Columbia Sportswear Unisex Adult Mobex Xl Backpack

the backpack is wonderful and lightweight, and feels very comfortable, but is not suited to hikers less than about 5 foot 2 inches. On small frames, it hits the back of the neck when you look up, which can be quite uncomfortable.

The Mobex XL's look is what first drew me to the backpack. Nothing on the market looks like it, and it's sharp blue black colors, combined with its construction, has a very high tech look. If you slap some white neon on this you can probably claim its from Tron.

Anyhow, looks only gets you so far. As a day hike pack, the Mobex has a few unique attributes:

1. It opens along the back panel like a clam (or many camera-centric backpacks), and therefor you can get to any part of the bag without the usual digging. The down side for this is you need a dry patch of even ground to open the bag not always easy on a hike.

2. The Mobex uses a proprietary external framework to transfer all the weight to the hip belt. This means your hip belt should always be clipped in and tightened some people just don't like that. On the up side, the weight transfer is done well, and the bag remains stable when you load it up to around 15 lbs, pretty impressive when you think about it the bag itself only weights a little over 2 lbs.

3. This is a very light backpack, its not quite ultra light, but certainly lighter than most other 35L day pack. To achieve that 2 lb weight, Columbia used a very thin material for the Mobex. Its actually pretty strong in real world uses, but it just feels flimsy when you press against it.

4. Internal organization is a little odd because it has a clam shell opening. Nothing crazy but you'll probably need to play with your loads a little before getting the hang of it. External hooks for hiking poles are very useful. Pouch on the hip belt is a little flimsy, but useful for holding snacks and small tools. Sun glasses pouch is hard to reach but useful still. There's a bottom zipper that leads to a very tiny and flat space on the bottom of the pack, perhaps you can stash a rain cover in it, I haven't really came up with a use for that compartment yet.

5. And this is the one negative about the Mobex XL because of the way the bag is constructed, the whole backpack rests against your back snugly, and there aren't any air channels in the back panel to let the air in and the heat out. Wearing the Mobex in anything over 70 degrees is just... Nasty. Your back will be wet, the backpack's back panel will be wet, and the shoulder straps will probably be also wet...

6. The material used for the external frame is squeaky at first. Over time it becomes more quiet, but it is annoying at first.

In conclusion, the Mobex XL is an excellent 2 season backpack. As long as you don't use it when it's hot, the Mobex is one of the most comfortable and stable backpack I've used.

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I've had this backpack for about 4 months now. It is a good bag for a day trip. I will say that it isn't as spacious as I would have liked, but it gets the job done. Another plus, it's wicked comfortable to hike with.

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