GRANITE GEAR CROWN VC 60 UNBOXING : FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As I wished to become a very-light backpacker (still not ultra or mega light) I chose to go for the Granite Gear Crown VC 60 after having considered the Osprey Exos 46 and about a hundred other packs ! I received yesterday my parcel from ArklightDesign.

So, here ar my very first impressions when unboxing this pack.

This pack is light !

The colors are nice and discrete.

The overall construction seems good (for 200 $ you can expect a good quality !).

It doesn't look like being a 60L pack ! I really don't know what is the real capacity of this pack compare to my 40-10 liters Deuter ACT :

I guess the 60 liters are obtained by using nearly all the collar extension of the pack making it very versatile. 

The mesh pockets are very nice, it's not a traditional net mesh pocket but a much more dense fabric which seems durable. The green fabric seems very durable too. The coyote brown fabric is told to be waterproof and even if it seems lighter it's made of very good quality material. the seams do not seem to be sealed but it's may be enough to deal with rain and gives you the opportunity to let your backpack cover at home.

The shoulder straps are nicely constructed with real padding  as well as the hip-belt system. For hardcore light packers you can save weight but removing the internal frame (160 grams) and the hip-belt as well (don't know the weight but I would say 100 grams at least). Concerning this last point, small buckles will remain attached to each side of the pack so it should be possible to create a very light hip-strap system.

The shoulder pockets seem to be too high on the shoulders to be really effective, you can't store a smartphone in these pockets may be a small cell phone but no GPS, I tried to put my Lumix FT20 but it's tight and I'm afraid that it's placed on the round part of the shoulder and could damage my device. May be to store a small compass or cereal bars.

The front mesh pocket is huge and goes underneath the green fabric on each side and all the way down to the bottom of the pack, offering a nice storage space. The side mesh pockets are huge too and can welcome your cook kit, trekking poles, water, emergency kit...they can be secured by making the draw cord run over it or you can choose to make it run underneath the mesh pocket.

The VC backpanel is nice and seems supportive because it's made out of a very dense foam, not a soft foam like a sleeping mattress but closer to beach shoes.