My birthday present arrived at Northern Lights Trading Co. in Bozeman two days ago. Rob decided to get me a bigger pack that I can take climbing (ice and rock) because I have been carrying around a rather small Gregory pack that justbarely fits my gear. I'm lucky if I can take everything I need, let alone help carry the shared gear like ropes, quick draws, ice screws, etc. Not that I much mind if I don't have to carry a heavy rope, but it's nice to haul your own weight.
I've been quite jealous of Rob's CiloGear pack ever since he got it. It's just all around a great pack. The features are awesome, it's tough, it's adjustable and customizable in about a million ways, it's light, it's got a removable bivy, it's made in the U.S., etc. etc. etc. So, because the packs come with in a short torso size and with a women's specific hip belt, we ordered one. This one, to be exact.
Except it didn't fit. At all. Despite being right in the middle of the "short" torso measurement range, placing any weight in the pack torqued the hip belt and cause the pack to sit so low on my body that it painfully rubbed my tail bone to the point that I was going to cry if anyone told me to try it on one more time. And all I was doing was standing still with 35 pounds in it. Hike with it? Forget it, I wouldn't make it a mile. Adjusting the location of the hip belt did not help, nor did any adjustment of the shoulder straps. The shoulder straps pulled and rubbed painfully on my collar bone for most of the night (and we were there adjusting and readjusting, loading and reloading for over an hour and a half). The only time I felt relief from the shoulder pain was when we moved the hip belt up to the very top of my hipbones. And then the hip belt cut into my hips and my ribs to the point where moving or breathing caused sharp pain. And the "women's specific hip belt"? Not accurate at all. There was barely a difference between the standard hip belt and the so-called women's hip belt. It is not at all altered to fit a woman's hip shape, which makes it rather uncomfortable.
Sometimes what you want to be the right gear just isn't the right gear. It's not really that I don't fit, it's really more that companies are still primarily marketing scaled down men's gear and telling women that it is unisex. It's not. Or maybe the issue is that there are not enough women climbers to make a profit designing a technical women's pack for alpine climbing. I can't begrudge a company that, I know if I were in business I wouldn't want to lose money on a product either. It's just very disappointing when you see such an amazing product, but it's only designed for men.
Or maybe I just need to grow taller or make a lot more money to be able to afford a custom made pack. Until that happens, or until a company designs a good women's technical pack (this one is on my radar right now), Rob is just going to have to shoulder the burden for both of us.
And CiloGear, if you ever decide to design women's packs, let me know. I'll be the first in line.
I've been quite jealous of Rob's CiloGear pack ever since he got it. It's just all around a great pack. The features are awesome, it's tough, it's adjustable and customizable in about a million ways, it's light, it's got a removable bivy, it's made in the U.S., etc. etc. etc. So, because the packs come with in a short torso size and with a women's specific hip belt, we ordered one. This one, to be exact.
Except it didn't fit. At all. Despite being right in the middle of the "short" torso measurement range, placing any weight in the pack torqued the hip belt and cause the pack to sit so low on my body that it painfully rubbed my tail bone to the point that I was going to cry if anyone told me to try it on one more time. And all I was doing was standing still with 35 pounds in it. Hike with it? Forget it, I wouldn't make it a mile. Adjusting the location of the hip belt did not help, nor did any adjustment of the shoulder straps. The shoulder straps pulled and rubbed painfully on my collar bone for most of the night (and we were there adjusting and readjusting, loading and reloading for over an hour and a half). The only time I felt relief from the shoulder pain was when we moved the hip belt up to the very top of my hipbones. And then the hip belt cut into my hips and my ribs to the point where moving or breathing caused sharp pain. And the "women's specific hip belt"? Not accurate at all. There was barely a difference between the standard hip belt and the so-called women's hip belt. It is not at all altered to fit a woman's hip shape, which makes it rather uncomfortable.
Sometimes what you want to be the right gear just isn't the right gear. It's not really that I don't fit, it's really more that companies are still primarily marketing scaled down men's gear and telling women that it is unisex. It's not. Or maybe the issue is that there are not enough women climbers to make a profit designing a technical women's pack for alpine climbing. I can't begrudge a company that, I know if I were in business I wouldn't want to lose money on a product either. It's just very disappointing when you see such an amazing product, but it's only designed for men.
Or maybe I just need to grow taller or make a lot more money to be able to afford a custom made pack. Until that happens, or until a company designs a good women's technical pack (this one is on my radar right now), Rob is just going to have to shoulder the burden for both of us.
And CiloGear, if you ever decide to design women's packs, let me know. I'll be the first in line.
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