Light packs for test

Testing some lightweight (less than 1 kilo) backpacks from Nigor and Pajak.

By Jörgen Johansson

I am doing an article on lightweight European made packs for the American e-zine Backpackinglight.com. The definition is that the packs should be big enough for multi day trips, ideally up to a week. And they should not weigh more than 1 kilo.

One pack that I used for Coast2Coast Sweden was the Montane Ultra Tour 55. I have written about that in an earlier post here om the blog.

I now have two more packs ready to be tested. One is the XC3 from Polish manufacturer Pajak.

The Pajak XC3 seen here is neither carefully nor fully packed. It is a hint, though, that this is more of an alpinist pack than a hikers pack since it lacks all outer pockets (except on the belt). Climbers usually do not want anything that can snag.

Here you can see the compression system, the reinforced bottom and a zipper (black) running along the side of the pack. As the light fabric indicates this is the lightest pack of the three.

 

The Nigor Zero L is sturdier and heavier and very similar to the Golite Jam 2 (one of my favorite lightweight packs). Since Golite is no longer in existence it feels nice that someone has picked up the ideas and makes them available. The view from the pack can be seen in the first picture. A long distance hikers pack with a lightweight aluminum frame and sturdier fabric than both the Montane and the Pajak. It is also the heaviest of the three,

I will be writing a full report for Backpackinglight on these packs. I would dearly like to include the Laufbursche Huckepack in this comparison, but the company has unfortunately ceased to communicate. Likely due to the illness of the founder of the company.