The Rooster Tramper Ultralight Gear 50 Liter Backpack (CTUG-50) is a custom-made ultralight roll-top backpack made with XPAC VX21, a extremely sturdy and light-weight waterproof cloth generally used earlier than Dyneema DCF and Extremely appeared on the ultralight backpacking scene. The pack is exclusive in that it has an inner body created from carbon fiber arrow shafts, an exterior sit pad pocket, and a sewn-on hip belt that offers it a advisable most snug load of 30-35 kilos. The pack additionally has daisy chains sewn to the hipbelt letting you grasp a fanny pack from it as an alternative of looping it round your waist. That is far more snug and handy when mountain climbing, on the town, or touring.
Specs at a Look
- Precise Weight: 34 oz
- Quantity: a big 50L
- Inside body: Sure
- Prime closure: Roll-top
- Pockets: 3
- Gender: Unisex with female-friendly shoulder straps and hipbelt
- Coloration: A variety of colour choices.
- Hip belt pockets: No
- Load lifters: Sure
- Hydration Suitable: No
- Sleeping Pad Straps: Sure
- Canister compatibility: BV475 matches horizontally, BV500 Vertically
- Prime Y Strap: Sure. Lengthy sufficient to carry a BV500 on prime of the pack
- Waist: Customized to your dimensions.
- Torso and Hipbelt Size: Customized to your dimensions
- Materials: XPAC VX21
- Professionals: Large capability, sturdy, nice exterior pockets, many attachment factors
- Cons: Hip belt slips (request an even bigger lumber pad)
The CTUG-50 reviewed right here is similar to the CTUG-45 I reviewed 4 years in the past, with a number of minor variations. For the time being, Rooster Tramper determined to extend the quantity by 5 liters and provide a second smaller 40L backpack, however apart from that, the backpack has undergone few adjustments. Notably, Rooster Tramper has not used Extremely cloth to make this backpack and continues making it with Xpack VX21 when so many ultralight backpack producers have switched to that cloth.
Backpack Storage and Group
The CTUG-50 is a roll-top with a big primary compartment, aspect mesh pockets, and a entrance mesh pocket. Whereas it’s labeled as a 50-liter backpack, it feels a lot bigger in quantity, presumably as a result of the pack bag has a boxy form with proper angles on the corners as an alternative of curves. When computing pack quantity, Rooster Tramper contains the pack’s open pockets, the principle compartment as much as the load lifters, and the extension collar minus 3 cloth turns. Whereas it is a conservative method to measure pack quantity amongst ultralight pack producers, it means you may have much more quantity above the load lifters to pack gear or meals.
The roll-top has strips of velcro sewn alongside the hem however doesn’t have a stiffener. Whereas the pack’s XPac VX21 is waterproof, the pack’s seams will not be seam taped so that you’ll wish to use a water-proof liner and/or drybags for gear and clothes in moist climates. The roll-top buckles on the highest of the pack solely clip to themselves however don’t clip down alongside the perimeters. A protracted Y-strap on the highest can maintain the roll-top closed or safe a pad or bear canister to the highest of the pack. The Y strap is lengthy sufficient to carry a BV500 canister on prime.
The mesh pockets on the entrance and sides of the pack are made with the dive mesh used to make scuba gear baggage, which has a big weave however could be very powerful stuff and onerous to tear. Even in the event you do, you possibly can simply run twine by means of the big holes within the weave to seal the pocket up once more and stop objects from falling out, an old style trick.
All the mesh pockets might be cinched tight on the highest with line locks and elastic twine to forestall objects from coming out. The aspect mesh pockets can maintain two Smartwater bottles and are reachable & replaceable when the pack is worn, whereas the entrance pocket is giant sufficient to carry many smaller objects or a moist tent fly simply.
The pack doesn’t have an inner hydration sleeve or hydration ports to run a hydration hose. There isn’t even an inside grasp loop or hook to hold a reservoir.
The bottom pack doesn’t include sewn-on hipbelts pockets however they are often simply added to daisy chains sewn to the hipbelt’s exterior. Rooster Tramper’s major enterprise is promoting accent backpack pockets and so they provide a big choice you could add to only about any backpack, not simply those they make.
Backpack Body and Suspension
Body
The CTUG-50 has a body created from carbon-fiber arrow shafts. Whereas this sounds very “cottage,” it’s price noting that my first Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus, circa 2007, (now known as the Mariposa 60), additionally had body stays created from carbon-fiber arrow shafts. Gossamer Gear has since switched to an aluminum keep.
Rooster Tramper provides a crosspiece alongside the highest, making a U-shaped keep that creates good stiffness within the body and holds the principle compartment open, making it simpler to pack. The underside of the vertical stays terminate on the perimeters of the hipbelt, which is sewn onto the pack and never hooked up with Velcro, like so many different ultralight backpacks. I’ve at all times discovered that you just get a greater load-to-hip switch if a pack has a sewn-on hipbelt like this as a result of there’s much less buckling of the hip belt wings and lumbar space when loaded.
