New Pack

Macpac Cascade- you wont go wrong

I agree I have a 90l one, great pack

I've heard via another forum that Macpac are reintroducing the Torre and Ravine back into their range for summer. If the new models are anything like the old models then they would be bombproof. Anything by Cactus Climbing is also bombproof and they are made in New Zealand.

All manufacturers claim their harness system is the best. I own a Aarns pack but it is in a size much larger then I need so have never used it. I have never heard any negatives with regards to the Aarns pack and harness so they could be onto something. Probably already said this in this thread, but I find Macpac Packs are on the heavy side so have not given them much consideration. In my experience the lighter weight packs survive all of the abuse I give to them so do not consider the extra robustness justifies the weight. Replacing them a few years earlier does not really bother me.

Everyone will have his or her own idea of what the perfect pack looks like. If nothing else it helps a lot to think through exactly what you are looking for in a pack, because (in spite of my own love affair with Aarn’s packs) there is no such thing as the one perfect pack for everyone. Here are some aspects to think about: 1.Weight. Manufacturers used to over-build their products in order to minimize the risk of warranty failures, and that kind of super-rugged pack appealed to a lot of people. But as I’ve gotten older the appeal of 20kg plus loads has vanished, and getting rid of a kg or so off the pack itself is one of the best starting points. Just in the last year or two some really interesting lighter packs have come onto the market and make old 2.5kg plus old faithful in the gear cupboard look a little dated. 2.Balance and comfort. The lightest pack on the other hand will have limits on how much load it can carry without compromise; a more sophisticated design and harness will distribute the load better, bringing your center of gravity closer to the center of the body, which in turn improves balance and reduces stress. 3.Ease of use. If you want a pack anyone can put on without thinking; can be readily rope hauled or tossed down small bluffs… then a standard design pack with a minimum of protruding bells and whistles is a consideration. On the other hand, a more sophisticated or complex design is going to be just fine in almost all other circumstances. Have a look at how easy you find opening and closing the lids; you’re going to finish up doing this hundreds of times, often with cold wet and tired fingers. 4.Water Resistance. Not so obvious in the shop. Most packs will start leaking after they’ve got a few years on them. Some packs have a replaceable liner. Think through how water-tightly the lid closes up so that you can pack float with confidence. 5.Length of trip. Fact is most tramps are weekenders. You really don’t need more than about 40-55L for that, whereas 7-10 days will need something closer to 80 L. One pack really doesn’t cover both, and you’ll likely finish up with two. 6.Season. Winter tramping = Bigger load. 7.Terrain. If you are going to be knocking off lots of km on tracks or road bashing then load-carrying comfort is really important. If you’re young and bouncy still, then it matters less. On the other hand the incredibly bad packs I hauled about 30 years ago gave me a permanent injury that has given me a lot of grief over the years. A high price to pay for ignoring obvious pain for so long. 8.Alpine terrain. If you’re carrying rope and climbing gear, that adds to the load as well as demanding the extra loops and attachments for tools and crampons. Otherwise I tend to try and avoid such complications. 9.Height over shoulder. If you’re into remote off track tramping, or tracks with windfall, then you really want to have a pack that can get your entire load below shoulder level, and preferably all inside the main bag. It makes a huge difference. 10.Durability. Pretty much all the leading brand names make reliable products. It’s a bit like cars nowadays, no one makes a bad one. If you pick an ultra-light you’d expect to need to be more careful with it, and perhaps it might only last a few years of hard use… but if you’re in that league you’ve thought that through already.

@nzbazza -- yes, here's a post from Campbell Junor (of Mouton Noir who own Macpac & Fairydown) claiming that the Ravine & Torre will be back mid to late this year. http://www.windy.gen.nz/index.php/archives/277/comment-page-1#comment-10467 I'm waiting to see how similar the new Ravine is to the old Ravine.

It'll be good to see the Torre back. Strange that they dropped it when the Torre was actually THE original MacPac.

And going by the numbers I've seen out in the wild, I would of thought it was their most popular model... but obviously not, because why would a company stop making a really popular product. I've got a Torre in the back of the garage for that once-a-year Christmas expedition, but use a ten year old Ravine for everything else, although for standard weekend trips it seems too large.

I'd guess it didn't look as impressive internationally, which is where Macpac seems to want to go. Going by what big international manufacturers make for people overseas, there doesn't seem to be much out there except multi-compartment packs with lots of zippers and flailing bits hanging off them. If there are simple packs, nobody imports them into New Zealand for some reason. (Not to say there aren't a few simple ones still made here, like what Cactus makes.) From my old 2007 catalogue, Macpac had about 10 different models of large packs when Mouton Noir bought them up. It was probably hard to keep that going profitably if they were trying to redesign the business. At least 6 large pack models were ditched straight away (Cascade, Glissade, Torre, Traverse, Nikau, Ravine and maybe Torlesse?), and I'd guess the three that survived were the ones they thought they could most easily target at specific markets, which were Esprit (women's), the Ascent (for climbing), and the Cascade (for all those other miscellaneous people). It looks like the Glissade and Torlesse are back already, so maybe they're just bringing models back slowly as they figure out how to fit each one into their whole strategy. I'm kind'a surprised they're not bringing back a simple Fairydown pack instead. These days they seem to be using Fairydown as their cut down cheaper-than-and-not-as-cool-as-Macpac brand.

Well the deal on the Cascade has disappeared from their site so I guess that deal is off. Perhaps there might be a good deal on the Torre when it is released again. Otherwise I guess I will have to get into the various stores to try some on and eyeball them. Some good feedback here and I am taking it all on board. Gee size wise my old Hallmark Kodiak was 88 litres and my Fairydown Bushwalker just about filled up half of it! Was a good pack except the padding on the harness was a bit hard. Loaned it to someone and it never came back, for the life of me I can't remember who though:( Bushwalker is still performing though.Lol.