NG wrote:I did Rainier last year, and going at it again at the end of May this year, last time, I used my Osprey Aether 70, which was great and comfortable, however, this time around, I am trying to lighten my load a little, by selling some stuff on Ebay and upgrading to lighter stuff...I am thinking of getting a lighter pack, and going with the Cilo Gear 60 Worksac, any thoughts or other suggested packs I can look at that would be lighter then the Osprey Thanks

I have the cilogear but it has yet to fire a shot in anger. My wife has a new BD Quantum which is also bloody light.

From memory the Aether is pretty light to begin with. For climbing Rainier, you may be best served saving your money.

otherwise hmm, I think the new MH packs are fairly light and can be stripped down to basically nothing.

I agree, keep the Aether 70. I too have the pack and used it on the Kautz last year. I am buying the Aether 85 as my Denali pack next week. Solid packs at a reasonable weight IMHO. I converted from a Gregory that was a tad over 7#s! (Lassen) Scott

I dont think going from a 70l down to a 60L packs will make much difference.

I have a Osprey Mutant 38 (Large), its lightweight and simple but tough and has nice features. Its about 45L easy but its narrow which is great for climbing. The suspension works great even though its not fully rigid. I have loaded it completely and its very comfortable all day. Its basically an alpine climbing pack but its very versatile. I use it for a lot of activities.

The pack is light. If you want to go lighter then you need to go to packs that are basically frameless.

squishy wrote:No one ever talks about Gossamer Gear, I wonder why? I bet they are not very durable...

Sub 2lb packs...some down to 16oz's at 66L...

http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gos ... index.html

Dang, those things look goofy! I'm guessing they sacrifice durability with their lightness.

MEC has the Alpinelite 60, which weighs the same as the Cilogear WorkSack. It's quite a bit cheaper too.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442617749&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699867&bmUID=1268150599387