I’m a proud GoLite Gust owner and it has a great suspension system – a hip belt that takes weight off the shoulders, and nice padded shoulder straps. I don’t care for stenum straps, so that’s not a factor.
But I contstantly see these ULA buyers who rave about the suspension system in their packs, but when I look at a ULA on the innernet it looks just like a GoLite except the hip belt is fatter, it weighs three times as much, and costs twice as much to boot. What gives?
Bonehead
I have used both packs extensively so here is my two cents worth. I prefer the ULA P-1 to the Gust for several reasons:
As for suspension specifically, both packs are equal. I’ve carried 30+ lb. loads with no problem whatsoever in both.
– BookBurner
BookBurner
Yep, ditto the Burner. One of the comely Golite spokesmodels (and NO, it wasn’t Flyin’ Brian) tried to indoctrinate me into the Golite “movement” at Trail Days. I demurred. She noticed my Golite umbrella, which I like, showed me some leg and invited me back to the tent when I told her it was my third one, the first having been blown apart by a gust of wind at a pay phone in Hot Springs, the second having been lost someplace.
The P-1 is maxi-maxi cool, and wildly comfortable, especially around a 16-pound base weight, which is realistic for me, though I carrried 36 (gulp) pounds off of Springer with it. Me like P-1. Me like ULA. I bought directly from Brian Frankle online: Outfitters along the Trail are marking them up about 100 percent, from what people have told me they paid for theirs this year.
~~Darwin www.blackbirdjourney.com
GA-VA '05
Darwin
Has anyone found Mr. Coup - Go Lite to a be a complete ‘Tool’? I normally don’t say things like this, but this must be said. At Trail Days I was at his booth listening to him talk about GL. This guy was completely abrasive. He was making huge generalizations about gear and male/female metabolic rates that were just embarrassing to listen to. I was expecting to meet a humble guy with a vision kind of person. It appears GL is falling backward in the marketplace. More retail stores are scaling back on GL gear and clothing. They say it’s due to medium grade quality equipment and return dept policies from the company. There are better alternatives such as ULA as well as the major Manufactures coming out with ultra light gear. I met a lot of great people at Trail Days this year; unfortunately Coup wasn’t one of them.
guru
The reason GoLite packs are not as popular as ULA or others is because of a personality thing. I’ve long suspected many hikers are biased against GoLite because of its early association with Ray Jardine, who many consider “wacky.” Or like with Guru, they don’t like some other person behind the company.
It’s not the equipment. Like BookBurner said, GoLite packs have as good a suspension system as any lightweight pack out there. As for outside storage pockets, the GoLite Trek has more outer storage pockets and is slightly smaller than the Gust at about 4200ci. I’ve owned my Gust for years and it’s tough as nails, but I’m thinking of getting a slightly smaller Trek for the storage pockets. Either way, GoLite is overall the best made lightweight pack out there.
If you can put personalities aside, that is.
Bonehead
I love my Speed, but after less than 100 miles I could already see signs of wear. Specifically, the connection for the strap that runs over the top was separating from the silnylon, right between the shoulder straps. This strap doesn’t even support any weight!
A few other areas are showing the same wear, but nothing looks like it’s close to failure.
It carries well and I’m very happy with it, but I’d be surprised if this was the “best made lightweight pack out there.” And I don’t care anything about either of the personalities.
Just Jeff
FYI, I carry a max of 30 pounds, and only that if I cannot resupply for over a week.
I used the speed as designed for a while. I then added an internal frame because my legs are much stronger than my upper body. I loved the design of the pack, all but the belt and the very tight outside pockets. I found the belt basically useless because the pockets do not blouse and this means anything in them is pulled very tight against your hip bones. My hip bones hurt after 3 or 4 days. I am now trying a ULA P-2 (within 1/2 ounce the same weight as my modified Speed). I love the hipbelt and the larger outside net pockets. I think it carries as good or better than the GL Speed. However, it is definately more complicated (a lot of straps) than the Speed and it is missing some features I liked about the Speed (bottle holder and upper outside pockets. I have not carried it enough to say I definately favor it over the Speed. Time and distance will tell.
Mountain Dog
The Speed is not designed to be a backpacking pack, and is not in the class of the Trek or Guste or the ULAs. It’s one of the “speedracing packs” by GoLite, and is smaller and differently designed than the backpacking packs. So it’s no surprise that carrying over 30 pounds on a thru-hike didn’t work too well in a Speed. I have my eye on the Trek, which has ample side, top and front pockets and otherwise appears constructed the same as the bulletproof Guste.
Bonehead
Bone head,
Calm down and try not to be so defensive. Some of the posts here addressed the Speed and the quality of golite. I’m only giving my 2cents worth about the ULA and the golite model I carry. I obviously know about the limits of the speed, hence I do not carry more than 30 pounds and I modified the Speed to include an internal frame equivalent to that used by the ULA P-2. At the time I made these modifications Golite did not offer internal frames in any packs. As I said, I love some features and dislike others. Time will tell which product wins my heart.
Mountain Dog