After my thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2018, I started to look at other backpacks to find something lighter than my Osprey Exos 55 – which I was very happy with on the trail!
But trying to see if I can lower my base weight, I need to look at my tent, backpack and sleeping system, and the backpack and tent are the 2 easiest ways for me to cut weight as I think quilts are the only way to cut weight on my sleeping bag – and as you might know, I do not like quilts 😉
HMG Southwest | Palante Pack | AtomPacks
The Hyperlite Mountaingear Southwest 3400 was a pack I was pretty interested in when I first started looking into gear for my PCT Thru-hike, so that was the first pack I looked at again to see if that would save me some weight. It would, but only about 500 g (1,1 lbs) which didn’t seem worth it, so I started to look for another solution.
Then I remembered the Palante mafia from the PCT – a term Mister Gigglez came up with after seeing a whole group of hikers, in black, sporting a Palante Pack – and figured that it would be fun to get one of those and just to go all in on the UL hipster train.
Getting one of those packs would save me over 1 Kg (2,2lbs) which would be an awesome weight reduction! But it turns out that it’s not “easy” to get one of those Palante packs.
You need to sign up to their newsletter so you get notified when the packs are available to order, and then you just have to be quick to order it before they are sold out again.
That seemed a little extreme for me, so I looked around for another solution and my hiking buddy from the PCT, Bollocks, suggested Atompacks who also makes very lightweight backpacks.
AtomPacks
Atom Packs is located in the UK, and not only can I get the pack, but I also save import tax as well which is 25% plus some handling at customs. And the Atom 40 is just under 2oz heavier than the Palante V2 so not much of a compromise 🙂
I plan on using the pack on my Coast to coast hike in Sweden (if I can fit my gear in it) at the end of April, and then I might do a review of the pack afterward.
The Atom 40
I bought an Atom Pack “The Atom 40” which a 40L pack that is Ultra Light (UL), weighing only 470g (16.6oz).
This is a frameless pack, so it requires you to go ultralight, else it will be uncomfortable to carry, but I believe that I am getting there 🙂
The pack also has stretchy pockets on the shoulder straps to carry an iPhone, snack or whatever you can fit there. And just as with the Palante Pack, there’s a pouch in the bottom of the pack where you can put for example your food for the day, for easy access.
Here are some pictures to satisfy the gear hungry hikers amongst you 😉
