Chris,

My first impression, this backpack is very well made. It’ll carry a huge load relatively comfortably. I think I might even prefer it to the Catalyst because it’ll compress a smaller load better. On the other hand, personally, I don’t see myself needing such a large pack.

The sleeping pad really does add a substantial frame to the pack. I used both the Kymit Interia X-Lite which came with my AirX as well as my short ThermaRest NeoAir for a section of trail. It almost feels as if it floats along on your back adjusting to each subtle or sometimes not to subtle, movement of your hips and back. I also think my back sweated less with the inflatable pad but I don’t think it had anything to do with the mesh back.

I bought way too much food in town heading out into the desert after Lander, WY and carried 42 pounds comfortably. I think that’s more than I have ever carried on a trail. As long as the pad in the back had enough air in it I didn’t mind the load too much.

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I also beat the crap out of this pack and you can’t even tell. I was expecting snags and tears but my clothing looks worse for wear than the pack. At one point I was lost and bushwhacking up a 45 or 50-degree slope through aspens that I had to spread apart just to squeeze through all the while hurdling old downed pine trees that were anywhere from knee to hip height. It was one of my more frustrating moments on the trail. It took me about an hour to go half a mile back to the trail.

The only thing the pack needs and I mentioned this before is a taller collar at the top. The width of the pack allows you to only get one; maybe two rolls in if you have a load that comes up to the top of the frame. If it were six inches taller you could carry a much greater volume of stuff.

I didn’t mind the Kymit Interia X-Lite sleeping pad at all. I toss and turn all night too and it still wasn’t bad. I’d put it on par with the comfort of a Therm-a-Rest Z Lite short, maybe a little more comfortable. The only downside I see to it is that you can’t really use it with a quilt and if you pop your pad you are screwed for a frame.

I took a pretty bad spill with the AirX on and the inertia pad in it and it would occasionally leak out of the valve that you use to pump it up with the ball. I was headed down into the Parting of the Waters and I slipped and glissaded down a sheer rock face doing 360’s like a ballerina until I finally fell of the side of the trail and landed on my back, head downhill against a log. The whole thing took about 10 seconds to come to and end and everyone who saw it was laughing, myself included. Lucky for me it didn’t hurt at all. I think the pad did a lot to break my fall.

After that it would leak on occasion so I took it for a swim to see where the hole was and it was leaking out the valve. I couldn’t think of anything to do to fix that so I didn’t.

Thanks for letting me demo the pack and if you ever need someone to do so again I’d love to help. I was going to let my dad try it out too but he’s decided not to hike. He’s had both knees replaced and doesn’t think he could handle it. I’ve actually switched out my Circuit for my Conduit (now the CDT) but now I am thinking about carrying my AirX into the San Juans to lighten up a bit. I’ve got three days to decide which pack to take before I meet up again with my parents for the last time and they head back to VA.

I’m starting a business when I get home for long-distance hikers. I think the Circuit would be my pack of choice for what I’d like to rent and I think it could help to make ULA as prominent on the AT as it is on other trails.

I’m headed back to the trail to finish up CO.

Thanks again.
Chris "Chance" dePolo
www.ChanceWalksALot.com