[pct-l] Air-X

[Jim Eagleton]

A quick review of the Air-X which I ordered at the '12 Kickoff and shipped to Kennedy Meadows.  

Overall, I think this is a great compromise between a light weight pack and a high capacity pack.  
Unfortunately, compromise is a questionable attribute.  If there was a Cuban/Spandex pack that completely achieved both light weight and high capacity, the pack would be called a high end pack, not  a compromise.  

The Air-X comes with a Klymit Interia X-Lite pad.  I tried this one night at KM and plan to give it more testing to see if it works for me.  
However, the weight with the pump is not much less than a Neoaire, so I used my Neoaire pad.  The pack with a great pad is a good deal, if you use it.  

If you get past the cost, you can use the pack as you wish.  For example, more than half the ULA users don't use the bundgies for holding water bottles on their shoulder straps.  You can use the pack with a standard torso Thermorest or foam pad.  I think air pads are slightly more comfortable than foam for small lumps, like the side of a peanut butter jar, and significantly less comfortable for a sharp lump, like the edge of a peanut butter jar.  I over inflated the pad for the first few miles out of KM and it felt like I was carrying a water bed.  This over inflation never happened again.  I never had trouble with under inflation but maybe I was always careful in packing the pack.  

The pack performed well with a bear canister.  I put the sleeping bag in first, and the bear canister rested very comfortably in the small of my back.  When I shipped the canister home at Echo Lake, the pack was a nice light weight pack.  However, the pack is huge, and much of the weight is very far away from your back.  It seems to torque the front of your shoulders.  

The pack is rated for 40 lb vs 35 lb for the Circuit.  I don't know how ULA comes up with these ratings but I would have found the Circuit significantly more comfortable than the Air-X (after I sent the canister home).  

I really wish there was a way to judge how much weight a pack could comfortably transfer to the hips.  Now, you get these ultra light wackos posting on the internet how comfortable their 10 lb base weight was for the 6 hr they were carrying 4 liters of water.  

Rambler (wacko in training)