Vapor 45

 

Discontinued Fall 2006, A smaller pack made for alpine climbing or weekend backpacking. Sizes range from 45-48L of carrying capacity at around 3.5 pounds. Marmot has put a lot of thought into this pack with many small touches. The external zippers are water proof, the shoulder straps have places to run your hydration bladder through them, etc.

The Vapor 45 comes with 2 ice axe loops for safe transportation of your tools. The lid can be detached and used as a pillow when you're at camp, and the shoulder straps are nicely padded. All the loops have pockets to stuff them in when you're not using them so they don't get caught on foreign objects. Overall a very nice pack.

The only thing missing is a daisy chain or some other way to attach gear externally to the pack when you're packing out a lot of gear. The outer pockets are tilted towards the front which is a godsend when you're carrying nalgenes, but makes it near impossible to stuff pickets or wands in them on the side.