Mountainsmith Day lumbar pack

OwenM

OwenM

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
6,104
http://www.mountainsmith.com/products.asp?productId=22&categoryId=4&subCategoryId=3&subCategory2Id=0

Anybody using one of these?
Just got mine yesterday, so not much commentary yet. Holds a ton of gear, and I'm already planning to use it for some overnighters this summer with a hammock or bivy, and maybe a Sea to Summit bag liner.
With little effort, I stuffed into the main pouch:
-PUR Voyageur purifier in its stock pouch
-Patagonia R2 jacket in a large OR mesh ditty bag
-Primus ultralight stove and 2 GSR Lexan cups in a GSR SS cup(the one a Nalgene fits into) in a medium OR mesh ditty bag
-OR Rampart rain pants
-10x42 binoculars
-and yet another large OR mesh ditty bag with Capilene top, bottom, spare socks, a beanie, and Windblocker fleece gloves
Front pocket had lots of room left over with a Pelican 1010 case with my camera, my little RCA video camera, spare batteries, and ID eVent Shortie gaiters inside.
Bottom straps will hold clothing, Thermarest sleeping pad, Bogen 728B tripod in it's bag, or anything else you want to put under there that's no more than about 4 or 5" in diameter.
There is a small zippered interior pocket in the main bag, a key clip in the front pocket, a "ticket pocket" behind the pad that's large enough for a medium to full-sized semi-auto handgun, and two exterior pouches for 1L bottles.
There are compression straps and load lifters for compacting the load and pulling it in tight to your body.
The strapettes were a must for me, and instantly reminded me of the LBE I used in the Army.
It wears much more comfortably to me than any of my three daypacks with the same gear, with the weight, and load itself centered on the hips.

Mine is a previous year's model in Evergreen color, which is a brighter green. I was misled by the photo on the dealer's site that was dark, and looked closer to OD, but got the only one they had left on clearance for $40, and the strapettes for $12.50, so am not complaining.

May try to get some pics up in the next few days, but for anyone interested, here are some reviews for the Day that I read before buying:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyin...it-the-ground-running-micro-location-day-bag/
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003954.php
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/tria...ny-thing-mountainsmith-day-lumbar-pack/887073
http://www.buzzillions.com/review/mountainsmith-day-lumbar-pack-recycled-review-12288536
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/mountainsmith/day/
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Packs/Lumbar & Torso Packs/Mountainsmith Day Lumbar Pack/
 
OwenM said:
http://www.mountainsmith.com/products.asp?productId=22&categoryId=4&subCategoryId=3&subCategory2Id=0

Anybody using one of these?
Just got mine yesterday, so not much commentary yet. Holds a ton of gear, and I'm already planning to use it for some overnighters this summer with a hammock or bivy, and maybe a Sea to Summit bag liner.
With little effort, I stuffed into the main pouch:
-PUR Voyageur purifier in its stock pouch
-Patagonia R2 jacket in a large OR mesh ditty bag
-Primus ultralight stove and 2 GSR Lexan cups in a GSR SS cup(the one a Nalgene fits into) in a medium OR mesh ditty bag
-OR Rampart rain pants
-10x42 binoculars
-and yet another large OR mesh ditty bag with Capilene top, bottom, spare socks, a beanie, and Windblocker fleece gloves
Front pocket had lots of room left over with a Pelican 1010 case with my camera, my little RCA video camera, spare batteries, and ID eVent Shortie gaiters inside.
Bottom straps will hold clothing, Thermarest sleeping pad, Bogen 728B tripod in it's bag, or anything else you want to put under there that's no more than about 4 or 5" in diameter.
There is a small zippered interior pocket in the main bag, a key clip in the front pocket, a "ticket pocket" behind the pad that's large enough for a medium to full-sized semi-auto handgun, and two exterior pouches for 1L bottles.
There are compression straps and load lifters for compacting the load and pulling it in tight to your body.
The strapettes were a must for me, and instantly reminded me of the LBE I used in the Army.
It wears much more comfortably to me than any of my three daypacks with the same gear, with the weight, and load itself centered on the hips.

