In my earlier posting “A Solution for by Back Pack” I chose an Eagle wheeled duffle and a NRS paragon harness for my hauling. This solution allows be to carry all my gear inside a weather proof bag, cart on transport without catching straps and so on.
An issue of weight:
- Duffle 2kg
- Harness 1.35kg
I don’t plan on doing a lot of hiking with it, but who knows. It could be a km or it could be 18. Weight is a very high consideration at present I have 22kg without food and water. My Golite pack weighs 1.7 kg with near the same capacity, I have to shave a kg or more.
I was excited when I looked inside the duffle, it had a zipper covering the wheel frame. I saw some screws. Yes I thought, unscrew those and take out the base (I reckon there is 500g in that part alone). Duly I removed 4 screws from one side, but then got to the other – rivets ! You have to be kidding. I am so ##%$ annoyed by designers of equipment. No-one seems to do the right thing and make things that fixable. So, I could drill them out; but then I am faced with procuring more screws to replace them – you can bet your bottom dollar you can get everything but what you want.
Next: the harness. This is heavier than my Golite Odyssey pack (no longer on the market) , why ? It is a rugged unit and will carry a good load, but there is a lot of unnecessary weight. Take the back pad for instance, it is solid when it could be a mesh design, I will look into putting some holes into it.
.
I want holes like my blue sternum pad modification below. (note also the large square grey retaining pad, it weighs almost 200g.)
Time is an issue. I have to get a good cutter; a hole punch perhaps. If I lighten the material I need to work on sealing threads. It is frustrating as for the duffle that nothing is maintainable. Had I have been able to remove the straps, I could of put lighter ones on. remove the back pad I could of easily made holes and so on.
Looking at the photo, the Golite looks bigger, but it it is narrower, I will give it another go before tampering with my new gear. Notice that the Golite has narrower web straps than the harness in the above picture .. if only they were’n’t sewn in.
