Editors’ Choice: The Osprey Manta & Mira Hydration Packs
Your backpack is your closest companion on the trail. From our perspective, that means a comfortable fit with ample room for all of your gear isn’t optional, it’s mandatory. Enter the Manta and Mira hydration packs from Osprey, winner of the Editors’ Choice Award for meeting our standards of quality, utility, value, and excellence. Redesigned for 2013 to provide greater comfort, stability and storage, this series isn’t just impressive, it’s our new adventure BFF.
Review: Outdoor Products Amphibian Weather Defense Backpack
Rushing rivers and tireless tropical storms aren’t the only adversary for adventure travelers. Damp foliage, sea spray, mud and even unexpected downpours can wreak havoc on regular backpacks and destroy or ruin whatever electronics or gear you’re packing along.
Whether you’re taking that once in a lifetime adventure in monsoon ridden Malaysia, or looking for a pack that can handle your next Stand Up Paddleboard adventure, Outdoor Products Amphibian Weather Defense Backpack may be the right fit for you.
Read MoreOutdoor Products Gama Pack
“Life is adventure, not predicament.” – James Broughton
Whether tackling backcountry trails, riding through mountain towns, or picking your way through a busy terminal, life is indeed an adventure. Yet, in the midst of a difficult economy many outdoor enthusiasts have found themselves in a predicament. While nature beckons with a lifetime of cost-free adventures, paying for the gear necessary to meet those adventures can prove to be difficult.
Since their founding, Outdoor Products® has built their business around the philosophy of quality and value, which serves as the driving force behind the design of products built to meet the test of any outdoor adventure. For outdoor enthusiasts seeking a pack that is as affordable as it is versatile and durable, the Gama Internal Frame backpack delivers an impressive bang for the buck.
Read MoreThe Vixen™: Columbia’s Women Specific Do-Everything Pack
In an industry dominated by the male perspective, it’s always refreshing when a company takes time to craft a product designed specifically for the mountainista. As part of their new line of adventure packs, Columbia has released the women’s specific Vixen. Like its male specific counter parts, the Treadlite and Endura, the Vixen is designed specifically to provide freedom to roam fast and light without compromising on comfort or features.
So when the company offered our Gumption Gals the opportunity to test the Vixen backpack we jumped at the chance.
Read MoreColumbia’s Treadlite & Endura Backpacks: Attitude and Innovation
“Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” — George Kneller
As Columbia will readily admit, there was a time not that long ago when the company had settled into a comfortable niche of merely cramming apparel and gear into big department stores. Thankfully for outdoor enthusiasts that is no longer the case as Columbia is once again on a creative quest re-examining what they once did with fresh eyes. The result is a wave of product and technology launches resulting in gear that will satisfy the unbridled hunger for adventure that rests within each of us.
Review: Platypus Origin 3.0 Hydration Pack
Built upon the Platypus heritage of well-designed hydration systems, the Origin series of packs marks Platypus’ foray into the world of hydration backpacks.
The smallest of the Origin line-up, the Origin 3.0 Hydration Pack provides the outdoor enthusiast the ability to carry up to 2 liters of liquid refreshment and still have storage space – 183 cubic inches worth – for keys, nutritional supplies or any other goodies you may want for your trek.
Similar to its larger sized siblings, comfort and durability are at the foundation of the Origin series of packs. The contoured fit of the Origin 3.0 is designed to support aerobic activity. The BioCurve ventilated backpanel conforms to your movements while allowing air to flow freely between you and the pack. The padded ergonomic shoulder straps provide comfort without compromising maneuverability. Both the BioCurve backpanels and the shoulder straps are overlayed with a soft, stretch-woven fabric that provides next to skin comfort and surprising durability.
Constructed from 200D nylon and treated with a urethane laminate for a waterproof finish, the Origin 3.0’s got your back when the sun fades behind those dark clouds and Mother Nature turns on the water works. Add to that welded, water-resistant zippers and heat-taping on all critical seams, and the Origin 3 is ready to handle the toughest of adventures.
Read MorePlatypus Origin 22.20 – Quenching Your Thirst for Adventure
If it is variety and function that you crave, the Origin 22.20 from Platypus is a veritable feast. Appetites are satisfied with jaw-dropping waterproof, 10,000mm-coated fabrics, welded, all-weather zippers, heat-taped seams and 1342 cubic inches of gear space.
In redesigning the hydration pack the Cascade Design Team took a streamlined approach providing exactly what you need and nothing you don’t to keep things light and simple. The main compartment is large enough to gobble up all the gear necessary for minimalist overnights at the beach or peak-bragging day trips.
For all the small essentials you want at your fingertips the minimalist approach of the Origin 22.20 hydration pack doesn’t short change you on storage options. Two zippered waist pockets and two stretch sleeve side pockets along with an internal mesh organizer pocket provide a plenty of storage options. Moreover the stretch sleeve side pockets blend in seamlessly with the rest of the pack and remain tight keeping the streamlined profile of the pack intact.
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