Columbia TreadLite 22L Pack Review

AN's Review of the Columbia TreadLite 22L Pack.
Specs can be found:
TreadLite 22 at Sierra Trading Post












  

Originally submitted at Sierra Trading Post

Excellent day/overnight pack!

By AN | AL on the Trail from PNW on 2/12/2013

5out of 5

Pros: Spacious, Light, Comfortable
Cons: Straps Are Way Too Long
Best Uses: Overnights, Dayhikes

This is a really awesome pack. I get swamp back really easily, and the trampoline back of this pack kept me nice and cool during a 4 mile up, 4 mile down, 3200' gain day hike. Plenty of organization in the pack. It has mesh organizers in the main compartment, as well as a zippered pocket up top. As a lightweight backpacker, I can easily get 1-2 nights worth of gear in this pack.

The only "negative" of this pack is the extemely long straps. I'm 5'6", 155lbs and a 32" waist and I had the waist belt sinched nearly all the way. The shoulder straps are extremely long as well, too long for the recommended torso length (even for thicker individual). However, I'm used to cutting off extra straps to shave the grams, so not too big a deal.

The extra webbing I cut off.

(legalese)

Mount Si

February 10, 2013

First (day) hike of the year!!!

I'm glad Andy read trip reports before we left. Our micro spikes and trekking poles came in handy for the last snowy/icy stretch to the top and back down. Good elevation gain for a four mile hike up to the top. Luckily Andy and I reached the top during a nice clearing in the fog/clouds. Lovely views. Bonus! It ended up being warm at the top :D. Double bonus! We brought a yummy lunch - a thermos of piping hot tomato soup and half a deli sandwich each. The birds were super friendly, even when you're not eating. Got to see a beautiful blue jay, too. Thick fog finally rolled while we were drinking our coffee, though, and covered the views for the rest of the day. A bunch more hikers showed up on our way down - some slipping on their way up with only tennis shoes. We took pictures with our phones so the formatting is a bit off.


View from the top

Bird pics - Pretending to punch a bird. Go away, PETA.

Model Andy and getting ready to make coffee