- Joined
- Jan 28, 2007
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- 1,236
I recently picked up a new pack that I thought might interest some of you.
This is the Gladerunner from MEC. It comes in three sizes, short, standard and long. I got the long because it was the best fit for me. This puts the volume at 39 liters, or about 2400 cubic inches. The standard is 36 liters and the short is 33; there is also a pack called the Gladerunner TL, which is a little larger and has the same three short/standard/long options.
I bought this pack to use as both a ski pack, for which it was designed, and also as a sleek 3 day pack for fast long weekend outings during the summer. I believe it will make a good winter overnighter pack as well.
Its not often that Im taken enough with a pack to write a review of the thing. For instance, I have a Karrimor Sabre SF 60-100 that I really like a lot, and that is the best expedition pack Ive personally owned. But Ive never written a review of it. Its a good pack but it didnt blow me away with its design. Its just a good pack.
But the Gladerunner is really something different and worthwhile. The first thing you notice about it is how narrow and flat it is. I have taken it skiing twice in the last two days, and it definitely does not interfere with poling in either a downhill/alpine ski or while cross-country skiing.
Whoops! Sorry, you interrupted me as I was being mesmerized by my mighty pecs. Anyway, you will notice that the pack is very narrow and fits tight to the body. The bottom black section is a heavy rubberized fabric that I am certain is waterproof, but also seems extremely wear resistant. The manufacturer calls this fabric Hypalon, which according to Wikipedia is a Dupont trademark for a synthetic rubber noted for its resistence to chemicals, temperature extremes and ultraviolet light, and which is a common fabric for folding boats. During some of the photo-taking, I spiked the bag into a snow drift to stand it up and then let it sit there for a while, but there was definitely no water leaking through the rubber.
In fact the entire bag seems pretty watertight. Living in Vancouver I am always nervous about describing anything as waterproof but when I came home from skiing last night I left a pile of snow to melt on top of the bag with a bunch of my stuff inside, and this morning, there was a puddle around the bag and water all over the top and around the main zipper, but nothing inside was wet at all. I would therefore be pretty confident that no large amount of water would make it inside during normal use. The fabric is 630 denier of something called superpack nylon, which although I know nothing about it, I do know that Arcteryx also uses it. I conclude on this basis that it probably kicks ass.
The next feature that I noticed was this zipper located at the apex of the shoulder straps.
Was it, as I first assumed, just the stowage compartment for a kydex framesheet of some sort as many daypacks have? Why no! Because there is no kydex framesheet. There is instead an aluminum perimeter frame a bent rod that follows the outside edge of the pack. Not only does this make for an awesomely stiff pack, take note of the zipper when open:
Why get your straps wet in the snow when you can access the main pocket from the wrong side?
How cool is that!
Next up: the slim, stiff padding in the shoulder straps and waist belt. Unlike a lot of packs, which pad the hell out of their straps without actually improving the suspension system, these pads are thin and dense, making for a comfortable, firm suspension while reducing bulk. Here is a shot from the side of a shoulder strap, comparing it to my thumb. Note that the strap is about half the width of my thumbnail thick the green is the front of the strap, the grey is the side.
The hip belt is the same dense, thin padding, with gear loops that I would be inclined to use either for ropes or possibly attaching a pulk sled for carrying larger loads in the snow. I guess this is the Nordic skier equivalent of toes-in-the-picture! I actually tried to keep my skis out of every picture but looks like I failed on that score.
Continuing on with exterior features, the sides of the pack sport a couple of compression straps which double as a harness for carrying skis or a snowboard. The snowboard would attach to the back, and although I havent tried it, I believe skis could be attached to the back in diagonal carry, or to the sides in low A-carry method. The A-method is my usual approach so I have not looked carefully at the diagonal on this pack, but I believe it could be done. On the back, the straps for skis or board are covered by that same Hypalon rubber so your skis wont cut them up. The pack comes with a spare hypalon strap for the lower section of the ski/board harness, but I dont have it installed in any of these pictures. Its identical to the upper one, anyway.
