One of my goals in the past few years has been a lighter pack weight and to hike more efficiently. I am pretty happy with my pack weight and gear. My base weight (everything except food and water) for cold weather (a little below freezing in my area) is around 16 pounds. I have been eyeing a Dyneema hammock tarp that will save me nearly 10 ounces, though…. My pack weight can be a little lighter or heaver depending on the trip and weather conditions. Now I’m working on more efficient hiking.
One of the keys to efficient hiking is keeping a steady pace throughout the day. I found that every time I had to stop and take of my pack to access something, I ended up stopping for longer than I really wanted. I’ve also transitioned from convertible pants to shorts in warmer weather and when hiking maintained trails. By converting to shorts, I lost the storage space from the cargo pockets I used to store a few items. I also wasn’t crazy about the feeling of items “swinging” in my cargo pockets as I hiked. Because of these reasons, I recently purchased several items from Thrupack. The main item was the Summit Bum – Pocket which includes a 1” webbing strap. I also ordered the small white Thrupack zip to use as a trail wallet, and a set of Thrubiners that enables various carrying configurations. The total cost was $63 USD with free shipping.
I received these items recently and thought I would share my initial reactions. My intention is to wear the Thrupack – Pocket as a fanny pack either by wearing the included belt, or using the Thrubiners to attach to the waist belt on my ULA Ohm 2.0. I have not decided which method I will use. In the Summit Bum – Pocket I plan on storing items I will need throughout the day hopefully eliminating the need to take off my backpack. Planned items include food/snacks, water treatment, gloves, hat, camera, or any other items I readily need throughout the day and will not fit in my hip belt pockets. I’m sure as I actually use it the items it contains will evolve until I find the perfect fit. This is my initial impression only of the items.
A few days after my order, I received an email with tracking information and the package was delivered in a standard black plastic envelope. All of my items were shipped and included was a small Thrupack Sticker and a small blue dinosaur. After receiving my package, I visited Thrupack’s website (www.thrupack.com) and didn’t see any reference to this small addition or a back story. Do any of my readers have a reference for the blue dinosaur? Since I’m kind of boring, I ordered the Summit Bum in the Black Gridstop with the black mesh pocket.
Upon arrival, I inspected all items and they were top quality items. The stitching was perfect with no obvious defects. The Summit Bum – Pocket by itself came in at a weight of 3.2 oz.
Including the strap (1.3 oz).
The total weight of the Summit Bum – Pocket and strap weighed 4.6 oz.
The Summit Bum – Pocket, 1” webbing strap and buckle, and small Thrupack Zip weighed 4.8 oz.
The small Thrupack zip came with a separate Thrubiner and weighed 0.4 oz.
The 2 Thrubiners weighed a total of 0.3 oz.
All items (Summit Bum – Pocket, 1” strap with buckle, and 2 small Thrubiners weighed 5.1 oz. This does not include the Thrubiner that is included with the Thrupack zip.
The additional dinosaur weighed 0.01 oz just in case you were curious.
Here is everything I received minus the packing material.
There is a mitten hook and two pockets inside the Summit Bum – Pocket.
I plan on using the mitten hook to attach the small Thrupack zip to use as my trail wallet. It is just large for my ID, debit/ credit card, and some cash.
There is plenty of room inside. This is the interior with one Talenti Sorbet container stored inside horizontally. There is still plenty of room on top of the container.
Two Talenti Sorbet containers will fit inside horizontally.
Here I have attached the two Thrubiners to the small loops if I attach to my hip belt.
The hip belt is easily routed through the padded slot in the Thrupack Summit Bum. Since the hip belt isn’t n attached, the buckle can be placed under the padded section for comfort.
So far, I’m impressed with the quality of this product and I look forward to using it to keep me organized and prevent me from removing my pack at short breaks. I’m a bit OCD when organizing my backpacking gear and for such a small item, there was a lot of thought put into the design.
The main reason I preferred this item over several other models was the design. The Summit Bum has several compartments instead of just having one large pouch. There is a mesh pocket on the front which is designed to prevent items from falling out. The main compartment also has two pockets stitched on the inside for storing small items. In addition, there is a large storage area on top between the padded area and the main storage compartment.
I can now separate items i need while hiking between my hip belt pockets and the Summit Bum and be more organized. By not removing my pack, this will give me more hours to hike per day. It will also make having my essentials easily available – both on the trail and in town. Just like ounces make pounds, minutes make hours. The fewer times I have to remove my pack is the more hours I have to hike which means the more miles I can hike per day.
I will have an updated review of this item after I use it for a few miles and I will compare my perceived usage versus actual usage.
bad biscuit 