Customer Reviews

Mountainsmith Day Recycled Lumbar Pack, Heritage Cobalt

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mine is almost ten years old but looks similar from the same company. I have used this pack for some awesome adventures and if you haven't yet tried a lumbar pack, weight one up and try moving around in it. To me it is safer for the weight to be in the middle of my body for off trail work. Also, this pack adjusts so well that you don't even feel the belt if you adjust the straps in the proper order. . pulling the load tightening straps last, every time you put it on. If you don't, pretty soon the belt is extended all the way and you no longer are using the side padding. This pack carries everything I need for a 24 hour stay and unlike my backpack, I can get stuff out of it easily without taking the pack off. I use mine for mountain biking as well and on a bike it is a real relief not to have that extra weight on your shoulders to put more stress on your wrists as you ride. In a fall, I have been able to land on the pack and not hurt myself. I would love to get a new one, but my old one is in great shape and I can't justify it. Oh one other thing, the shape of a woman might be more conducive to this pack fitting well. If you have no hips at all it could be a problem. Enjoy.

This is the first product I have felt compelled to review on Amazon. I bought the pack for our week-long family vacation to Disney, and couldn't be more pleased. I wanted a way to carry spare food, ponchos, fleeces, sunblock, etc., for my wife and 2 kids through the Disney theme parks without having to use a backpack -- they tend to wear out my shoulders. The Mountainsmith Day pack proved to be just what I was looking for.

The Mountainsmith Day pack is comfortable, spacious, durable, and good looking. Its high capacity allowed us to pack plenty of food into the Disney parks, saving us from buying overpriced snacks and meals. Its comfort and good looks made me feel good keeping the bag with us all day long and to avoiding the hassle and expense of renting a locker. The savings of time and money throughout the week more than compensated for the price I paid for the pack.

I was initially skeptical about the usefulness of so many ways of carrying the bag. However, the multiple carrying options (belt strap, shoulder strap, & handles) quickly proved their utility, allowing me to quickly change the way I was carrying the bag as the situation changed. For the bulk of the time, I would wear the bag as a lumbar pack. There were many times, however, when I would switch to the shoulder strap to easily access the contents while we were on the move or standing in line. Finally, the dual handles allowed for easier transport through airport screening and moving on and off rides at the parks.

Other features that pleased me:

-The stretch openings on the water bottle holders made it easy to remove and replace bottles even when I had the pack cinched down, yet the bottles still felt stable. Other lumbar packs I have owned either made the bottles impossible to remove without loosening the pack, or the bottles were too loose and prone to tumbling out.

-Multiple compression straps are quick and easy to use, and do a good job of tightening the pack and keeping it from jostling around.

I carried this bag 10 hours every day for 6 days, walking god-knows how many miles, and never felt loaded down or tired with this bag. I highly recommend it!

I have been using it as a walk to work pack. I like lumbar packs in general better since the center of gravity is lower and your upper back doesn't get sweaty. It carries a working day's stuff for me just fine, and on the way home can carry a six-pack of beverages. The yellow interior lining makes finding things much easier than the usual black insides found in most packs. And, with the strapettes, carrying enough for a nice long hike on weekends is easy.

Suggestion: I sure wish it had an organizer panel for pens/pencils/calculator

Specific gripes:

The black pull tabs on the zippers blend in and can be hard to find even on the red model.

The strapettes lower attachment is an odd stuff-a-figure-eight-ring through a loop affair. Why not a simple spring clip and d-ring?

The strapettes themselves are easily twisted, but I imagine that's been the case since day 1.

I have been using the pack everyday for work and it works out extremely well. I bought the pack to use as an all purpose bag for work as well as traveling, hiking and camping. It is built with heavy use in mind. The load that I have been hauling has stretched the pack to close to its limits, but it is holding up rather well. I look forward to hopefully years of use.

I got this pack after I had to get rotator cuff surgery, so my backpack was NOT going to work for quite a while... And now I won't go back. I LOVE this pack. It's big enough for my 13" Macbook Pro inside of a protective case, plus all my plugs, cords and other electronics. The bottle pockets are great for sunglasses, cell and even very large water bottles. The waist strap is - by far - the best one I've ever experienced on a pack.

