5.0 out of 5 stars
Modular backpack - big enough for most uses, February 7, 2012
This review is from: Marmot Granite Backpack (Misc.)
I'm always looking for the perfect backpack. I have several. One I have had for about seven years was priced about half of the price for this one and it is still giving good service although some of the strap seams are finally loosening a little. The reason I like it is that it has just one large interior - lots of stuff can fit in there.
This item is different. Even the large sections of the body (there are two - one has a laptop section - why don't makers have the strap that holds the lappie in place made long enough to fit over the top of a 15 inch device, huh?). But the lappie it could hold might only be a 13 inch at most if the strap were to velcro over the top of it. The other section is not very deep front to back either.
The unit is not very wide - not as wide as my seven year old bag. Wide means you can carry bulkier stuff. So, this unit has limitations.
The color of the BURNISH color selection is not white, not gray, it is a light green - not obvious from the photo. OK with me. I opt for visibility in a backpack. Getting run down by the hockey mom from Hell ruins my day.
So, if you can deal with not having one large space in the body of the bag, you will love this. I count five accessory spaces along the sides, bottom, and top. So you don't need to get frustrated trying to dig into the cavernous body of the bag to find stuff. Just remember where you packed a certain category of gear, and you are fine - saves time.
I put grooming items in one side, small tools in the other, first aid stuff in the top pouch, compact (ie, aluminized mylar) cold survival stuff in the middle pouch, and in the moderately spacious bottom I have a small poncho, rain pants, dry skivvies, and a small towel. Bivvy bag and sleeping bag and air mattress and folding fabric water bucket in the big sections. Just weighed it with all the gear I want to carry in it for light camping and it comes to just over 18 Lbs.
The shoulder straps are comfortable with straps to hold them together for greater stability. The bag has no hip straps which, on a bag that is not huge, is a net plus for me since I don't like them unless they are really needed for carrying heavy loads.
The Marmot Granite Backpack is well designed and manufactured in Vietnam which, in many products I have bought in the last five years or so, produces a high quality of manufacture. I think most people would find this suitable for an intermediate level of backpack use. Perhaps overkill for hauling books to class; perhaps insufficient for climbing the Alps. But handy? Yes. I think I'll like using this a lot.
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