The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a backpack with vest-style shoulder straps for day mountaineering and fastpacking. Quite a few open mesh pockets on the shoulder straps and backpack exterior make it straightforward to retailer ceaselessly accessed gear and meals, so that you don’t need to cease and open the pack to entry them. Whereas it’s just like the higher-volume Mountainsmith Zerk 40, a number of notable variations exist. The Zerk 25 has a high lid pocket as an alternative of the roll-top closure on the Zerk 40; it has two entrance sternum straps as an alternative of 1, and is completely frameless with out further again panel padding.
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- Weight: 1 lb 7.5 oz (666g)
- Quantity: 25L
- Kind: Frameless
- Entry: High
- Gender: Unisex
- Hydration appropriate: Sure, middle port
- Pockets: 11 (2 closed)
- Removable hip belt: Sure
- Torso Vary: 16-24″
- Consists of extras: Stretch bungee twine for the entrance pocket
- Supplies: 210-denier recycled Robic nylon ripstop (UHMPE)
- Max beneficial load: 20-25 lbs
- Professionals: Quite a few and extremely purposeful pockets, comfy vest straps
- Cons: Shoulder straps are too lengthy for shorter torso lengths, carries finest when largely full
Backpack Suspension
The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a frameless, top-loading daypack/fastpack with vest-style shoulder straps, quite a few exterior and closed pockets, and an optionally detachable hipbelt made with a large webbing belt with a strong middle buckle. Being frameless, the aim of the hip belt is to maintain the pack from bouncing when operating or mountaineering. Relying in your torso size, it can loop round your hips or increased up in your torso: it doesn’t actually matter which for the reason that weight of the pack rests completely in your shoulders and higher chest.
Every shoulder strap has two stacked mesh pockets on the entrance with tensioners and kit loops alongside the aspect so you possibly can safe objects like an inReach Mini 2 to stop it from getting misplaced even when it falls out of a pocket. The pockets are massive sufficient to securely retailer a smartphone or a 500 ml delicate bottle with ease and actually make the pack handy to make use of. They’re the perfect pockets I’ve discovered on any fastpack all yr, and I’ve examined almost a dozen, together with the Osprey Talon Velocity 30, Gossamer Gear Quick Kumo 36, and the Outside Vitals Skyline 30, to call a couple of.
Whereas the Zerk’s shoulder straps aren’t closely padded, they’re additionally not gossamer skinny. They’re 3″ large on the high and sewn instantly into the highest of the pack bag, widening to 4.5″ on the backside, with two sliding sternum straps between them. The straps themselves are J-shaped, which can be a consideration if you happen to’re feminine or have a well-developed chest the place S-shaped straps could be extra comfy. The jury continues to be out on whether or not girls discover fast-pack shoulder straps and sternum straps comfy or not.
Backpack Storage and Group
Aside from its high lid pocket, the Zerk 25 is laid out like a typical ultralight pack with a roll-top, entrance mesh pocket, and aspect water bottle pockets. The highest lid has two zippered pockets: a big pocket on high with a key fob and a mesh pocket beneath the lid. I favor having a high lid or clamshell opening on a daypack over a roll-top as a result of I entry the contents of my pack extra ceaselessly than after I’m backpacking, and my solely objective is to crush miles all day. Looking for objects packed in a roll high is a ache within the butt because you usually need to take away every little thing and repack it once more. That will get previous quick.
There’s a entrance stretch mesh pocket, which is sweet for holding free layers like rain gear, your lunch, or a moist water filter. It has a high webbing strap to carry it shut and hold contents from falling out. There are additionally two stacked pockets on all sides of the Zerk: the inside one is strong material with an elastic tensioner on high, whereas the outer pocket is made with stretch mesh, which I liken to “hamster cheeks. These are good for storing further snacks, fruit, and even trash wrappers so that you don’t need to cease and open your pack to entry/stow them. I a lot favor these “hamster cheek” pockets to the mesh pockets that many ultralight backpack makers have began placing on the bottom of their backpacks. The latter is not sensible from a sturdiness perspective for the reason that highest abrasion on a pack happens on the underside once you put it on the bottom.
The remainder of the Zerk 25 is pretty standard. The pack is hydration-compatible with a middle hose port between the shoulder straps, hose keeper loops on each shoulder straps, and a hook inside to hold your bladder and a hydration pocket.
Backpack Compression and Attachment Factors
The Zerk 25 has a single tier of aspect compression straps which are good for holding longer objects in opposition to the aspect of the pack, like a Smartwater bottle with a Sawyer Squeeze filter on high. However they don’t present excellent compression until the primary compartment is tightly stuffed as a result of the ends are sewn to material and never a inflexible structural help like a body. Nonetheless, they’re fairly helpful when carrying longer objects like a Tenkara fishing rod.
There’s a webbing strap that loops over the drawstring closure on the high of the pack bag to offer top-down compression. Daisy chains encompass the exterior mesh pockets and supply a handy place to clip objects like a hat or microspikes with a ‘biner. The pack additionally comes with an elastic bungie twine you can loop throughout the aspect daisy chains if you wish to hold moist clothes on the skin of the pack to dry. Lastly, there are two ice axe loops, that may be used to strap trekking poles to the pack utilizing the aspect compression straps to carry the shafts.
Advice
The Mountainsmith Zerk 25 is a multi-purpose daypack/fastpack with a vest-style shoulder harness and a non-load-bearing hip belt. It’s remarkably comfy and has a plethora of pockets that make it straightforward to prepare and entry your gear on the transfer. There may be additionally loads of safe closed storage to hold further clothes and gear. Whereas switching from a standard daypack to 1 with vest-style straps and storage takes some getting used to, I feel you’ll discover that the hybrid mixture of daypack and fastpack options on the Mountainsmith Zerk 25 makes this pack a keeper for adventures close to and much.
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