 |
| ||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
  Gregory Women's Deva 60 Backpack By: Gregory Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 2 More Information Very nice week tripper  On: 2008-02-11My wife used this one for a week trip into the Sierras. Very nice pack and quite comfortable she reports. I only gave it four stars for one simple reason. The sleeping bag partition is a wee bit small. I have a down bag compared to her synthetic and we had to carry each others bags for the trip. Not a big deal or really even a gripe, but not worthy of a 5 star rating. All in all, this bag is awesome if you have a down bag or someone willing to swap bags, and we have used it many times since. Comfortable, Roomy & Durable  On: 2006-11-07This pack saw it all during my 5-day hike in the Great Basin National Park (NV) in September. Sun, heat, snow, rain & sleet... and stood up well to all elements. The hip belt was adjustable & padded enough to be comfortable the entire way up the 3 mile long, 3,000 ft vertical climb to our campsite. It did ride up a bit on a slippery pair of shorts, but that would have been the same with any pack. I had lower back surgery 9 years ago and my back gives me problems when I carry too much weight, but the multiple straps offered for a perfect custom fit & weight distribution and my back never hurt. I stuffed more into this pack than I ever thought possible (I have the XS, too). Just when all my gear was in and the bag "full", I remembered we had to eat & drink! It swallowed a full 3L bladder nicely and kept it puncture free with its separate rip-stop sleeve. Eight packs of tuna, wraps, two dehydrated meals, trail mix & ten bars were shoved in unnoticed with plenty of room to spare (my boyfriend had the tent, I had the food). The extra pockets on the sides of the pack look too small to put anything in, but each was the perfect size for two or three bars, or a pocket knife and first aid kit, or camera. And no, the zippers and fabric werent pulling, either! I can be a klutz. I was really gentle with my brand new pack the first day and didnt put it down in any mud or wet areas. I didnt try to jump across any streams or fly up boulders. Soon, I realized dirt, wet & falling were inevitibale (were in the desert mountains!) and became much harder on the pack. I tossed it down anywhere, lept across streams and scaled bounders with it on and even ran down the 3 mile rocky trail with it on our last day. It got wet from the rain, sleet & snow at night but kept my items dry (this was an accident - I wouldnt assume this means its waterproof by any means!). I accidentally left a titanium spork in the pack and it poked at the sides and a non-covered razor in the "day pack" which sliced off my skin... but the fabric on the pack was fine in both cases (not recommended, though!). The only downfall I see to the Deva 60 is the "day pack" which is the top pack to the bag, and is really just a fanny pack (like most packs). It handled my bladder half full (about 1.5L) folded up, along with a hat, mittens, a bar or two, a mini first aid kit and my Casio Exlim camera (super small). That seems like a lot, but the pack was full to the brim and was awkward to wear on the hips, so I ended up wearing it over one shoulder. The straps are about 3" wide, which makes wearing it over the shoulder comfortable, but when scaling the mountain peaks, we went through some treterous boulders & cliffs, and the weight of the pack tends to shift & slide to where ever gravity is located... sometimes at your chest. A real backpack style day pack would have been much better for day hikes. On a concidental note, the other female hiker had this exact same pack in Medium and has gone on three hikes with it and loves it as well. With the extra room, she was able to carry the "fun stuff" such as instant oatmeal for four people for five days, flavor pouches for water, a much more extensive first aid kit (came in handy for me) and five additional dehydrated meals. I plan on keeping this pack until it dies. |