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Gregory Drift Backpack - 1300cu in

Gregory Drift Backpack - 1300cu in description

Whether you ride the chairlifts or skin up a snowy ridge in the backcountry for your turns, the Gregory Drift Backpack holds everything you could want for a day of skiing. This backpack is a scaled-down version of Gregory's Targheethe Drift carries 35 pounds comfortably and holds your avalanche shovel, but it has a narrow profile to accommodate a chairlift seat. If you hike for your turns, load your skis onto the Drift vertically or diagonally. This hydration-compatible pack features an insulation sleeve so your water doesn't freeze. Gregory built the Drift with Exo Frame technology, which means that the back panel flexes and twists with you as you ski yet supports your pack's load with ease.

Bottom Line: Ski in or out of bounds with your essentials loaded into your Gregory Drift Ski Pack.

As small as this sack is, it still fits a lot of gear. I purchased this pack for one main purpose, to carry a large DLSR camera (Canon 20D without battery grip and two good sized lenses) when skiing. That said, I also sewed on two extra plastic loops onto the shoulder straps to create a mobile camera support structure. I jammed an extra fleece and spare pair of gloves into the bottom of the main compartment with the spare lens. Put a padded my camera in Domke insert and put that on top. A small 45ounce water bladder went into the hydration pouch. In the front pocket, an assortment of gear and lunch, including a walkie and beacon. All this with enough room to spare for a shovel or additional gear.Performance: Compression straps worked well and stabilized the whole load. The ski carrier worked flawlessly on our off-piste and short backcountry hikes. With the exception of the extra weight, I never really noticed it when in motion. Even took a couple nasty cartwheeling falls down steep pitches landing directly on the pack ... no damage to my camera whatsoever (thanks to the insert). Great fit (I'm 5' 11", 150). The hydration bladder worked superbly.Cons: The only improvement would be a full zipper on the main compartment. Even though they thought to include half-zips on the bottom part of the bag to access items in the bottom of the pack, it is still a little hard to reach those items.Conclusion: Excellent pack for day use at a resort and shorter off-piste or backcountry hikes.

The perfect ruck sack for those days where you do not need to carry a lot (Ex - cruising in and out of the slopes in Kicking Horse). Fits the your most important gear, some food and water. Fit me perfect (1.81 tall and 75 kg (Slim))