This is the Gladerunner from MEC. It comes in three sizes, short, standard and long. I got the long because it was the best fit for me. This puts the volume at 39 liters, or about 2400 cubic inches. The standard is 36 liters and the short is 33; there is also a pack called the Gladerunner TL, which is a little larger and has the same three short/standard/long options.
I bought this pack to use as both a ski pack, for which it was designed, and also as a sleek 3 day pack for fast long weekend outings during the summer. I believe it will make a good winter overnighter pack as well.
Its not often that Im taken enough with a pack to write a review of the thing. For instance, I have a Karrimor Sabre SF 60-100 that I really like a lot, and that is the best expedition pack Ive personally owned. But Ive never written a review of it. Its a good pack but it didnt blow me away with its design. Its just a good pack.
But the Gladerunner is really something different and worthwhile. The first thing you notice about it is how narrow and flat it is. I have taken it skiing twice in the last two days, and it definitely does not interfere with poling in either a downhill/alpine ski or while cross-country skiing.
Whoops! Sorry, you interrupted me as I was being mesmerized by my mighty pecs. Anyway, you will notice that the pack is very narrow and fits tight to the body. The bottom black section is a heavy rubberized fabric that I am certain is waterproof, but also seems extremely wear resistant. The manufacturer calls this fabric Hypalon, which according to Wikipedia is a Dupont trademark for a synthetic rubber noted for its resistence to chemicals, temperature extremes and ultraviolet light, and which is a common fabric for folding boats. During some of the photo-taking, I spiked the bag into a snow drift to stand it up and then let it sit there for a while, but there was definitely no water leaking through the rubber.
In fact the entire bag seems pretty watertight. Living in Vancouver I am always nervous about describing anything as waterproof but when I came home from skiing last night I left a pile of snow to melt on top of the bag with a bunch of my stuff inside, and this morning, there was a puddle around the bag and water all over the top and around the main zipper, but nothing inside was wet at all. I would therefore be pretty confident that no large amount of water would make it inside during normal use. The fabric is 630 denier of something called superpack nylon, which although I know nothing about it, I do know that Arcteryx also uses it. I conclude on this basis that it probably kicks ass.
The next feature that I noticed was this zipper located at the apex of the shoulder straps.
Was it, as I first assumed, just the stowage compartment for a kydex framesheet of some sort as many daypacks have? Why no! Because there is no kydex framesheet. There is instead an aluminum perimeter frame a bent rod that follows the outside edge of the pack. Not only does this make for an awesomely stiff pack, take note of the zipper when open:
Why get your straps wet in the snow when you can access the main pocket from the wrong side?
How cool is that!
Next up: the slim, stiff padding in the shoulder straps and waist belt. Unlike a lot of packs, which pad the hell out of their straps without actually improving the suspension system, these pads are thin and dense, making for a comfortable, firm suspension while reducing bulk. Here is a shot from the side of a shoulder strap, comparing it to my thumb. Note that the strap is about half the width of my thumbnail thick the green is the front of the strap, the grey is the side.
The hip belt is the same dense, thin padding, with gear loops that I would be inclined to use either for ropes or possibly attaching a pulk sled for carrying larger loads in the snow. I guess this is the Nordic skier equivalent of toes-in-the-picture! I actually tried to keep my skis out of every picture but looks like I failed on that score.
Continuing on with exterior features, the sides of the pack sport a couple of compression straps which double as a harness for carrying skis or a snowboard. The snowboard would attach to the back, and although I havent tried it, I believe skis could be attached to the back in diagonal carry, or to the sides in low A-carry method. The A-method is my usual approach so I have not looked carefully at the diagonal on this pack, but I believe it could be done. On the back, the straps for skis or board are covered by that same Hypalon rubber so your skis wont cut them up. The pack comes with a spare hypalon strap for the lower section of the ski/board harness, but I dont have it installed in any of these pictures. Its identical to the upper one, anyway.
