Recent Posts

The biggest of the "M" series snow packs.

Mine is "Pelican" blue.

The M30 is another one of the rolltop snowsports packs.

I've got two of these: a gray and a chili red color.

The "M" series for Arc'Teryx were roll-top ski/snowboard packs that have since been replaced by the "Silo" series.  I'm not sure who first came up with the roll-top pack design, but it's a pretty good design for keeping things dry.  It must be a spin off of the rolltop dry-bags as used in paddle sports.

The M series was pretty revolutionary at the time and was quickly assimilated into my collection.

Now the Arc'Teryx Khamski is a pack that has lasted the test of time apparently.  They still make a version of the Khamski even today.

It's obviously designed as a ski pack, but I'm not going to let that stop me from putting it to other uses.  It's quite thought out and well-made.  It was one of the first packs I ever saw that had good waterproofing on zippers, etc.

I got this one from Altrec.Com, out of Seattle I think.

The Khamsin 52 is of the same generation as the Khamsin 30 and 38 that I have -- the more lightweight true minimalist pack.

This here Khamsin 50 looks and feels more like a Bora than a Khamsin.  I think it was an earlier Khamsin that was made before the newer versions hit the street.

The one in this stock picture is the "Berry" color that is actually the color of my Bora 70, and my Bora 70 pic in the forum is actually the color of the Bora 50 that I have.  I suppose I need to get some of my own pictures of these packs, but it's been a lot of work just to get them entered into the forum!

I also got this one through the Backwoods IRL company in BC.

I haven't taken this one out on a trip yet, but someday...

The Khamsin 30's big brother, the Khamsin 38 actually has a decent mesh-type hip belt that will keep your hips from getting rubbed raw by a belt made from nylon webbing only.

It's got kind of a y-shaped suspension instead of a single stay like the Khamsin 30.

The Khamsin 30 is one of the Arc'Teryx ultralight/minimalist series of packs from the early 2000's.  I'm not sure when they stopped making the Khamsin series, but I don't think they lasted more than a couple years.

This is a good pack, as far as lightweights go, especially considering that it was one of the first on the scene

This pack has been on a hike up in the mountains between Bear Lake and Logan Utah.  It's a nice area -- you should go there sometime!

See Google Map

This pack worked pretty well, but I think I had it loaded up way past what it's designed to carry.  The little 30mm wide hip belt/strap doesn't have any padding (to save weight surely), and it's probably only meant to carry 10-15 pounds tops.  But I do like the fact that it's got an aluminum stay as well as a frame sheet.  So many ultralight packs are spineless these days!

The Bora 95! The biggest of the Arc'Teryx line I'm sure.  Their superfantastic action hero expedition pack.

Like the Bora 80, I never really felt the need to buy one of these b/c I had the Astralplane,  but the 95 was also on some insane sale and such a good deal that it was hard to pass up.

I need to do a shootout between the Bora 95 and the Astralplane someday.  Watch for it on the forum!

Ah the Arc'Teryx Bora 80.  Approaching the top of the size line at 80 liters, just a bit smaller than the behemoth Bora 95.

Since I had the big ol' Astralplane, I never really felt the need to buy a big Bora pack, but the 80 came on sale somewhere at an insane price and of course I could not resist!

I think the Bora 80 actually has water bottle pockets big enough to hold a 1 liter Nalgene!

Is there a name for this condition?  Backpackcollectorosis or something?