ColoradoJoy from United States, CO Public Profile

When I saw the nextgen of my favorite lightweight pack, the previous version of the 55L Helium lady, highlighted in Backpacker magazine's spring 2016 gear guide, I was stoked! Had to have it and ordered it right away. I decided to get the 40L since my 55L serves me just fine hoping it would be a great day pack or weekender. Sadly, it is going back and I am no longer a fan. So much has gone wrong with this pack - the quick adjust harness is not quick to adjust, the velcro is hard to get open and scrapes your hands. But once I fenangled the torso fit, I found the diamond shaped area that covers the adjustments rubbed me really wrong in that part of my back and upper shoulders. While the hip belt is now anatomical 3d whatever whatever, it no longer covers my iliac crest completely. It is shorter in girth and rides higher even at the lowest torso fit for me and with a weighted pack. I also felt something odd in the lower back area of the pack. Turns out, the piece of material there has been deformed by how tight the pack was wrapped up for shipping. I couldn't get it to flatten, it just kept buckling. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be a framesheet in this one. You can feel nearly straight through the material in most areas of the back. The hydration sleeve doesn't go all the way down and would not hold my 3l bladder. The mesh on the side pockets is thinner and would be more prone to snags. The compression straps, or rather, strings, are completely ridiculous. They don't stay

This is a really high quality pack with a lot of fantastic details and appealing materials but the shoulder straps are way too wide at the area where they need to curve under the arms. This would definitely lead to some serious discomfort when hiking with it on. Perhaps not an issue for flatter chested women. I ordered a size medium as I am a size 18 torso but in order for the pack to sit correctly on the hip bones and the shoulder height to leave no gaps, a size small for a size 18 is probably more fitting. However, the hip belt on the medium just barely covered my hips and wasn't super comfortable on my size 36" hips. Because of these fit issues, I have to return the back. Very sad too as this is the best set-up I've seen as far as being able to use and reach a water bottle, hip belt pockets, pack pockets and organization, materials, colors and construction. Heavy but nice that is does include the rain cover and if it fit, probably worth the weight.