Pack Help

[Karnak]

First of all Hello! My name is Clint, this is my first post here.

Anyways, onto my question,

I am looking for a new pack, currently I have the ULA Circuit and it is a great pack but on the heavier side, and I think I can downsize a bit.

And some quick background, I never do any winter hiking (If I do it is in Texas so it is still like 3 season in the mountains) and I rarely carry a bear canister, but I am looking to do the JMT in the summer.

I am looking at the MLD Prophet and Exodus (not the full suspension version)

Prophet: I think that this is about the right size of pack I will need for my gear (maybe a tad tight) and I love the weight savings compared to my Circuit, but I am concerned bout fitting a bear canister in it (will prolly use something equivalent to the size of the bearikade weekender)

Exodus: I am pretty sure that this pack will be a little to big for my gear but should have no problems fitting everything inside of it even with a bear canister.

Both pack compress which would be nice as food volume decreases over the trips.

If anyone has any experience with these packs it would be muc appreciated!!

My gearlist: http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=9989

that is more or less my most up to date 3 season list

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I am looking for a more or less one size fits all pack for shorter trips and also for thru hikes if I get the chance.

Also I use inflatable sleeping pads, and will probably be adding a 1/8 inch ccf pad, so I dont know how this will pack either.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Karnak

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Hi Clint and Welcome!

I haven't had a chance to use the Prophet or Exodus from MLD, but I do have a lot of use with the ULA Circuit. Recently I was in a similar situation as you and wanted a pack that was both smaller and lighter than the Circuit for shorter and lighter trips, and I ended up going with the Zpacks Blast series... So far so good, but I don't carry a bear canister and opt to either hang or use an Ursack when needed. It sounds like you'll need that capability however and if you're looking for a pack to double as an option for thru-hikes, there will be a few long stretches between resupplies thrown in where some extra capacity might be welcome.

At less than a 3oz weight penalty compared to the Prophet, I think I might go with the Exodus in your case just for a little more flexibility with the bear canister, long resupply stretches, or colder weather, especially since you said you think the Prophet will already be on the tight side in regards to your current gear list. You mentioned that the Exodus would be just a bit too large, but personally I find that just a little extra pack space helps me maintain my sanity on the trail when packing up in the morning, unpacking at night, or during the day when it turns out you need to get to something you didn't expect you'd need.

You could always carry the canister outside the pack if needed in either case though, and no matter which way you go you'll be saving quite a bit of weight over the Circuit...

[Karnak]

Aaron thanks for the reply. I had all but made up my mind on the prophet but you make some good points as well.

I considered the the Zpacks Blast but I want something bombproof (Zpacks stuff is durable but dyneema is more than Cuben).

One thing that is appealing about the Exodus is the flexibility and I suppose if I get to where there is a ton of space in the pack the compression system will come in handy. The one thing I am worried about is merely replacing my Circuit with a light version because the main body volume of the packs (Circuit and Exodus) are the same at 2400 cu inches,while the Prophet is 2000 cubic inches.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

The Cuben used in the Blast is pretty thick / tough stuff at 1.43 oz/sqyd, but admittedly I do feel like I have to be more careful than when using my Dyneema packs, which have survived pretty much everything except an incident with a few stray embers from a campfire. Both the Prophet & Exodus look like really great packs - Interested to find out what you think once whichever one you go with comes in. If you go with the Prophet, you could always switch out to the Exodus down the line if a situation came up where you felt like you needed more space, or the Circuit if you needed more space as well as the weight carrying capacity...