The U-shaped body nonetheless has numerous torsional flex because it doesn’t have a crosspiece on the underside, though it’s dampened significantly while you pack the principle compartment full of substances. The general impact is a reasonably vigorous pack that maintains its form properly with totally different masses, doesn’t collapse, and tracks the hips properly. There may be nonetheless a modest quantity of barrelling when the pack is packed full, however you may make it much less noticeable with a little bit gear shifting.
Sit Pad
The CTUG-50 additionally has a sit-pad pocket behind the shoulder straps on the pack’s entrance. Rooster Tramper ships the pack with an egg carton pad, truly two cut-down panels of a Therm-a-rest ZLite foam pad (1.4 oz). The included sit pad is considerably shorter than a daily Zlite pad, and a daily ZLite won’t match vertically within the pack’s pad pocket.
The sit pad is simply used as padding and doesn’t present any structural profit, however it’s very simple to take away and substitute, so you should use it as a sit pad to maintain your bum dry or the chiggers off you while you wish to sit down and take a break. In the event you’ve by no means used a backpack with a detachable sit-pad earlier than you’ll shortly uncover one million makes use of for it, comparable to a hammock porch or tent vestibule ground.
Shoulder Straps
The CTUG-50 has 3″ huge shoulder straps with daisy chains sewn on the skin, making it simple to hold accent pockets. They’re evenly padded inside with wicking mesh and made in a female-friendly S-shape. The tops of the shoulder straps will not be sewn to the pack bag however hooked up with webbing so that they rotate extra freely, offering extra consolation for folks with “curvier” chests. Zpacks makes use of the same development approach of their backpacks, and it adapts properly to totally different shoulder geometries.
The CTUG-50 additionally comes with load lifter straps anchored to the pack bag simply in entrance of the body. A steel buckle positioned on the prime of the strap permits for adjustment of the strap’s angle, a premium function often discovered solely on higher-end packs.
Hipbelt
The hipbelt doesn’t include pockets and is roofed with two strains of daisy chain webbing so you possibly can connect accent pockets or a fanny pack to them. The hipbelt closes with a central buckle and pull ahead straps, with a separate strap adjustment on the highest webbing strap so you possibly can tighten the highest of the hip belt tighter than the underside. Ladies are prone to discover this extra helpful than males, who are likely to have squarish hips.
Sadly, the hipbelt persistently slipped down my hips when worn. The final model of this pack that I reviewed 4 years in the past did the very same factor: it slips as a result of there’s too little lumbar padding in the back of the hipbelt to forestall it. I can’t be the one particular person experiencing this, so I hope CTUG considers including an choice when ordering the pack to make the rear of the hipbelt thicker.
Fanny Pack Entrance Pocket
Rooster Tramper has a nifty function not discovered on related multi-day backpacks: the power to connect a Rooster Tramper fanny pack to daisy chains on the hipbelt. The fanny pack clips to the hipbelt webbing with small clips and hangs excessive sufficient that it doesn’t hit your unmentionables or intervene with tightening the hipbelt. That is significantly better than carrying a separate fanny pack as a result of there’s one much less webbing strap round your waist. The fanny pack additionally stays hooked up to the pack while you unbuckle one aspect and could be very simple to reattach while you’re able to roll.
Exterior Attachment System and Compression
The CTUG-50 has aspect compression straps made with linelocks and elastic twine routed in a determine 8 sample. You’re not compelled to make use of them on this configuration, nevertheless, and you may reroute the cords in no matter sample you need or take away them solely.
Along with the highest Y-strap talked about above, the pack comes with a pair of cord-based sleep bag attachment straps positioned beneath the entrance pocket and a rudimentary ice ax loop. These are detachable in the event you don’t wish to use them.
Comparable Ultralight Framed Backpacks
Suggestion
The Rooster Tramper Ultralight Backpack 50-Liter is a {custom} backpack that’s enjoyable to hold, sturdy, and well-made. It’s arrange like a typical ultralight backpack (a rolltop and three open pockets), which is straightforward to get used to in the event you’ve by no means had a pack with such giant open pockets earlier than. Whereas I did encounter a difficulty with hipbelt slippage, including an choice to extend the thickness of the rear of the hipbelt looks as if it’d be a straightforward modification to request while you order a {custom} backpack.
The CT-50, priced at $400, is comparable in value to the ULA’s XPac backpacks and on par with equally sized ultralight backpacks made with Dyneema DCF and Extremely from different producers. Whereas XPAC is considerably much less sturdy than these different supplies (however far more sturdy than Robic Nylon), a part of what you’re paying for with Rooster Tramper is the power to have a backpack in {custom} colours. That issues to many individuals.
Disclosure: CTUG donated a pack for evaluation.
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