Outdoor Research DryComp Summit Sack

I was carrying a summit bag inside my big pack for the hike up to base camps. I also had my down sleeping bag stuffed inside a stuff sack line with a garbage bag. When I saw this product, I thought I had found a way to reduce the stuff sack/garbage bag and summit pack into one bag. In short, it worked with the added benefit of now having a waterproof summit bag. However, as a compression sack, it compresses a bit wide from what I'm used to. As a backpack, it's frameless design makes it important to pack it well and keep it light. The mesh pockets are nice to have for a water bottle and GPS. The shoulder straps are narrow! I put about ten pounds of gear in the bag for a test hike and found it started to dig into my shoulders after about an hour. The narrow waist belt helped alleviate that a bit but don't expect pack performance out of this bag. I'm going to experiment with a closed foam rectangle in the bag to help the load feel better. Had I seen it earlier, the REI Jet UL Pack may have been a better match for what I was looking for. Although not a waterproof compression sack, it can swallow bulking insulating layers and probably carries better - at least it did in the store. All said, this bag is worth the money if for nothing else than the flexibility it offers.

I bought primarily to have as a summit sack, hoping it could replace my compression sack and perhaps also do well as a daypack. Two out of three ain't bad and I would add that it seems substantial enough for a summer overnighter bag. The cons are that its really too big to be effective as a compression sack except for shrinking large bulky sleeping bags to put in large expedition packs and even then its really only capable of minor compression due to the way the straps are setup. Would also be nice if it had a bladder sleeve. As others have said, it really could use a chest strap, but I found this to be a relatively easy fix with a Velcro strap. The good is that the material is pretty substantial (not sil) and it seems to sit pretty well on my back whether its a small or large load. The shoulder pads are more substantial than I expected and the side pockets are plenty large - enough for a 32oz Nalgene to sit down in it well. The side pockets are what sold me as most day/summit packs are either pocketless or would not roll up to pack in a larger pack as this one does. Its a bummer having to make room in my pack for it as that is not what I had planned, but it seems to be my best choice given function and value.

This pack has great potential for ultralight adventures. Bought mine for rafting but am using it as a backcountry ski pack too. Still happy with it even though I have a hole and blew a seam almost instantly.