Mine is a previous year's model in Evergreen color, which is a brighter green. I was misled by the photo on the dealer's site that was dark, and looked closer to OD, but got the only one they had left on clearance for $40, and the strapettes for $12.50, so am not complaining.

May try to get some pics up in the next few days, but for anyone interested, here are some reviews for the Day that I read before buying:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyin...it-the-ground-running-micro-location-day-bag/
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003954.php
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/tria...ny-thing-mountainsmith-day-lumbar-pack/887073
http://www.buzzillions.com/review/mountainsmith-day-lumbar-pack-recycled-review-12288536
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/mountainsmith/day/
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Packs/Lumbar & Torso Packs/Mountainsmith Day Lumbar Pack/
Click to expand...

I own 8-9 mountainsmith products including a Maverick pack, an Exposure II camera case, an Aurora II camera lumbar pack, Rhyolite hiking poles, and a bunch of older used lumbar packs and water bottle holders I bought off of ebay. For the money, Mountainsmith is allaround my favorite outdoor sporting company out there. Their design is superb, construction and material quality hangs with all the top dogs, and their prices are usually way lower than most other brands.
 
Mine is probably 15 years old. It's certainly well made, but I'm not a fan of big lumbar packs. I just don't find them to be comfortable. It CAN be comfortable if you add the accessory shoulder straps, but then you may as well just carry a regular daypack. The other problem I have with them is that if I use the side mounted water bottle holders, they tend to interfere with my arm swing. A bigger/wider guy might not have this problem. If you like lumbar packs, (and many do) you got a good one.
 
I have one similar that was made by Dana Designs. Its a GREAT field pack. I have used it for everything from frolf to geocaching. :)
 
I use the Tour model. At this time it's the only 'day hike' bag I have and it works well for me. Maxpedition aside, I can just as easily carry the Tour bag on the side (think Versipacks) simply by tucking the belt in behind the big pocket and using the padded strap - it's very comfortable.

I'd definitely say: 'give one a try'. As I understand it, Mountainsmith is the original lumbar pack designer so I'd stay away from the overpriced runs from North Face, Marmot, LLBean and a bunch of other imitators. ;) I'm thinking that maybe the strapettes wouldn't be a bad idea for my Tour bag... at the same time, I don't carry a lot of gear for the pack to carry uncomfortably. I picked mine up on Amazon.

:thumbup:

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I had one that I used for a while, but I did not like carrying that much weight on one shoulder, and I didn't want to spend the extra money for the strapettes. I kinda miss it though, the construction was excellent and the organization fit my needs.
 
i have had a Montainsmith Backcountry Courior, for a while now.. i love it.. it's a very well made, solid piece of gear... unfortunately it doesn't see much use these days...:)
 
I have something similar from Cabelas. I wanted to use it instead of a daypack, it has the removeable shoulder straps. But when it gets weighed down with gear and water it's just not very comfortable. I like the idea of it and wished it worked out better. Hopefully you'll have better luck though.
 
Sufler said:
I'm thinking that maybe the strapettes wouldn't be a bad idea for my Tour bag... at the same time, I don't carry a lot of gear for the pack to carry uncomfortably.
Click to expand...
Good-looking bag. I wish my Day was that color.

Strapettes at half price. $12.50+$5 shipping if you want to try them. Tour for $35. All their remaining Mountainsmith stuff is half price, for that matter.
I'm debating a modular hauler or two at those prices.
Mountainsmith page:
http://www.alabamaoutdoors.com/browse.cfm/2,670.html
They have remnants of a huge sale with discounts on a variety of brands right now.
 
those were designed by Patrick Smith who sold the company and started Kifaru. I have the kifaru tailgunner which obviously is a more overbuilt version of the moutain smith stuff.

I don't load mine up enough to need the shoulder straps.
 
tknife said:
I have something similar from Cabelas. I wanted to use it instead of a daypack, it has the removeable shoulder straps. But when it gets weighed down with gear and water it's just not very comfortable. I like the idea of it and wished it worked out better. Hopefully you'll have better luck though.
Click to expand...

