Aarn Packs

I have an Aarn effortless rhythm pack with the standard camera pockets on front. I am always overweight on cameras and this makes a vast difference to the carrying of them plus the accessibility. The pack itself alleviates many pressure points that other packs have and has made a significant difference to my travels. If there is a negative it's the number of straps and bits that need to twiddled and tweaked to ensure a perfect fit. Worth the time and effort tho for the comfort the pack provides.

Bait taken. I'll be the Aarn pack fanatic around here. I purchased more or less one of the very first Featherlite Freedoms he made back in 2001. Before then I had given tramping away because it just aggravated an old neck injury too much. I ran into Aarn Tate in a mates shop and walked out with a brand new pack 10 minutes later. It worked. The neck pain was hugely reduced - from being intolerable within 30mins or so I could now do 6-8 hrs or so with only mild discomfort. Since then I've purchased a couple of others, one I've given to a mate and another for my partner. Basically all the positive things you have read are true. In particular I find the more upright stance allows for a more natural and efficient gait. My estimate is about 10-15% more efficient - although that's a very subjective measure. The front pockets are only the most obvious difference; there are lots of other more subtle design things going on that are just as important. It really pays to watch the videos where Aarn goes into detail on how to best adjust everything to exactly fit your body. The only real negative I've ever encountered is that if you are grovelling around steep rocks the front packs will get in the way a bit. Usually un-clipping them so as they can swing outwards solves the problem. But otherwise they present no issues at all - even when doing the leatherwood wrestling match. Also it will take a bit of time to get used to the extra couple of clips you have to do up, and handling a loaded pack in and out of transport with the front pockets on is a bit more clunky. They aren't for everybody. If you're still young, strong and just want a no-fuss, no-muss pack that you can biff over bluffs then you don't need an Aarn. But for the rest of us - once you've experienced the magic at work - you'll never go back to anything else. Really.

Im not much a fan of tweaking things, but I assume most of it would only need majorly fiddling with once, and that is to be expected. Front packs getting in the way wouldnt I imagine be a huge thing for me. Im sure they would on occasion, but that would probably be offset by actually having access to some gear while on the move! Realised when kayaking earlier in the year with a huge mesh pocket on my lifejacket just how much nicer being able to grab some small items of gear on the run was! "They aren't for everybody. If you're still young, strong and just want a no-fuss, no-muss pack that you can biff over bluffs then you don't need an Aarn. But for the rest of us - once you've experienced the magic at work - you'll never go back to anything else. Really." Heh, Im still young and dumb, but looking to shed some packweight and the aarns are far lighter than my current pack, whilst having a degree of modularity with the pockets, and allowing easy access to gear whilst on the move. So that aspect of them intrigued me. I had actually knocked up a few concept sketches of what my ideal pack would be, and basically its a lightweight, modular version of a heavier military ruck, mainly for the compartmentalisation of gear, and accessibility reasons. The aarn isnt quite as modular as that, but it sure as hell seems well thought out! I dont particularly need to be able to lob my pack around, so it just needs to be tough enough to deal with bush lawyer etc (The usual friendly bush plants). That said, I wouldnt say that I would baby any pack I got particularly, so it would need to have some measure of strength and toughness. The extra 12 or so litres from the expedition pockets or whatever would allow for the gear space for doing the longer trips I plan to start doing in the next few years, whilst being able to remove them (If I wanted to) for shorter trips. Very interesting concept. Seems like it would be hard to get an idea of by just trying one instore though? I might have to see if any of the lads I know that tramp have one or know someone with one to give one a go on a short outing or something. How many odd looks do you get when people see you wearing em? They dont seem terribly common over here. Cheers for the info.

Another aspect I like is being able to remove the front pockets and use as a day pack, in my case a day wandering taking photos, no need to take pack as well.

Aarn Tate is based in Christchurch. He's a long time keen kiwi tramper. I don't recall breaking anything on any of his packs, and I'd be pretty confident the standard packs would cope with bush lawyer. They are a light-ish build, but still well able to cope with the conditions most people encounter. They certainly aren't stupid light. That said I notice that very recently he's offering a Cuben fibre version of a selected range as 'order only', that would keep the UL crowd happy. As for odd looks? Nah - most people just ask if I like them or not.

I was presuming that it wasnt stupid light built judging by the weights being comparable to other packs that I know arent, But I had read a tiny bit of criticism that the fabrics were weak. That was in the minority though. Just wanted to check. Noticed that they have a solid sounding tester program but it seems thats only if you dont live near a stockist. Unfortunately I live nearish to one, and thus am not really eligible, but I dont think trying a pack instore would give a real idea of it vs lobbing in a typical 2 day load and going for an overnight. Ah well. Im sure if I end up getting one, and it might be a possibility considering they are well rated even without the balance pockets, then I would end up with mockery from my usual tramping group. At least, until they realised that I could access water and snacks on the move (Major point of interest with the design I will be honest).

I quite often realise after a while that someone's wearing an Aarn Pack i.e. in other words I don't always notice it straightaway. There's a classic photo of Doug Forster (the Freshmap developer) standing with Aarn, wearing his old orthodox pack, leaning forward. Well, he may have taken that photo to heart because he switched to the Aarn pack not long after that photo was taken! I too have met several people who would have given up tramping if it weren't for the Aarn packs.

Is the photo of doug and aarn the one one the aarn packs website?

The very same! Aarn has a big smile with his tiny pack snuggled against his back and poor old Doug is having to lean on his stick!