What's It For?
The Miwok and its women's-specific sister, the Maya, are part of Gregory's new Active Trail range and are lightweight day packs aimed squarely at fast movers like runners, lightweight walkers, mountain bikers and orienteers. The idea is that they sit snugly on your back no matter how uneven the terrain and jerky your movement.
Other packs in the range come in 12, 8 and 6-litre sizes and all are available in both men's and women's versions.
The Techy Bits
Gregory has gone to town on features and neat ideas, but there are few really stand-outs. The new packs are all about stretch. The theory is that stretchy straps and waist-belt work to accommodate body movement while running and walking, leaving the pack planted stably on your back.
That's at the heart of the whole thing, but there's plenty more going on. The hydration pocket, for example, is at the rear of the pack and a zip-open flap allows re-filling of the bladder without taking it out of the pack. Then there are plenty of pockets and compartments for easy storage of bits and bobs including a fleece-lined gadget pocket at the top of the pack, which'll hold, say, an iPod in scratchless luxury.
How It Performed
We sent the Gregory Maya - below - off to New Zealand for four weeks for a proper thrashing, here's what our guest tester had to say. Fundamentally she liked the flexibility of the BioSynch back stretch system which she says 'really works with your body rather than against it.... The elastic in the hip and shoulder harness acts like a suspension system: the elastic, where the shoulder and waist harness’ join the pack absorbs the bounce that normally occurs with a full pack during movement. Paired with the pack sitting low on your back and the ease at which you can get a snug, yet not constricting fit, makes for a stable, comfortable to wear pack.'
She liked the mesh back panel - though if you're sweaty you may find it gets uncomfortably damp in our experience, some will prefer a more vented system - used the hip pockets for bars and gels and liked the little stowage pocket that stops the waist belt end from flapping. Also getting a thumbs up were the YKK zips all round and the on-the-fly compression system which works by 'adjusting two drawcords at the side of the mesh pockets. This reduces volume at the bottom of the pack making it more aerodynamic and prevents a reduced load from bobbing around inside.'
Also the side compression straps double as a way of carrying thinner objects, baguettes for example. The bladder pocket takes a 3-litre system without problems and it can be refilled in situ, though you need to be careful not to soak your pack in the process.
Less popular were a number of features which were never used, like the removable zip-pocket and which add cost and weight. She also felt the side stuff pockets could be taller and more secure.
Using the Miwok, we'd broadly agree. It's nice having lots of pockets and features, but there's almost too much going on. The shoulder straps felt slightly too narrow to us when loaded up and the pack a little short in the body - try before buying.
We liked the bladder pocket, but found with a full pack and bladder the back system tended to get slightly barrel shaped and didn't sit quite right.
Verdict
These packs are really nicely made with bound sleeves and real attention to detail, lots of detail. Maybe too much in fact. Though it's only 18 litres, it easily swallows a daypack load, yet still packs down nice and small when not in use. Where it really shines is in dynamic use when the BioSynch system absorbs a lot of the inevitable bounce keeping the pack stable and comfortble. The women's version in particular, works really well with narrower female shoulders.
Buy if... you're after a multi-activity day sac with great build quality and a hot of ingenious features that you may or may not use, but are there if you want them.
