Leaky valve - Granite Gear Vapor Current Airbeam Frame

The valve had a slow leak from the outset. I thought I was forgetting that I deflated it, but then put it under water and saw the slow leak that had been tricking me.

It does make a more comfortable ride on the back. As for taking the Granite Gear Crown VC 60 up to 40 pounds max, I found the limit to be the pack design around the hip belt no matter what i did with the Airbeam, including folding it to make the lower back of the hip conform to the body better. It was better than the plastic framesheet but i wish it was better. The problem is that the pack design moves the hipbelt away from the body at the top of the belt because of the shape of the slot the hipbelt fits into. This means that the hipbelt isn't conforming to the body at the top of the belt, so the weight on the belt is being distributed to the bottom of the hipbelt instead of over the whole area of the hipbelt from top to bottom. This makes a large difference in discomfort under heavier loads 35 pounds and up. Folding the Airbeam to not fill the area from the top of the hipbelt and lower helped considerably for conformance of the belt and pack to the body, but it's not what it could be.

I'm about 5'9" and 150 pounds with not much for hips. That's why the pack and belt design in the belt area is so important. It might work great for a lot of people.

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.