscious' but capable of being used for a wide variety of activities, so you get ice axe loops included for example. Unlike early lightweight packs from the likes of GoLite, the G-Pack is intended to combine lightness with a back-system supportive enough to handle heavier loads with a degree of comfort.

As the pack won the 2005 Backpacker Editor's Choice Award in the lightweight packs category and has been extensively updated for this year, we were expecting good things.

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Features We're not going to get into a blow by blow description of the G-Pack, but if you want a rapid overview, we're talking a lightweight pack body with a very supportive back system. The actual fabric of the pack is a lightweight 70 denier, silicone impregnated nylon - the silicone ups strength and water resistance - with reinforcments in strategic areas like the base using a heavier weight nylon.

The back system is based on what Gregory calls the Exo Frame. It's an internal framesheet that';s shaped to fit your back and give stability and support, but also has built-in lateral flexibility to allow natural upper body movements, they say. Backing that up, is Gregory's new Wraptor Stabiliser feature. It means that the lower shoulder strap mounts are a dual strap instead of a single one which is intended to spread load over the lower backpanel section more evenly and pull the back panel in towards the back making for less bounce and greater security.

The rest of the pack is relatively conventional but well thought out with a large main compartment, big mesh stuff pockets and a multi-anchored side compression strap system . The twin axe loops use a neat combined shock cord / hook mechanism for quick and easy adjustment and unfastening.

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In Action It's a mark of a good pack that it feels lighter on your back than it does when you pick it up and like the Osprey Atmos models we tested recently, the G-Pack pulls off the trick with aplomb. The back system is shaped so that it sucks in against your back, particularly in the lower lumbar area and feels nicely married to you with the feel that the load is being directly transferred onto your back rather than via the hip-belt, if that makes sense. Bounce is minimal too.

It's not a soft carry and has a firm supportive feel that you don't get from many large-ish lightweight packs. Some of the credit must go to the dual anchor point Wraptor thingee - see pics - which really does seem to work. The nice thing is that it does still manage to feel unrestrictive at the same time, though not to the same degree as the Atmos. Because of the effective back suspension system, Gregory has been able to use fairly light, though well-shaped shoulder and hip straps, which helps to save weight. Wicking and breathability seem no better or worse than similar sacks despite the close fit.

The rest of the pack is very nicely made and thoroughly thought out and detailed. We're familiar with the lightweight feel of the 70 denier, siliconised nylon from the likes of GoLite and Macpac sacs. In our experience it's tougher than it feels, but it's nice to see that Gregory has reinforced the base and lid with a heavier grade, more abrasion resistant fabric.

The side compression straps are cleverly thought out and the diagonally, criss-crossed lay-out makes it easy to cinch down the pack when it's not fully loaded. We also liked the under-lid strap that pulls the top of trhe sac in neatly. The lid sits nicely too, something GolLite for one, has never quite managed.

We like the twin mesh hip-belt pockets for their ease of accessibility and the main body stash pockets, particularly the one on the front of the pack are big enough to be genuinely useful.

Downsides? Why, oh why, oh why, do rucksac makers insist on making waist belts long enough to go around an elephant, but which leave great long trailing tails on normal people? And that's it really.