Gear Review - Gossamer Gear QuikSak

QuikSak at Cherry Pond, NH

General description:
The Gossamer Gear QuikSak is an 8 oz day pack best used for light-minded day hikers or for hauling a few light items around town. It has no internal structure or padding, hence the need to keep it light and free from pointy, hard edged objects. It has two large, mesh water bottle pockets (9" tall), a haul strap, a top lid with a small pocket and an internal back pocket for a water bladder or sit pad... and not a whole lot more.

Top Lid/Fold-In Pocket
The pack is designed to stuff into its own zippered top lid, making it ideal for travel as a summit pack - and in my opinion, works far better than a convertible top lid...which has an awkward waist placement and no water bottle pockets. There is a small tab to hook a key ring inside the pocket, which is easy to access and useful for an assortment of small things like sun screen, key, map, etc. I like that the zipper isn't set sideways, and that I can reach into it without stuff falling out. Attached to the lid is a buckle, which snaps together with the other end to secure the pack and keep it closed.

Folded into their own pockets: Gossamer's QuikSak & RikSak size comparison.

Back

Front

Body, Front, Back
It's made with a lightweight, 50 Denier ripstop nylon, which is rather slippery at first blush. There is no pack padding or structure within. The pack itself measured about 23" long inside. A drawstring cord keeps the closes off the top - and the top pocket folds over, clasping with a daisy chain webbing strap and buckle closure to keep it shut. There are several tiny webbing tabs on the front and sides to lace cord through (as well as 3 more inside the top neck of the pack, not sure why exactly). The water bottle pockets are big & secure enough for 1 LT plastic bottles and a pole can squeeze in there too. There's a reflective stripe on the front as well.

Shoulder Straps
Perforated padding touches the skin on each strap, a stretchy, darker material faces out. The straps are 2.5" wide. There is a small horizontal fabric strip on each strap to latch on a biner, a watch, etc. 

Stabilizing Straps
There is the usual sternum strap on this pack, as well as what I like to call, a "Belly Belt". Gossamer is the only pack maker I know who has this strap, and after thinking it quite odd at first, its starting to grow on me. It's placed right over the belly and helps keep the pack in place. Since most loads in this pack will be minor, there is no hipbelt, so the Belly Belt is there instead.

Internal
Not much here except the large pocket against the back, which could hold a water bladder or small sit pad.

Testing in the field

Testing
City: I took this pack out to the street s a few times and found it comfortable yet slippery. The pack, if not full, would slip along my lap in the subway abd onto the floor if I wasn't watching or with a sudden bump in the train. However when the pack is full, it holds itself mostly-upright as a structured pack would.

Side view

Country: I hiked for several days in the White Mountains this May with it not-quite fully loaded. I hardly noticed I was wearing it...it was light and comfy. The shoulder straps worked well on my 5' 4" frame, distributing the small amount of weight I carried (maybe 8lbs?) I stuffed a Kumo sit pad inside for better stabilization and a little cushion. Without the sit pad it may not have been as comfortable to carry for 25 miles over 2 days, especially if I had anything pointy in it, but with a little foam it was a perfect fit and just the right size for a day hike. I had strung some extra stretch cord through the side tabs to stabilize a hiking pole (or a tall bottle), which worked perfectly. It's good to have the tabs there, not an issue if you don't use them, they're tiny enough. If you don't use a sit pad for a little structure, it's still a nice pack to carry, so long as you keep your load light and hard-edge free.

Conclusion
Overall I really like this pack for a variety of uses and I can see it replacing my old REI Flash Pack 18 easily - actually it already has. I plan to use this pack some more this summer and will return to review it again. It's simple, no fuss, a great size for me, and just the right amount of pockets. My only gripe is superficial... the color: two tones of grey. What happened to the fun moments of orange GG?

Thanks to Gossamer Gear for sending me this pack, as well as the Riksak and others, for testing.