Gossamer Gear Mariposa Backpack
--------------------------------------------------------------
Review by Lawton "Disco" Grinter
February 6, 2007
Introduction
In 1999 I hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine with a Mountainsmith
Mountainlight 4000. This was the 1st internal frame backpack I had ever owned and also
the lightest pack I had owned to date at a scant 3 1/4 pounds :) I hated this pack for 2 main
reasons: 1) I could never get the internal metal stays to adjust correctly to my body and
2) the shoulder straps were very narrow and had thin padding that got thinner as the hike
progressed. In 2004 I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada with a frameless
Granite Gear Virga. I liked this pack much much more than the Mountainsmith pack, but I
found that the shoulder strap padding flattened out significantly during the 5 months I was on
the PCT and by the last month I was experiencing frequent shoulder pain. In 2006 I set out from
the Canadian Border on a southbound CDT hike with the Gossamer Gear Mariposa. The 1st
thing I would like to say is that this was the BEST backpack I have ever used in my 9,000 miles
of long-distance hiking to date. I had no problems with shoulder pain due to packweight and/or
inadequate shoulder padding because the Mariposa incorporates a wider than average shoulder
strap and the padding is replaceable! The Mariposa was engineered with the long-distance hiker
in mind for sure.
My Mariposa Pack Specs
Purchase Date: April 10, 2006
Size: M/L
Weight: 18.2 oz (516 g) (fully loaded - see next)
Extras: I always used the included shoulder strap padding, hip belt padding, sternum strap & Carbon stays.
Personal Specs
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 2"
(188 cm)
Weight: 170 - 190 lbs (77 - 86 kg)
Torso Length: 20.5 (52 cm)
Waist: 31 - 33 in (79 - 84 cm)
E-mail: lawtong@hotmail.com
City & State: Crested Butte, Colorado
Testing Conditions
2,500-Mile Continental Divide Trail (4,023 km)
Hike Start: June 15, 2006
Hike End: November 6, 2006
Total Duration: 145 Consecutive Days
Location: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico
Adverse Conditions Experienced: Rain, Sleet, Snow, Wind, Sand, High Alpine to Desert, Barbed-Wire Fences, Barking Dogs, you name it!
What's Good
Wide Shoulder Straps
Wide Hip Belt
Replaceable Padding for Shoulder Straps & Hipbelt
4 External Mesh Pockets
Pack Incorporates Sleeping Pad into Frame
Carbon Stays Weigh Nothing but Provide Great Support
Lightweight
What's Not Good
Stitching had to be reinforced numerous times on my CDT hike
Hip Belt fabric and stitching tore during last month
Small pocket on upper right side hard to get into when pack is full
NightLight Torso Pad flattened out significantly within 500 miles (805 km) when used as backpack support
Performance
As I mentioned before, this pack was the single best pack I have ever used on a long hike to date in terms of simplicity, weight, functionality, and most importantly . . . Comfort! What a great pack! I couldn't have picked a better pack to hike the 2,500-mile CDT with.
Going into the hike I was a bit skeptical about how the SilNylon fabric would hold up on the CDT. I never had a single tear to the fabric on the entire trip.
I used a Granite Gear Virga on my PCT thru-hike in 2004 and although I liked a lot of things about that pack, I was disappointed but not entirely surprised that the shoulder strap padding had severely flattened out by the time I finished my hike at the Canadian Border. Being able to replace the shoulder strap padding on the fly with the Mariposa was a key selling point for me and a practical design feature that more backpack companies should embrace. I replaced the shoulder padding 3 times total. I never replaced the hip belt padding as I found that I just didn't need to.
The side mesh water bottle pocket was great and very accessible without having to take the pack off. The angled rim of this side pocket is another design feature more companies should embrace.
All in all, I found that I could carry 3-4 days of food, 1 Liter of water, and my 13-pound baseweight comfortably with NO shoulder fatigue. And I realize that a 13-pound (5.9 kg) baseweight is probably a bit more than what this pack is intended for but it worked nonetheless. I really feel that the science behind using a wider shoulder strap to displace the weight of the pack on a wider surface area is SOLID and was evidenced so by my lack of shoulder fatigue throughout the entire hike.
GREAT BACKPACK and Great Design Features!
Left: On the CDT in The Winds Right: Bovine Views in Southern Montana on CDT
Recommendations for Improvement
Stitching. 95% of my problems with this pack on the CDT were with stitching. And I'll say right off the top that the stitching failures that I encountered may have been due to my 13-pound (5.9 kg) baseweight.
