Bushwalk Australia

Nice surprise today when I got home my new Granite Gear Virga had arrived.

I will post a review in the coming weeks once I get out if it as well as some photos.

This will be a replacement for my Golite Pinnacle which will now be my winter pack, but if I can get some lighter winter gear the Virga might be the go too.

Interested to see how it goes. How does the weight match up to the quoted specs? I just got my first frameless pack last week. Was tossing up between the Virga and the Golite Peak. Ended up going the Peak because it was on sale. The weight came down to 580g without the (useless) hip belt and by doing a bit of trimming. I took it out for a quick test run on the weekend and was pretty happy with its comfort with about 8kg loaded up. My only complaint so far is the top closure system is pretty crappy. The roll top closure doesn't have any material to roll if the pack is anywhere near full so you're left with a gaping hole in the top.

Hi Cams,
I have the large and about all I got to do last night was a quick trimming (removed the gear loops and shorten all straps) it weights in at 564g, so that is about a 400g+ saving on the Golite Pinnacle. I chucked in my base weight gear and the bag felt great on will get a chance to try it out in a couple of weeks.

Thats light! To save any more weight, you'd might have to remove a kidney or a testicle or something.

is it made of the same dyneema as your pinnacle?

ninjapuppet wrote:Thats light! To save any more weight, you'd might have to remove a kidney or a testicle or something.

is it made of the same dyneema as your pinnacle?

cams wrote:.....I just got my first frameless pack last week.... My only complaint so far is the top closure system is pretty crappy. The roll top closure doesn't have any material to roll if the pack is anywhere near full so you're left with a gaping hole in the top.

Hey cams,

"Full" with a lightweight pack with a roll top closure is when there's still room to roll it down about 3 rolls to close it off! You can't fill them to the top of the compartment! The Go-Lite packs are great packs (I've got 3! - an Ion, Jam2 and Pinnacle - I just take whichever pack is appropriate for the amount of gear I need to carry).

Cheers,

JB

Jellybean wrote:Hey cams,

"Full" with a lightweight pack with a roll top closure is when there's still room to roll it down about 3 rolls to close it off! You can't fill them to the top of the compartment! The Go-Lite packs are great packs (I've got 3! - an Ion, Jam2 and Pinnacle - I just take whichever pack is appropriate for the amount of gear I need to carry).

Cheers,

JB

Even with nothing in the pack there is barely enough material to actually roll the top down. And unless you fill it to where I have then the top compression strap dosn't do anything (it is too long) and any material that you did manage to roll up would just unravel because there's no pressure on it.

cams wrote:

Jellybean wrote:Hey cams,

"Full" with a lightweight pack with a roll top closure is when there's still room to roll it down about 3 rolls to close it off! You can't fill them to the top of the compartment! The Go-Lite packs are great packs (I've got 3! - an Ion, Jam2 and Pinnacle - I just take whichever pack is appropriate for the amount of gear I need to carry).

Cheers,

JB

Even with nothing in the pack there is barely enough material to actually roll the top down. And unless you fill it to where I have then the top compression strap dosn't do anything (it is too long) and any material that you did manage to roll up would just unravel because there's no pressure on it.

Cams,

Have you undone the compactor clips/straps at the base of the pack to give it more volume? (They usually come done up - it's a great feature which makes the pack more versatile, you can change the volume of the pack according to how much you're carrying)

Were you using the strap over the top to secure the rolled down portion?

See the pic of the Peak - http://www.golite.com/Product/ProdDetai ... =352005110 - to see how the straps should be when the pack is full (compactor clips straps at bottom undone - in the pic you can see the clips next to the gear loops - and strap over the rolled up section at the top to keep that secure.

Cheers,

JB