Similar results for me. I tried one from MS, can't remember which model, hoping to use it for day hikes during the hot months. I hate how hot and sweaty a normal pack gets on my mid and upper back. Anyway, unfortunately when you get it loaded up with a couple of bottles and other gear and hit a good pace on the trail it's just all over the place bouncing around and it just doesn't work. At least not for me and I really wanted it to.
 
While I don't have any experience with the Mountainsmith pack that Owen just bough, I use a Kelty lumbar pack for day hikes and fishing regularly.

I think though that its about half the size of that MS. It does fine without a shoulder strap, but I try to keep the load fairly light.

Brandon
 
Was taking pics of some packs I want to sell, and figured I'd get a couple of the Day. Maybe throw in a pic or two from my Little River Canyon thread.
Just has a poncho liner in the main bag, and a folded pair of sweatpants in the front pocket to give it some shape in the indoor pics.
If you can manage to sit through all 3 minutes of this thing I uploaded to try youtube for the first time(where I rinse out the cup I boiled the water in instead of the one that had tea in it:rolleyes:), I pack in the main bag, with room to spare:
-Primus stove, with GSR SS and Lexan cups in a gray mesh ditty bag
-fuel canister for the stove
-10x42 binoculars
-PUR Voyageur purifer (gray bag)
-1st aid and firestarter kit (blue pouch)
-plus there was a TNF Base Camp mini-duffle bag already in there that I keep all kinds of stuff in that is ~5" diameter x ~10" long.
[youtube]3REwvYsY8kc[/youtube]

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My fiance just got one of these - I thought it was kind of goofy, and made fun of her, but it's actually kinda cool. She's not 100% sold on the idea yet, though. I think I still prefer a simple camelbak compatible backpack for the dayhike type trips where I'd use something like this, but I guess that's all personal preference.
 
I have had one for 8 years. Right now it is pulling duty as a diaper bag but has done all sorts of jobs. I highly recommend it. The strapettes might be a good addition if you plan to weigh it down. Mostly I use the shoulder strap.
 
remmmm said:
Similar results for me. I tried one from MS, can't remember which model, hoping to use it for day hikes during the hot months. I hate how hot and sweaty a normal pack gets on my mid and upper back. Anyway, unfortunately when you get it loaded up with a couple of bottles and other gear and hit a good pace on the trail it's just all over the place bouncing around and it just doesn't work. At least not for me and I really wanted it to.
Click to expand...

Not my experience at all... Smith's "Delta" strap system is the only system I've found that keeps the pack, whether it be a lumbar pack or a full sized pack, stable under any condition I've experienced.
I have one of MS's original lumbar pads which has been modded with plastic loops so I can add the surplus military "H-harness" for times when I carry real wieght - I actually carried an Epiphone "Les Paul" style guitar, in a shaped hard case, on my lumbar bag while riding my bicycle home from the music store... and it was stable! :D
I've also used two different large MS packs while mountain climbing in both the Olympics and Cascades, and again, with the "Delta" strap system, they are incredibly stable... And then years later, I found P Smith sold Mountain Smith and started Kifaru... And he still uses the basic "Delta" system and these packs are , while very heavy empty, still the most stable packs I've ever carried...
Quality wise, though, stick with the packs made before Smith sold the name... The new ones are okay, but I don't feel the quality is as good as it was...
 
I have one that I used to use for mountain biking and that thing wen through some pretty serious spills and nothing is tearing on it so far. I think its a good product but if you plan on walking a lot with it the strappetes are a must.
 
joeshredd said:
Not my experience at all... Smith's "Delta" strap system is the only system I've found that keeps the pack, whether it be a lumbar pack or a full sized pack, stable under any condition I've experienced.
Click to expand...
No doubt.
With load lifters, top and bottom compression straps, padded(ok, lightly) hipbelt, padded shoulder straps, a sternum strap, and the load limited by pack size I'm having a hard time imagining it being more stable.
Have to check out those Kifarus...my wallet cringes everytime I go there, though!
 
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