Performance of dominance;
Counting their push ups.
Wednesday, March 31, 2020
Today we were able to sneak out and run in Point Magu State Park using a top secret entry. No one was out on the trail though a helicopter conspicuously hung around for while.
But since the copter didn’t bull horn me, strafe me, or try to tear gas me, maybe I was just being paranoid as to it’s seemingly long proximity to my meanderings.
Not only was it great to have some trail all to myself, it was topped off by my being able to test drive my first new piece of trail gear of the year; the Montane Evo Razor 15.
This is by far the most comfortable by volume pack I’ve ever worn. I qualify by volume because I once ran in a Nathan Vapor Air 4 liter pack with just two small flasks and that was great. But there are probably a lot of small packs that carried nearly empty would feel comfortable.
The Razor, on the other hand, is a monster in comparison with a volume of 15 liters. But it’s so comfortable, in a pinch, I could see getting away with it even in short races. I won’t, but if I could only have one pack for all that I do, this would be the pack.
What sets it apart is volume + comfort + well thought out design features. At 15 liters and with the two rear pockets, large side stash pockets, large chest pockets, and shock cord, I’m sure I can happily use this for three day summer fastpack excursions.
And what makes it so comfortable predominantly is the lower large Velcro strap that sits across the lower ribs. This strap is so much wider and more secure than I’ve seen on other packs. It’s snug yet breathes.
On long training runs it could hold a two liter bladder along with a liter up front split between two flasks. That’s a good 4 hours in anything but midday summer heat.
There’s only two downsides and they’re both minor annoyances, but if Montane upgrades this pack they’d be pretty smart to make these adjustments.
One is the lack of a waterproof/resistant phone pouch upfront. They could easily make this modification with the zippered pouch that’s already there to hold one of the flasks. I’ve improvised a waterproof backing my storing my small travel wallet in a zip-lock against my chest then putting the phone in. An easy compromise, but when so many companies have a dedicated phone pocket, a little waterproofing in the Razor should’ve been a no brainer.
Secondly, like many packs designed as with a universal bladder pouch, the lack of a specific volume bladder design leads to room for a little movement of the bladder. This is minimized by the pull cord being tightened, but for such a great pack I think it would be wiser to create a slimmer pouch specifically designed for a two liter bladder. The trade off might deter a few who like using other sizes but it would make this pack as close to perfection as a wide use pack.
I haven’t used this alone with just the flask up front, or fully loaded on a three day trip yet. But as soon as I know it’ll be reasonably certain that I’ll be able to come back into some semblance of civilization after being out there for a few days, I’ll give it a go.
No comments:
Post a Comment