Backpack Month: Paradox Pack Review by Jared Lampton

[robby denning]

Rokslide Member Jared Lampton of the great state of Montana is here for Backpack Month with his review on the Paradox Pack. Find out how the Paradox did did in the backcountry this last fall:

http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-09-42/backpacks/325-paradox-pack-review

 

[aion2come]

Great review. Have really looked at this pack, but I like to mix and match with other company's gear and it seems difficult. I also don't like the meat shelf clear at the bottom. Still, there is a lot to like in this pack.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

Good review. I really enjoyed getting to know the pack.

 

[Matt W.]

Good job Jared. Enjoyed the pictures and learning about the pack. That multicam looks good on a pack.

 

[Bighorse]

Hunting in a rainforest and using an open boat to access my locations, the waterproof fabric options with the roll top design really have my attention. I'm often sitting down negotiating steep off train routes. I've had many internal and external packs receive excessive wear and damage to the stays and bag in the lower area. How would you classify the construction of the Paradox in this area as it relates to materials and design?

 

[Jared Lampton]

All,
Thanks for reading and the encouraging comments.

Bighorse,
It kind of depends on how full the bag is. If you are butt sliding with a pretty full bag then I would expect the bottom of the bag of the Paradox to receive wear in much the same way as many other packs. I'm not privy to the technical specs of the X33 fabric as far as durability but I did have one very small wear spot (not quite a hole) on the botton of one of the water bottle pockets on my pack. I don't know if this was from scraping against rock or what but my impression is that the X33 isn't substantially tougher than many of the other pack materials.
I don't think you would have to worry about the frame/stays really being damaged beyond some scratches and small dents which wouldn't affect the functionality. I would be concerned about potential wear to the attachment points of the belt to the frame. They could be at risk for wear and if you had a serious issue with one of them, it could be trouble.

 

[DaveC]

For high abuse applications VX-42 is the fabric to use, though I believe the latest versions all have 42 on the bottoms and bottle pockets anyway. The standard weight frame is super robust. I have ~1500 miles on mine over the last 18 months, including two technical canyoneering trips in the Grand Canyon, plenty of alpine hunting, and seven big game packouts. The bottom of the frame is all scratched to hell, but functionally perfect. I haven't had significant abrasion to the webbing/grommet arrangement with which the belt is bolted to the frame, but you would want to keep an eye on that over time.

 

[Bighorse]

Thanks gentlemen. All my pack have worn heavily on the bottom. Unless they were coated with 1/4 aluminum they will wear. Kevin at SO mentioned wear on the bottle holders of his personal pack to. Happens! Based on the review I placed my order today. Full on 6,300 with all the options in Multicam. I've been rocking a Barneys for many years. This belt/ frame set up looks very similar. Do you have any pics of the fancy upgrade belt buckle, cobra?

 

[Jared Lampton]

Thanks for chiming in here Dave. Great info.
The belt attachments on my pack show no serious signs of wear as of yet FWIW.

 

[Kevin_t]

Actually we are doing same fabric throughout again, just better looking overall. Sometimes looks win. I had bottle pocket abrasion on a cuben packbag while humping 60 lbs of rescue gear down from 14,100 ft class 3/4 and a ton of scree. The vx42 talon I was using had no signs of wear

 

[Bighorse]

Kevin, great talking with you today while placing my order. Your company has great customer service for your shelter and pack line!
Best wishes for your new packs.
Chris

 

[Jared Lampton]

Bighorse,
I'm not familiar with the cobra upgrade.

 

[Muledeernv]

Great review Jared.

 

[swisski]

I've had my pack for only a little over a month and not more than 10 miles on it yet, but for so little time, I absolutely love it and I believe it will work perfectly for my needs. Highly recommend this company for any gear

 

[Kevin_t]

Thank you Jared. You were a very early Pack customer. We have made a lot of minor updates from the time the early packs shipped, so if it's ok, I will give a quick run down.
- New lid the Multi-Lid which is a small dual pocket lid that can be used on top, or used as a minimalistic chesty for items such as a range finder / binocs etc
- Bottle Wings - A winged bottle pocket that can be used on any suspension in a couple different ways. These allow you to have a bottle pocket now when using a dry bag, or just a talon on the frame. In addition they can be used around the back of a pack bag or frame or singularly toward the belt to provide easy bottle accces
- Unaweep Exposure - A panel loader designed with photographers and travelers in mind. It can be used on your Evo or Unaweep and in the heaviest fabric we offer is about 3.5 lbs, or 3 lb 12 ounces on standard frame. Also includes zippered back pocket. While I am a pretty minimalistic guy, I have to say it's pretty cool in it's own way.
- A long harness variation for tall or broad chested people. In fact, I would recommend the long harness for anyone that does not run out of room on it, but both work well.

Carry on

 

[Manosteel]

Nice review, when packed with a heveay load the pack looks real tight to your body and shoulders, did that limit your movement at all? kinda looks uncomfortable.

 

[Jared Lampton]

Thanks Kevin. Looks like some good updates. I knew about some of the new stuff but chose to leave it out of the review to keep it brief.

Manosteel,
I see what you mean in one of the pictures. It looks like it's a little tight on my shoulders. The pack does ride very tight to your back. I did not notice a marked decrease in my mobility though. As you can see I use trekking poles for packouts and never felt like my range of motion in my arms was very limited. I experienced very little soreness after a 7 mile pack out of load with the elk antlers pictured in the review. The main discomfort I had (other than being really tired) after making 2 of those trips was my feet were getting a little sore. Also the frame and the belt are able move very slightly independently of one another because of the way they are linked. This seemed to slightly increase torso and hip mobility. Thanks for reading.
-Jared

 

[jspickar]

Great Review!

 

[Bighorse]

The cobra buckle is a heavy duty "tactical" closure. Unlike some of the plastic options, the feature it offers is engagement unlikely to fail. With a belt and suspension dependent on full pelvis/midsection engagment thats a nice feature by my estimate. When I get heavy I like to get some pressure applied to my belt and I've broken free other buckles in the past. One other interesting feature worth mentioning is that the lid is designed to be deployed as a "chesty" in conjunction with the Evolution frame and the talon. All my comments are from an outside observer stand point and I have yet to handle or use this pack system.

 

[Jared Lampton]

The cobra buckle is a heavy duty "tactical" closure. Unlike some of the plastic options, the feature it offers is engagement unlikely to fail. With a belt and suspension dependent on full pelvis/midsection engagment thats a nice feature by my estimate. When I get heavy I like to get some pressure applied to my belt and I've broken free other buckles in the past. One other interesting feature worth mentioning is that the lid is designed to be deployed as a "chesty" in conjunction with the Evolution frame and the talon. All my comments are from an outside observer stand point and I have yet to handle or use this pack system.

Sounds like good insurance for sure. I've only had one issue with a belt buckle on another pack. I was packing a 124lb load of mule deer and day gear and the buckle would pop loose once in a while -2500 vertical in 2.5 miles... that one hurt a little.
I have no concerns with the buckle on the evo as of yet.