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For a frameless pack this carries weight quite well. The hip strap does an adequate job of keeping the pack on the hips and minimizes shoulder strain. I haven’t tested it for waterproofness, but considering it’s construction I’m not worried. The pack closes like a dry bag and the top can be clipped together or you can roll the top and clip to straps on the side of the pack. The pack weighs about a kilogram which is excellent considering the strength of the material. The front pocket is a little hard to use, Don’t load it up with bulky items, I’m going to use it for first aid gear.

There are two things that would make the pack perfect. The first is a useable water bottle pouch that can be accessed with the pack on. The side pockets are elastic and hold quite a bit and there is a compression strap that goes around them, but they are not accessible while wearing the pack. Consider buying a pouch that clips to the shoulder or hip strap. The second thing is small pouches (or even just one pouch) on the hip strap for snacks. Not a big deal, consider adding a thigh pouch or fanny pack. One thing that makes up for most of the downsides in the price. This pack is excellent value.

Riparia Backpack 45L

I spent a couple of nights on Bentshoe Lake in the Haliburton Highlands. It’s a nice easy hike from the car to do some gear testing. I got to test some gear I wasn’t planning on too.

I had a major stove malfunction just before going to sleep the second night. I used a compressed sawdust log and it expanded and pushed the baffle up to block the stove pipe. The tent was billowing with smoke and there was nothing I could do stop it or remove it from the tent.

Luckily I had the military surplus extreme artic sleeping kit that includes a waterproof bivy and two nested down bags. I normally just use the nested bags inside the tent and brought the bivy to keep the bags dry just in case. It’s a good thing I did, because with no way to stay in tent I moved my sleeping pad outside and slept under the stars. It went down to -6C and snowed a bit but I was comfortable and actually slept better without waking every time the stove went out. I may switch to a tarp system and leave the stove and tent at home next time.

Also, if it looks like you don’t need snowshoes… bring them anyway! I had to leave the sled in the middle of the lake and walk back to the car to get them.