She decided to downsize to the Gorilla after we got home, so I have some comparison photos of an almost brand new but size small Gorilla. As a bonus, Rachel purchased a Gossamer Gear Mariposa at the end of our AZT hike and used it for the CDT and GET. To call this a long term review would be an understatement. Most recently, the Gorilla has served as my winter day pack for snowshoeing in Colorado. I used this pack both on trail and off-trail to bushwack on the Grand Enchantment and for many cross country alternates on the CDT. My longest food carry was 7 days and the most water I carried was about 5 liters. I typically carried a base weight of about 12 to 14 pounds with some variation along the way. Round it all up slightly and I have about 3,000 miles in 7 states over 7 months on this pack. I used the pack for the remaining 100 miles of the Arizona Trail (AZT), 75 miles of backpacking in Zion and Buckskin Gulch, over 2,200 miles of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and about 500 miles on the Grand Enchantment Trail (GET). I purchased my size large Gorilla nearing the end of Rachel and I’s through-hike of the Arizona Trail to replace a larger volume frameless pack that was giving me shoulder pain. The Gorilla is available in 3 torso sizes and a pack + hip belt goes for $245. Note that the extra-small hip belt does not include pockets. It is attached to the pack with a large swatch of Velcro and sandwiched between the pack and the included sit pad (or your own sleeping pad). The pack hip belt (available in 5 sizes) is purchased separately and has one large zippered pocket on either side, sized for 3 cliff bars or a large point and shoot camera. The bottom of the pack and side pockets are made of a heavier duty version of the Robic fabric to resist abrasion. The pack also features an ice axe loop, side compression straps, and trekking pole holders. The pad is the only back padding of the pack to save weight. There is a small zippered pocket on the non-removable lid which can fit maps or other small items, a single large mesh pocket on the front of the pack, and a pair of mesh pockets to hold the included sit pad or other compatible foam pad on the back on the pack. It features two large side pockets that each easily fit a 1 liter Gatorade or Nalgene bottle. The Gossamer Gear Gorilla is a typical ultralight style backpack with one large main pocket, but it uses an integrated lid to close the pack. As a result, the listed weight increased slightly to 26 ounces for the size medium pack. Trekking pole holders were also added along with heavier stitching for prolonged pack life. The hip belt was also redesigned to have more padding with a mesh inner face to wick sweat. The shoulder straps are now unisex, more contoured, thicker,and slightly narrower than the previous version. The newest version was released in early 2015 using gray Robic fabric instead of the white Dyneema Grid fabric as seen on older packs. Gossamer Gear has been refining their ultralight oriented backpacks since 1998, including multiple iterations of the Gorilla – their medium volume framed pack.
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