Good if used correctly

By Chris Ranked #1264 - Weekend Packs (3000-4500 cu in) March 5, 2009

I bought The North Face Ligero 50 Backpack (Black) for a winter camping trip which consisted of a 3-mile hike both in and out on snowshoes.

I liked the pack itself; it is made well, it is comfortable and it held up well. Best part about it was it came with the rain cover which proved to be handy when it started raining/sleeting/snowing on the hike in. Fully packed, (if not over packed) the rain cover fit almost over the entire pack very nicely. It just left my sleeping pad exposed at the bottom of the pack which was fine.

One grip with the pack itself was that what I received differed from the picture on here. For the black backpack, the picture on here shows the zippers to be GREY, but they are actually WHITE. This probably wouldn’t bother most people but I would rather have the grey because the white shows the dirt and grime more and faster.

My other problem (NOT A PROBLEM WITH THE PACK, JUST NOT WHAT I NEED IT FOR) was it was way over packed for a backpack of this size. I was probably pushing around 60lbs. I am returning it for the Crestone60 which should be large enough for what I need it for. For an overnight hike, or maybe even a weekend hike in the summer months it should prove to be very competent. Winter hiking just requires more space for all of the large and heavy apparel and what not.

The pack seemed to be made well. When overstuffed, I've never seen any seams looking as though they were being stressed too much or anything like that. The zippers are a little tough but that’s to be expected with something like this.

I agree the pocket structure is nice on this pack, however I would have liked a sleeping bag compartment and front access to the main pack better, which are not available on this pack. Also, when fully packed I had a hard time inserting and removing the water bottles from the holders on the sides. They are made to be somewhat tight to the pack so if packing light they should be fine, but again for what I did it seemed to be a hassle. I had to pack the bottles first in order to get them into the holders because the pack was so stuffed, and then getting them back in while on the trail proved to be a challenge.

If you’re into your pack looking cool as well as it performs, I’d say this pack stands out in that area.
I would recommend this pack to anyone who is looking for a pack of this size.
I would keep this and buy another larger pack if I had the money to do so.

View Details: The North Face Ligero 50 Backpack - 3050-3350cu in

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