The brand new Granite Gear Virga3 26L is a frameless ultralight backpack weighing 1.26 lbs that can enchantment to day hikers and backpackers alike. Weighing 20.2 oz (572g), it has an adjustable torso size so you may dial in a personalised match with quite a few pockets and attachment factors to hold bulkier gear. Twin sternum straps, shoulder strap bottle elastics, and a detachable webbing belt will enchantment to quick packers, however don’t intrude with utilizing the Virga3 26 like an everyday backpack or personalizing it with the preexisting third celebration shoulder strap pockets or bottle sleeves you already personal.
Specs at a Look
- Gender: Unisex
- Sort: Body-less
- Adjustable Torso Size/Width: Sure
- Full Weight: 20.2 oz (572g)
- Stripped Weight: 18.6 oz (526g)
- Load Lifters: Sure
- Pockets: 3 Open
- Hydration Suitable: Sure
- Ice Axe/Trekking Pole Loops: 2
- Colours: White (undyed) or Black
- Supplies: 100D and 210D Robic nylon
- Max Beneficial Load: 20-25 lbs
The brand new Virga3 26L is in its third era within the Granite Gear product line. It has at all times been well-liked with hikers who desire a decrease capability and ultralight model of Granite Gear’s multiday backpacks. Apart from the hip belt and colour choices, the Virga3 26 is sort of equivalent to the brand new Virga3 55L which can be frameless and has been up to date as properly.
The Virga3 26L is a roll-top backpack arrange in basic ultralight model with two facet water bottle pockets and a entrance stretch mesh pocket. It has higher and decrease compression straps on three sides, not two, which is a signature characteristic of most Granite Gear backpacks and is available in enormously useful when you need to carry cumbersome gear like snowshoes that won’t match inside your backpack.
The Virga3 26L has an adjustable torso size so you may size or shorten the torso to suit higher. That is accomplished by elevating or reducing the shoulder straps that are connected to daisy chains behind the shoulder straps. Granite Gear has thoughtfully marked the torso size similar to the positions in inches so you may simply reposition the straps utilizing the gated buckles that join them to the daisy chains.
Along with lengthening the torso, you may widen or cut back the width between the shoulder straps which is necessary for ladies and lots of males of smaller stature. If in case you have the straps set huge and begin to really feel ache in one in every of your shoulders, strive transferring the straps nearer collectively. Shoulder strap distance is usually a actual difficulty for some folks, particularly for males with huge chests, however this degree of adjustability has been current on lots of the Granite Gear packs I’ve reviewed going again the previous 10+ years.
The Virga3 26L is a frameless backpack requiring a special packing methodology than backpacks with frames or body stays. Many individuals place a foam sleeping pad inside the primary compartment, straight behind the shoulder straps, or rolled like an enormous pipe in the primary compartment to present the pack some form so it doesn’t collapse in on itself. As soon as that’s accomplished you may pack as you usually would stuffing clothes and kit behind the froth pad or contained in the rolled cavity that it creates. Personally, I desire packing 4 sections of a foam ZLite Sol sleeping pad behind the shoulder straps since a rollable foam pad just like the basic Thermarest RidgeRest takes up an excessive amount of quantity, and thinner pads just like the Gossamer Gear 1/8″ Thinlight don’t present sufficient rigidity. When worn, the Zlite foam pad flattens out in opposition to your again and prevents objects contained in the pack from poking your again.
Since it’s frameless, the Virga3 26 tends to barrel should you pack the primary compartment too tightly. That is to be anticipated and the norm for a frameless backpack. Being frameless, additionally signifies that the hip belt, which is an easy webbing strap, shouldn’t be load-bearing, so the burden of the pack will relaxation utterly in your shoulders. The operate of the hip belt on this scenario is to drag the underside of the pack nearer to your torso to maintain it from bouncing as you stroll, though it’s additionally utterly detachable should you desire to not use it or need to use a climbing harness with the pack.
The shoulder straps are S-shaped, that are often snug for women and men. They’ve daisy chains sewn to the entrance, so you may connect bottle sleeves or pockets to them you probably have ones you already desire. Alternatively, the pack comes with 4 elastic bottle keeper cords that you should utilize to connect smaller ridged bottles to the shoulder straps. I like my very own third celebration pockets higher.
The shoulder straps include two sternum straps so you may switch extra of the load off your shoulders and onto your higher chest, considerably just like the vest straps which are showing increasingly more on lower-volume packs. That is completely elective nevertheless and you may simply take away one of many sternum straps if you need a extra conventional really feel. I discovered that crisscrossing the 2 sternum straps is extra snug for me, particularly when hauling cumbersome and heavy winter traction aids.
The facet pockets are deep and might maintain two Smartwater bottles. They’ve a shock twine adjustment working alongside the highest so you may pull the pockets tight to maintain the bottles from falling out. The lower-side compression strap may un by means of the facet pocket or over it, so you may nonetheless have compression even when the pocket itself is full. The pack is hydration appropriate with a middle hose port though there’s only a toggle inside to hold a reservoir and never a reservoir pocket.
The roll high clips collectively on high of the pack and there’s a perpendicular high strap that holds it down. If desire utilizing a roll high that connects to the facet of the pack relatively than the highest as a result of it supplies higher clearance and compression, you may connect the roll high clips to the clips on the higher compression strap protecting the entrance stretch mesh pocket. This eliminates any further webbing straps and is a properly executed design characteristic.
Related Frameless Backpacks
Suggestion
The brand new frameless Virga3 26L is a enjoyable pack to hold and can be utilized for a wide range of mountain climbing and outside journeys so long as you retain your pack weight underneath 20-25 kilos and keep away from overstuffing the pack. I get a kick out of utilizing the brand new white undyed coloring, though there are a whole lot of examples of hikers who’ve illustrated their packs with colourful designs on Granite Gear’s Instagram Feed. The one actual criticism I’ve of the pack is its efficiency in winter situations, the place the buckles jam up with snow and received’t shut. Regardless of that use case, this new third-generation Virga3 26L is a extremely practical and adjustable ultralight backpack that’s good for hikers who desire a miniature model of a multi-day day ultralight-style backpack for day mountain climbing or fastpacking.
Disclosure: Granite Gear donated a backpack for evaluate.
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