Mountain Hardwear

AMG 75L Backpack

Great Winter Pack!

Amazing winter backpack!! I would love to see some extra pouches somewhere (shoulder/hip strap), but I bought some that Velcro onto the straps (Osprey brand) and they fit perfectly!

AMG 75 backpack

I bought this backpack for a mountaineering trip to Mount Baker and Mount Rainier. On Baker I had a little over 51 pounds in it, and I managed to strip that down to about 42 pounds when I did rainier. This pack carried everything well, and for mountaineering I had an ice ax, crevasse rescue pick, and my LaSportiva cubes mounted on the outside for the approach to base camps; all of these items stayed securely in place with the available straps. For summit days I appreciated the removable brain, and enough interior pockets on the smaller outside compartment to hold the minor things that were convenient to have access to. The only thing I could fault this backpack for is the low horizontal strapping designed to hold onto foam sleeping pads: with my foam sleeping pad at the base of the backpack glicades were very difficult. Other than that it worked beautifully for me and was easy to adjust and readjust to keep comfortable for me.

Best pack since the Exodus system, hip belt needs work

This is quite possibly the closest thing to my beloved Exodus pack from the OG days of Mountain Hardwear. It floats so well on the shoulders, doesn’t press against the mid-back for breathing (less sweat), and is a great color. HOWEVER, just like the Exodus, the hip pads are too small, and too hard. Just because this was made for wearing with a down parka doesn’t mean you should sacrifice the hip comfort for those of us who want this for summer hiking. The hip belt isn’t at the right angle causing the base to dig into the hip/flute and because the padding is too stiff it left bruising. I understand the need for having a stiff belt for support, but all you need to do is make a double-layer (or triple) foam with a softer layer that’s comfortable against the body. I know you can’t “copy” a style but take a note of the Gregory baltoro, generous padding, longer bio belt (as in your belt is made for a child’s hip, it nearly reaches around my waist at the “wings” of the padding. Mostly you need it to angle out at the base so that it’s not perpendicular to the ground. Our bodies aren’t flat, they are rounded, you need to design the angle around the buttocks and hip bones. I also like the front access of the Gregory. Like back in the day when you could unzip the front and see all your gear, WAY better for storing in the vestibule and still easily accessing what you need instead of digging your hand into a dark tube. The wider shoulder with better internal frame support to lift pressure off the shoulders is AMAZING, best thing since the Exodus’ physical Yoke that has saved my traps all these years. The hip belt is what prevented me from buying this, it’s really my only deterrent. But it’s a major factor for those of us without extra padding.

My best choice for my last mountaineering pack

What a great backpack. I’m 6’, 200 lbs and got the M/L. Very little adjustment necessary right out of the box. The material feels durable and all of the compression straps snug the load right up against my back. The pack is a bit heavier than some of the others I’ve tried but you can’t have durability without heavier material so I’m good with that. There are not a lot of creature comforts in this pack so fewer things to fail. Not a lot of zippered compartments so you will have to live without those features. Just a large durable compressible pack that will hopefully be my last. It will work for everything from local backpacking trips with my son and grandchildren where I carry more than my share of the gear to summits on Rainer, Shasta, etc. i test-fit all my winter gear and everything carries well. Thank you Mountain Hardware for manufacturing a great, simple, mountaineering pack.

A True Mountaineer's Pack

Love the fabrics of this pack, very durable for laying on rock, mud and snow. The exterior crampon pocket is huge and definitely withstands sharp items. Nice to have a place to stuff my muddy microspikes for the hike out, and i can just rinse the pocket out at home. Plenty of room for shovel, avy probe, saw, etc. in the zippered pouch behind the crampon pocket for quick access. Very thick comfy straps and waist belt to help in carrying 40-50 lbs regularly. The negatives? Sturdy fabrics means the starting weight is a bit high when completely empty. The side bottle/equipment holders are kind of awkward. They don't stretch (that's fine). They have a solid strap to cinch down with. They're at an angle presumably to make it easy to grab the bottle with pack on but i still can't grab it unless i take the pack off or ask someone else to grab it for me. The pockets are a weird triangle fold toward the bottom to presumably make it easier for them to cinch down on thinner items like hiking poles, snow pickets, etc. Wish the pocket had a nice bucket bottom to hold anything with ease without having to be cinched down for worry of it falling out. Could still have cinch strap to keep (smaller) items from falling out though. Lastly the internal frame has flexible, plastic "H" shape for pack to hang on. The frame feels like it's going to cut/wear through the pack fabric and pop through the top based on how sharp the frame feels inside, and when fully loaded the fabric tension hanging on the frame convinces me this will happen one day despite the nice ripstop nylon fabric. Wish they had reinforced the fabric in these spots with thicker fabric or made the frame not so thin that it becomes a fabric knife--maybe rubber covers over these ends could save it. Overall happy with the pack, rugged enough to be thrown around in the wilderness, can be loaded up with tons of winter gear and it carries it all comfortably.

Want to Rate it better but has flaws

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

m/l

Height:

6' 1"

Weight:

192

I bought this pack for the intention of doing some section hiking on the Appalachian Trail in the winter. I wanted a heavy duty pack with lots of room for gear and very sturdy to handle heavy loads and bad weather. I love the space and the overall design of the pack is solid. I was able to fit all my gear and 6 days worth of food pretty comfortably. The major problem was the hipbelt. I ordered a M/L because I needed the room for my shoulders but the hipbelt fit and design is atrocious. I could never keep it tight on my hips and most of the load kept landing on my shoulders. I am really disappointed a company of mountain hardware's capabilities seemingly just skipped through the most critical design piece of a backpack. There should be atleast 3 different hip belt sizes for people to choose from not 2 that really aren't that far apart size wise. Fix the hipbelt and this pack would be bombproof for the winter.

Great pack, can’t imagine using anything else for winter excisions!

I love this pack! I’ve taken it on two hikes in the ADKs of NY and am so glad I bought it. It keeps all my gear dry and organized and is extremely comfortable. The shoulder straps especially are so nice!

Nice pack with features

not the lightest mountaineering pack, but lots of features, the external pocket is very handy, the pack compresses down nicely with lighter summit days loads, but also able to carry the heavy loads for shuttling loads to establish camps, etc have not used the pack to carry skis, the tool loops are a little small for technical tools and don't fit that well and had to place the tools with the pick down and adze and hammer near the top

Great Pack

Good quality, well laid out, comfortable backpack.

SAR, 14ers, and Expeditions

I purchased this pack primarily for mountaineering expeditions but have been able to also use it for many other purposes due to how well it can cinch down with smaller loads. The material is beefy and the storage is well thought out and abundant. This is truly a Swiss Army knife of packs!