The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a backpack with vest-style shoulder straps for day mountaineering and fastpacking. Quite a few open mesh pockets on the shoulder straps and backpack exterior make it simple to retailer often accessed gear and meals, so that you don’t should cease and open the pack to entry them. Whereas it’s just like the higher-volume Mountainsmith Zerk 40, a number of notable variations exist. The Zerk 25 has a high lid pocket as an alternative of the roll-top closure on the Zerk 40; it has two entrance sternum straps as an alternative of 1, and is completely frameless with out extra again panel padding.
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- Weight: 1 lb 7.5 oz (666g)
- Quantity: 25L
- Kind: Frameless
- Entry: Prime
- Gender: Unisex
- Hydration suitable: Sure, heart port
- Pockets: 11 (2 closed)
- Removable hip belt: Sure
- Torso Vary: 16-24″
- Contains extras: Stretch bungee wire for the entrance pocket
- Supplies: 210-denier recycled Robic nylon ripstop (UHMPE)
- Max beneficial load: 20-25 lbs
- Professionals: Quite a few and extremely practical pockets, comfy vest straps
- Cons: Shoulder straps are too lengthy for shorter torso lengths, carries finest when largely full
Backpack Suspension
The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a frameless, top-loading daypack/fastpack with vest-style shoulder straps, quite a few exterior and closed pockets, and an optionally detachable hipbelt made with a large webbing belt with a strong heart buckle. Being frameless, the aim of the hip belt is to maintain the pack from bouncing when working or mountaineering. Relying in your torso size, it’ll loop round your hips or increased up in your torso: it doesn’t actually matter which for the reason that weight of the pack rests completely in your shoulders and higher chest.
Every shoulder strap has two stacked mesh pockets on the entrance with tensioners and kit loops alongside the aspect so you’ll be able to safe gadgets like an inReach Mini 2 to forestall it from getting misplaced even when it falls out of a pocket. The pockets are giant sufficient to securely retailer a smartphone or a 500 ml tender bottle with ease and actually make the pack handy to make use of. They’re the very best pockets I’ve discovered on any fastpack all yr, and I’ve examined almost a dozen, together with the Osprey Talon Velocity 30, Gossamer Gear Quick Kumo 36, and the Outside Vitals Skyline 30, to call a couple of.
Whereas the Zerk’s shoulder straps aren’t closely padded, they’re additionally not gossamer skinny. They’re 3″ large on the high and sewn straight into the highest of the pack bag, widening to 4.5″ on the backside, with two sliding sternum straps between them. The straps themselves are J-shaped, which can be a consideration should you’re feminine or have a well-developed chest the place S-shaped straps can be extra comfy. The jury continues to be out on whether or not girls discover fast-pack shoulder straps and sternum straps comfy or not.
Backpack Storage and Group
Aside from its high lid pocket, the Zerk 25 is laid out like a typical ultralight pack with a roll-top, entrance mesh pocket, and aspect water bottle pockets. The highest lid has two zippered pockets: a big pocket on high with a key fob and a mesh pocket beneath the lid. I choose having a high lid or clamshell opening on a daypack over a roll-top as a result of I entry the contents of my pack extra often than after I’m backpacking, and my solely aim is to crush miles all day. Looking for gadgets packed in a roll high is a ache within the butt because you typically should take away all the things and repack it once more. That will get previous quick.
There’s a entrance stretch mesh pocket, which is sweet for holding unfastened layers like rain gear, your lunch, or a moist water filter. It has a high webbing strap to carry it shut and maintain contents from falling out. There are additionally two stacked pockets on both sides of the Zerk: the interior one is strong material with an elastic tensioner on high, whereas the outer pocket is made with stretch mesh, which I liken to “hamster cheeks. These are good for storing additional snacks, fruit, and even trash wrappers so that you don’t should cease and open your pack to entry/stow them. I a lot choose these “hamster cheek” pockets to the mesh pockets that many ultralight backpack makers have began placing on the bottom of their backpacks. The latter is senseless from a sturdiness perspective for the reason that highest abrasion on a pack happens on the underside whenever you put it on the bottom.
The remainder of the Zerk 25 is pretty standard. The pack is hydration-compatible with a middle hose port between the shoulder straps, hose keeper loops on each shoulder straps, and a hook inside to hold your bladder and a hydration pocket.
Backpack Compression and Attachment Factors
The Zerk 25 has a single tier of aspect compression straps which might be good for holding longer gadgets towards the aspect of the pack, like a Smartwater bottle with a Sawyer Squeeze filter on high. However they don’t present superb compression until the principle compartment is tightly stuffed as a result of the ends are sewn to material and never a inflexible structural help like a body. Nonetheless, they’re fairly helpful when carrying longer objects like a Tenkara fishing rod.
There’s a webbing strap that loops over the drawstring closure on the high of the pack bag to offer top-down compression. Daisy chains encompass the exterior mesh pockets and supply a handy place to clip gadgets like a hat or microspikes with a ‘biner. The pack additionally comes with an elastic bungie wire you could loop throughout the aspect daisy chains if you wish to dangle moist clothes on the surface of the pack to dry. Lastly, there are two ice axe loops, that is also used to strap trekking poles to the pack utilizing the aspect compression straps to carry the shafts.
Suggestion
The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a multi-purpose daypack/fastpack with a vest-style shoulder harness and a non-load-bearing hip belt. It’s remarkably comfy and has a plethora of pockets that make it simple to prepare and entry your gear on the transfer. There’s additionally loads of safe closed storage to hold additional clothes and gear. Whereas switching from a standard daypack to 1 with vest-style straps and storage takes some getting used to, I believe you’ll discover that the hybrid mixture of daypack and fastpack options on the Mountainsmith Zerk 25 makes this pack a keeper for adventures close to and much.
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