As small as this sack is, it still fits a lot of gear. I purchased this pack for one main purpose, to carry a large DLSR camera (Canon 20D without battery grip and two good sized lenses) when skiing. That said, I also sewed on two extra plastic loops onto the shoulder straps to create a mobile camera support structure. I jammed an extra fleece and spare pair of gloves into the bottom of the main compartment with the spare lens. Put a padded my camera in Domke insert and put that on top. A small 45ounce water bladder went into the hydration pouch. In the front pocket, an assortment of gear and lunch, including a walkie and beacon. All this with enough room to spare for a shovel or additional gear.

Performance: Compression straps worked well and stabilized the whole load. The ski carrier worked flawlessly on our off-piste and short backcountry hikes. With the exception of the extra weight, I never really noticed it when in motion. Even took a couple nasty cartwheeling falls down steep pitches landing directly on the pack ... no damage to my camera whatsoever (thanks to the insert). Great fit (I'm 5' 11", 150). The hydration bladder worked superbly.

Cons: The only improvement would be a full zipper on the main compartment. Even though they thought to include half-zips on the bottom part of the bag to access items in the bottom of the pack, it is still a little hard to reach those items.

Conclusion: Excellent pack for day use at a resort and shorter off-piste or backcountry hikes.

I carry around a mellon that is really tough to fit into helmets. The fit adjustment feature on the Variant solved my problems. Very comfortable, good venting (although I did experience some fogging on occasion), and it proved to be toasty warm during ridiculously cold 60mph winds at the top of the world on a recent trip to Chile ... which is especially important because the storm hood on my over-priced shell won't fit over the helmet.