In the 1990s prior to the courier bag taking over as an acceptable man purse you couldn’t go to a climbing gym, guide shop, trailhead, coffee shop, etc without 90% of the people carrying a Mountainsmith outdoor fanny pack. When I was guiding you’d show up for the planning meeting and a dozen different “lumbar packs” would be on the ground with Nalgene’s hanging out of them. And I have to say they are just as awesome now as they were then.
The pack has two side pockets that hold water bottles. I use one to hold my dog leashes on my morning walks once we get to the trailhead. The bungee cord on the outside will hold a coat on those cold mornings.
The smaller outside pocket holds a medium sized widgets such as a wallet, keys, snacks, gloves,etc.
The main compartment is huge for such a small seeming bag. In this picture there is a windbreaker, a fleece layer, extra camera lens, and a lens cloth. You can see the neoprene sleeve meant for keeping your tablet or other device safe. I use it to hold my Olympus OMD-EM5 camera.
The main compartment also has a zippered inside pocket for your smaller doodads.
The rear of the pack has a padded section and area to store the waist belt.
The shoulder strap is 1″ thick webbing with a pad. The pad does tend to move around a bit in use. But a small nit to pick.
The waist belt is thick and padded with side slash pockets. I tend to only use it on long bumpy descents but it is great when needed.
So once you admit you are wearing a man purse you should go buy this. It really is great and only has one or two flaws which are the adjustable pad moves around too much and the compression straps above the water bottle pockets tend to get in the way returning the bottle to the pocket. But small problems on an otherwise awesome pack.
Mountainsmith says: http://mountainsmith.com/index.php/lumbar-packs/tour-tls.html
- Features:
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- Removable shoulder strap
- Interior padded sleeve for iPad / iPod / Netbook carry
- Diamond airmesh foam with DWR anti-sweat finish
- Lumbar Control Point™ pad
- Tuck-away waistbelt
- Patented Delta Compression System load adjustment
- Low profile side bottle pockets (fit up to 22oz)
- Bottom compression straps
- Strapette compatible (sold separately)
- Inner Sanctum™ interior zippered compartment for small valuables