The Backpack

First was to find a pack that would fit my desire to do this trail as lightweight and efficiently as possible. With two kids and a full-time job, taking a month off to do the approximately 50,000 feet of elevation change with 45 pounds on my back was not happening. I wanted to stay below 5 kg as my base weight, around 20 pounds fully loaded up with provisions and water. Also, with bears a big problem on the JMT, it needed to fit my ‘Bearikade Scout’; a lightweight carbon bear canister made by Wild Ideas that would keep my food away from anything furry.

"I wanted to stay below 5 kg as my base weight, around 20 pounds fully loaded up with provisions and water."

So I tried several lightweight backpacks, the OMM Classic 25L, Salomon Peak 30, but for some reason packs with a waist belt don’t sit well with me, literally. For the first few hours they work great, but the inability to breathe out of my belly and the constant rubbing on my hips just get too annoying. Not to mention I can’t run with them if I wanted to. So when Salomon came out with their new S-LAB Peak 20 Set (what a name…) I was really intrigued. It’s not the first 20L+ pack without a waist strap. I own the Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 and it’s a solid pack, but the storage on the front doesn’t work for my needs, not to mention it doesn’t fit a bear canister so it was out for this trip anyway.

The Salomon pack is a whole different animal. I bought one as soon as I could and started to run/walk with it and gradually built up the weight to see if it worked for me. Even though there are some small areas for improvement, I really loved the pack and I’m a tough crowd when it comes to packs for sure.

A month before the John Muir Trail I took it on a three-day 90-mile test run, the double crossing of the Zion National Park, and I was sold.

The very best feature is how great the pack fits. It is essentially a running vest on steroids.

You can tell they put a lot of time into designing a system of cords that really stabilizes your load and compresses the pack to minimize the sway and bounce.

"The very best feature is how great the pack fits. It is essentially a running vest on steroids."

The first set of cords are visible here in black, they compress the top of the pack and distribute the load to the front of the shoulder straps. You can also see the white cord that compresses the sides and has a stopper that sinks into a space that doubles as a zipper garage.

Then there is a third, slightly thicker white cord that just loops around the side pockets and essentially ‘lifts’ the pack from the bottom and attaches to the side of the pockets. There are three little loops to hook this into to change the angle of the pull.

One problem here is that the cord kept slipping through that plastic hook, easily solved by putting a knot in it.

Of course the pack features Salomon’s zigzag webbing system on the chest. As much as I love this comfortable, adjustable, light system that distributes a load nicely and doesn’t cause any pinching, the problem was with the tiny hooks that are super finicky when your hands are cold. Also, the cords these parts hook into are a bit tricky to get to when both chest pockets are filled up.

And then, as I used the pack more, I added a set of bungees at the front that allowed me to easily store the Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z-poles I use.

Maybe the best part about the S-LAB Peak 20 is that it allows me to carry two water bottles in the front if needed, with two storage pockets below them that I use for the food I intend to eat that day. The two stretch power-mesh pockets on the top of the shoulder hold my water filter on one side, and miscellaneous stuff like sunscreen and my bug net on the other side.

"Maybe the best part about the S-LAB Peak 20 is that it allows me to carry two water bottles in the front if needed, with two storage pockets below them that I use for the food I intend to eat that day."

Other cool features are a removable foam pad that sits on the outside of the pack so you don’t have to open it up to get to it. Nice if you don’t need the padding and want to save some weight, or want to use it as a sit pad. There is also a mesh divider screen on the inside of the main compartment, intended to keep heavier items higher up in the pack if needed, and it folds away if not in use.

The one thing I would like to see changed on the pack is to change the material on the side pockets to stretch mesh. When the Peak 20 is fully loaded up it is impossible to get anything in or out of those suckers. Too bad, because I would have loved to store a small stove, gloves or a map in them.

Another small nuisance is the fact that the storage pockets all use semi-auto locking zippers (YKK 3C-DSBYG); this makes it difficult to open and close them with one hand. Not to mention that they are also reversed coil, making this all a lot less durable. Fortunately I didn’t have any zippers blow up on my trip!

"The one thing I would like to see changed on the pack is to change the material on the side pockets to stretch mesh."

Now that I had a great pack, I focused my efforts on the rest of my gear.