ALPS Mountaineering Synergy Backpack

I recently had the opportunity to use this backpack for its intended purpose. I put it to a pretty good test on desert sandy soils as well as slickrock hiking and some moderate free-climbing on the desert trails in Arches National park and other hikes around Moab, UT.

In the test it saw 4-8 hour hikes. Pack weight was over 30+ lbs and the hikes started at 4500-5000 feet elevation. Some of these hikes had some pretty good exposure to elevation on "slickrock" ledges and fins, some of which were only about 6-10 ft wide and with a 40 ft drop on one side and 400-500 foot drop on the other!

I like the style, even though it was selected for more practical reasons. The photos on this website, as of this writing, are a pretty good representation of this pack's looks, so I'll let you be your own judge as to that.

I loaded this pack up with medical supplies, including but not limited to medications, splints, wraps, bandages, etc. I also had all of my standard survival gear including survival knife, firestarting gear, compass/navigation gear, and emergency "caught out" gear. The only camping/survival gear I did not include was my multi-fuel stove, which was left out for space considerations. Had I not been taking all of my medical gear (I was in Moab for a wilderness medicine conference.) I would have easily had room to include the stove. I also had all of my camera gear, including a sizeable tripod which got attached to the exterior of the pack using the external adjustable straps. Finally, I included 2 full military MRE's and 2 liters of water in 500ml bottles, plus another 1qt in a military canteen attached to the waist strap via "Alice" clips.

Miscellaneous items that also made the trip included a windproof jacket and a fleece jacket. (The desert can have a wide range of temperatures in October!)

The pack stored and organized all of these items nicely. Access was convenient--especially once you memorize where you put everything. Especially appreciated were the double side compression straps on the sides and gear straps on the bottom of the pack. These allowed me to put the tripod either horizontally underneath the pack OR vertically on either side of the pack. The tripod was held securely throughout hiking in all 3 positions. Internally stored gear was held securely in place by the double side compression straps whether or not they were also holding the tripod.

I did not carry a sleeping bag or tent, so I am unable to comment on their wear/use with this pack.

I had primarily picked this pack because the suspension system promised comfortably distributing the load throughout the back. The product blurb promises all day comfort and delivered on all-day hikes in the desert with over 30lbs of gear. This pack was so comfortable that although my legs were conscious of carrying extra weight, the feel of the pack itself and its straps seemed to "disappear" after a few minutes of wear. For that alone, I loved this pack!

The waist strap functioned well. The shoulder, waist and sternum straps all adjusted easily and well, and securely kept their desired positions without any further adjustment during the entire week of on-and-off hiking I put it through.

Zippers seemed solid with durable, easy pulls. The zippers never bound with the material of the pack, but did bind a few times with cloth of the fleece jacket carried in the pack's interior. This was a very minor problem at worst.

This is a versatile, comfortable and very ergonomic pack. Although the low price made me wonder when I ordered whether it's construction would be with flimsy material or slipshod design. Happily that worry was nowhere NEAR the truth! Materials and design were quite solid. All in all, who knows? There may be better backpacks out there, but I have no hesitation in recommending this pack to anyone, especially since it's price compares extremely favorably with the vast majority of serious hiking backpacks.

I'd buy this pack again with no hesitation.

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