The bag itself is worth the cost (I also got the shoulder straps - never desired to actually use them because the pack works so well as it is.) Just the other day, I shut my car door very hard on one of the plastic waist buckles, and it broke! These are 2" buckles, so I didn't know what to do to replace it... Found the Mountainsmith website and called them. It was Saturday, so I had to leave a message - and I mentioned I wanted to get two buckles, so that I would have a back up. Monday morning at 9am I had a message on my phone from them. I called them back and gave them my mailing address, so they immediately mailed out TWO buckles, no questions asked about why I needed two or anything, and it was NO COST!

Mountainsmith rocks. The company is worth the money, but you get the pack too.

Improvements? I'd love to have optional additional pockets to add to the waist band for small items - haven't found a good one yet. Would love to see an even larger version of this for going on longer trips so that I could bring minimalist clothing, but still have my laptop. Great pack...

I needed to get a lumbar pack because my neck and shoulders had gotten all out of whack using my regular hiking backpack. This one was the highest rated pack I could find, that still had a decent amount of room. It is able to carry essentially all I need for a full-day hike, including:

2.5 liters of water (one liter is in a pouch attached to the front-right of the belt)

camera (attached to the front-left of the belt)

Emergency first aid kit (bandaids, ointments, pills, water treatment, matches, swiss army knife, string)

small flashlight

GPS (attached to the side of the belt)

lunch + snacks

rain jacket

mini tripod

extra batteries

wallet

water-proof pack cover

gloves

eyeglass case

maps and compass

tissue packs

Extra clothes I have to take along, I have to just wrap around my waist. I would prefer to be able to carry another liter of water, and I have dangled two bottles from the belt, but it wasn't that comfortable. One bottle attached to the belt works just fine.

Here are a list of my pros and cons for the pack.

Pros:

Very comfortable for me! (although my wife says it's not that comfortable for her)

Carries a lot of stuff for a lumbar pack!

Adjustable straps help keep pack tight against body

A good number of pockets, but not too many

Durable. I use it for my off-trail hikes I do almost every weekend, and it's still in great shape after 6 months.

I've got a bit of a belly and love handles, which was akward with my regular backpack because it wouldn't want to ride on my hips, but this lumbar pack rides just fine.

Breathable foam on the back helps keep my back from getting AS wet as it would otherwise.

Cons:

Included shoulder strap is not comfortable to use, but is unnecessary anyway since it rides so well

Not water proof, but it is easy to buy a small water-proof cover for the pack

Side pouches only handle small water bottles, but attaching bottle pouches to the belt works just fine for me.

The minor cons are far outweighed by the pros, which is why I give this great pack 5 stars. It allows me to continue doing my full-day hikes without hurting my neck and shoulders!

This pack has been perfect for me! I use it when the family goes on a day hike and it fits our needs well.(me, wife and 2 kids) I can put plenty of food, gear, first aid, cameras, 34oz*2 water bottles, etc. for our day. I also have the "tour" version and use it as a personal day pack pack when everyone has there own fanny packs with gear/water for them selves. I purchased the "backpack" straps for this pack. I think it is a must for this pack as this can handle a lot of volume. I also have used this pack as an ultralite pack for overnight outings. I strap tent, bed roll and light fleece to the shoulder straps and bag straps, load up and go. Yellow inside is a great help in finding things inside the pack. I use this for so many different types of outings it is hard for me to say anything bad, but for the average day it may have to much capacity. If so I would go with the "tour" it holds a lot!

I have also not had a single issue with construction of either of the packs. I have hundreds of miles on them and both are still like new.

this is a great bag. i use it for transporting books and papers to and from the office. anything smaller wouldnt work, and anything bigger would be too cumbersome. it doubles as a good bag to bring on trips. the water bottle holders on either side, and multiple compartments make it perfect for everyday and travel. its durable as well. the shoulder strap takes a little getting used to, but i cant say enough about the bag itself.

Great product . I recently went on a trip for 20 days. this back worked great. to keep cellphone , wallet , 9 inches laptop. great to handle at the aiport and during long walks. Is better if you use it with the extra straps

This is exactly what I needed, but you have to remember that it is not designed for heavy loads. For winter day hikes or longer warm weather hikes, this can carry everything I need. It's not hard to overload the pack, though.

The pockets and details are useful without being silly. Some packs add bells and whistles for the sake of having more features, but I've found everything on this pack useful and well thought out.

I can imagine that the add-on backpack straps would be useful, and I'll probably buy them later.