Gregory Women's Jade 60 Backpack

I'm an outdoor gear reviewer of gear made for petite women and I'm impressed with the 2013 model of this pack. It is roomy, sizing is right on, comfortable and the XS is about 3.75lbs when you do some strap trimming ( I was able to elimate about 2 ounces from the pack by trimming all the straps, removing tags, the plastic zipper pulls and some other unnecessary items on the pack). Pretty good pack if you are small and looking to carry 35-40lbs. Beats out the taller Osprey packs as this one sits shorter overall which eliminates that tippy feeling you get when manufacturer's just throw a XS suspension on a 33" tall pack. The only suggestions I would make are to turn the front zipper pocket into a stretch pocket to eliminate the zipper weight and my special request to Gregory; can you get this pack to 3.5lbs or less without sacrificing the suspension, then it would be perfect!

Gregory did well on the lid and should keep the top lid as is...don't add extra weight by turning it into a lumbar pack, there are numerous manufacturer's out there now that make ultralight compressible daypacks that fit into the size of your palm and weigh next to nothing. I also removed the plastic clip holding the trekking pole bungies, not really needed if you know how to tie a knot and they are pretty heavy for their size. As far as the lumbar padding it looks like they did some design changes versus the 2011 model to make it a little more compressible and comfortable. Gregory should consider making the transition between lumbar padding to hipbelt padding a little more smoothly to help even out the load on the hips. Overall though an awesome pack and if you have a 14' to 16' torso I would definately recommend this over Osprey, Granite Gear and others for 7+ day trips and 35+ lbs. There are ultralight options like the Granite Gear V.C 60 Ki available but are only good at less than 25lbs due to the minimalist suspension so if you plan on carrying more than that go ahead and pick one of these up!