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Gear Review: First Ascent Big Tahoma Backpack

Trek for many days and miles with this lightweight, supportive, durable and highly waterproof pack.

This versatile pack is supportive and comfortable enough for a weeklong trek, but simple and light enough for tackling big alpine peaks. The 4,270-cubic-inch Tahoma was ideal on a posthole-fest through the Wind Rivers.

The (removable) hipbelt never interfered with high-stepping, and two aluminum stays transfer loads up to 40 pounds directly to the hips. And the double ripstop nylon used in the packbag is not only superdurable, it’s highly waterproof. firstascent.com.

BETA

$249

4 lbs. 4 oz.

Men’s regular and long; women’s regular

Best For

Mountaineers who hike and backpackers who climb mountains

Tester Data

Peter Rives, Matthew Grey

Duration June and July

Locales/conditions WY, CO, UT; steep mountain terrain, snow, rain, sleet “You’d need a belt sander to damage the 1,000-denier Cordura.”

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