Here's a List of the Stitching Issues I Dealt With:
Around Mile 1,000 (1,609 km) when I got to Lander, WY, the x-box stitching that connects the webbing strap to the right shoulder strap completely "popped." Luckily I was in a town taking a Zero at the time and I completely re-stitched the entire x-box by hand with Dental Floss and that lasted the remaining 1,500 miles of the hike with no problems. (Figure A).
While in Lander I also reinforced the top of the left x-box stitching because it had started to come apart. (Figure A).
In addition, I reinforced the smaller x-box stitching where the webbing strap connects to the triangle of ripstop nylon that connects to the hip belt.
At Mile 1,700 (2,736 km) I reinforced the x-box stitching that connects the Y-strap webbing to the base of the pack near the ice-axe loop because it was coming apart and close to popping. (Figure B).
Around Mile 1,700 (2,736 km)the stitching that connects 2 separate pieces of SilNylon just above the rear pocket came apart. I repaired this with Dental Floss also with no more problems. (Figure C).
Around Mile 2,200 (3,540 km) the ripstop nylon on the hip belt at the point where the hip belt connects to the previously mentioned triangle of ripstop nylon started to fray, tear and the stitching started to come apart. I opted not to do any field repairs at this point since I was so close to the end. By the time I finished I could pull the hip belt padding out of the hole in the fabric and the lower 1/2 of the hip belt stitching has completely come apart so much so that the bottom 1.5 inch of the hip belt is no longer attached to the pack! (Figure D).
Also around Mile 2,200 (3,540 km), the stitching where the the top of the shoulder strap meets the backpack started to come apart. I chose not to reinforce it since I was so close to the end. (Figure E).
Figure A. I used Dental Floss to Reinforce the x-box stitching on the shoulder straps.
Figure B. I reinforced the x-box stitching of the Y-strap at the base.
Figure C. Dental Floss repair of the seam above the rear mesh pocket.
Figure D. Hip Belt - Fabric shredded and stitching came apart around Mile 2,200.
Figure E. Shoulder strap stitching (top) started to come apart around Mile 2,200.
Other Issues I Dealt With:
I used the carbon stays the entire hike. By Mile 1,000 (1,609 km) the top of the carbon stays were rubbing and pushing through the ripstop fabric just above their tips. I place a small square of duct tape at this point to hinder the pressure on the ripstop and that solved the problem for the most part. (Figure F).
I felt that the NightLight torso pads flattened out fairly quickly when used as part of the pack frame. I found that they started to flatten out after 200 miles (322 km) and got super thin by mile 700 (1,127 km). I went thru 3 and finally bought an old school blue closed cell foam pad to use for the remaining 500 miles of the hike.
Figure F. Fabric damage resulting from tips of Carbon Fiber stays and my duct tape solution.
Conclusions
The Gossamer Gear Mariposa is a solid ultralite backpack capable of handling anything from a short day hike to multi-week / multi-hundred mile trips. In terms of simplicity, weight, functionality, and most importantly . . . Comfort . . . this pack has it all. Ultimately, I would say that the stitching issues could be solved by using stronger thread, double stitching or a combination of both . . . and probably me having a lighter baseweight would help :) The bottom line is that I only had 2 other problems with the pack performance outside of stitching and one of these problems (torso pad flattening) isn't really a pack structural problem. Gossamer Gear's trademark replaceable shoulder strap & hip belt padding allow for added comfort when needed . . . and these are just a few of many pack features that place this pack at the top of the class. As I mentioned earlier, I couldn't have picked a better pack to hike the 2,500-mile CDT with.
UPDATE: My good friend and fellow Crested Butian Rigatoni took this Mariposa on the Pacific Crest Trail with him this April and put another 1,700 miles (2,736 km) on it before replacing it with a new Mariposa. All told, this pack endured 4,200 + miles (6,760 km) of trail use which is pretty incredible considering the lightweight materials it was made out of. I've looked it over and I honestly think its got a few more trail miles on it. Pretty amazing for a SilNylon pack.
Useful Links
Gossamer Gear's Website: http://www.gossamergear.com
Gossamer Gear Mariposa: http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/Mariposa-Standard.html
My Miniposa Review: http://www.filebox.vt.edu/users/lgrinter/Miniposa.htm
My Lightreks Review: http://www.filebox.vt.edu/users/lgrinter/Lightrek.htm
The Walkumentary DVD: http://walkumentary.blogspot.com
Montana-Style Rest Break - GoLite Umbrella for Shade & Mariposa for Pillow!