Readers of this newsletter know that I absolutely love the Aarn Featherlite Freedom backpack. Aarn introduced a pro version of this backpack in Dyneema fabric in 2020. This is lighter (by 1 lb) and I was keen on getting that version. I did not find it in stock at
Hi Anand. Great articles. You mention that the pro is 1lb lighter than the standard FF. Is this from your measurements? The weights on their website seem to have the pro as barely 50grams lighter than the standard. This doesn't really make much sense though. Any thoughts? ta
That is from my measurements. Unfortunately, I don't have the standard FF anymore to compare. The pro / dyneema version is better in most aspects even outside of the weight and I won't hesitate to buy it.
Aarn has retired and the business has been handed over the NZ vendor. Either the NZ vendor, or the Backpacking light Australia website (where I got my pro from and had it shipped to US) or the US vendor can measure exactly and tell you.
Thanks for the review! So the balance pockets rub against or impede your forward arm motion when walking with poles? The picture of Ashwin makes it seem like it would.
I'm considering getting the bag for the heavy water carries in the desert section of the PCT. Would the balance pockets accommodate 2 1-liter Smart water bottles in each pocket? If so, which size balance pockets? Sorry if you don't know. You're one of the few independent reviewers of the bag. I appreciate the help! Thank you!
Also, I don't carry them INSIDE the balance pockets. I carry them OUTSIDE the balance pockets in the front pouch.
Inside the balance pockets, I carry food for 5 days, my battery packs, my camera and lens as well as day use stuff.
On day 1, I carry about 18-20 lbs in the front balance pockets. I have the 15L balance pockets. Ashwin bought the extra large ones. I think you need at least 15L for carrying 2L of water. On low water areas, I also carry a 2L collapsible pouch on the side.
The review is unclear perhaps, the best thing about these balance pockets is they DO NOT impede your motion or rub against the arm. The O-rings based top allows them to float freely, but you can adjust the balance pockets either close to each other or away from each other by adjusting the two straps that you use to connect. Ashwin perhaps has them too loose. You can cinch the pockets just so that they are close to each other to not interfere. Also, Ashwin has 17L pockets that is why they look big.
I always hike with hiking poles - I use pacerpoles (recommended by Aarn himself) and I swear by them. The big downside if any to Aarn balance pockets is that if you are scrambling on all fours and going uphill against rock, they are awkward, but I have not done that so far.
I honestly think if you get used to Aarn (it takes about 50 miles to dial it in right with 7-8 adjustments), the bag just starts to float on your body and your gait is upright. It changes the muscles you use, your quads get used more than hamstrings and IT band. When you dial the bag just so, you won't carry any other bag.
As you see, I am carrying two platypus bottles, since they fill the pouch horizontally, I feel they are a better solution than smart bottle.
I do see how it appears that the bags may impede arm motion, I don't think I have ever felt that in practice, unless I am in a very tight situation as I explain above.
The other thing I realized is this, the pacerpoles hand movement is more up and down and not forward and back, if you see the videos on their website, you will know what I mean. That is also perhaps why I don't feel that the balance pockets impede my hand movement, but I don't think it is a big deal, you can adjust it just so.
There are 3 retailers now in the US, please call them and see who has the best return policy. However, I should tell you that it took me over 50 miles to dial in the pack correctly, a bit more than trying a bag at REI for an hour and getting it dialed in. There are 8 or 9 adjustments that you can tweak. You can adjust just about everything with this bag. You can swivel the hip belt up or down, expand it or shrink it, move the weight forward or back (of the legs) and so on. You need to invest time on the bag and when you dial it in right, it really makes carrying weight easy.
Glad to help. Aarn has created something very good here. For good or for bad, it’s owned by a small firm in New Zealand. It’s popular down under but not so much here. I’m glad there are three distributors in the US now. I imported my dyneema pack from Australia.
Anand, thanks for the review(s) of the Aarn body pack. I've been looking at these for a few years now. I first saw Aarn when I had started looking at replacing my MASSIVE REI Traverse backpack. I still have that pack, and in fact it's still has the most comfortable carry of the packs I own (even if it is weighs 6 lb). After looking around I settled on a Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor (60-75L version). The pack is great in that it weighs just about 2 lb. I like the flexibility of the capacity, it's just that after 3 trips into the Sierra, it just doesn't carry the weight as well.
I'm leaning towards an Aarn pack. At the time I was looking (early 2019) I didn't hear back from the Aarn USA folks. It turns out I had contacted them during their move from Washington to Utah, so everything got misplaced until they sorted it out. Unfortunately, I had already purchased the Sierra Designs pack. I still kept Aarn in the back of my mind.
I'm still looking for someone in the SoCal area (I'm in Orange County) that has one. I'd like to at least look at the pack before I commit.
Thanks for writing to me. I have owned both the Featherlite freedom and the Featherlite Freedom pro pack. Nothing carries the weight as well as this does.
You should absolutely look at it and try it on before you buy, but I should warn you that it took me nearly 50 miles to dial it in just right. There are many controls and it takes times to adjust just right.
I have now done two long sections of the JMT (130 miles and 60 miles) and there is no question in my mind that the Aarns were pivotal for me to hike these sections.
If I am in the SoCal area, I will let you know :).
Anand, thanks for the feedback. I suspected that the pack takes quite a bit of fiddling to get the setup right. I'm glad to hear a clear and honest assessment. Was part of that dial in period trying to figure out what to pack in what section of the pack?
Reading your review(s) of the Featherlight/Featherlight Pro I suspect that you take a similar approach as I do to backpacking: I'm ok with a little bit extra weight as long as the pack is a comfortable fit. Glad to hear that the pack was pivotal in section hiking the JMT. I'm planning on hitting the full JMT in 2024-2025 (after I retire) and I would like to have a complete setup dialed in and ready for that.
A regular backpack has at most 3 adjustments. The hip tightness, then the shoulder adjustment on how much the shoulder strap presses your shoulder and the "compression" of the shoulder straps.
Aarns have at least 7-8, if not more. You can adjust the hip belt position, hip belt angle, you can adjust how much of weight you want to be in the front of the hip versus back.
Choosing what goes in where is probably the easiest to figure out. You can do that at home. The one annoying thing with Aarns and bear canisters is since the densest items go to the front, your food and battery packs always go front (and my camera / lenses). At the end of each day, you have to move the food back to the bear canister. I have gotten used to it.
As days go by, as I deplete food, I start to move stuff from my back to the front.
When I started my last year's JMT (after overnighters), the front of my legs started to cramp up, that was because I had over-tightened my hip belt, I had to loosen that a bit, then I felt that the weight was more on the back and not balanced. Then I remembered that based on the instructions, adjustment 9 of the hip belt cords (12) helped alleviate it and moved the weight evenly.
As it goes with good backpacks, once you dial it all in, the bag starts to float on your shoulder and you don't feel it. You feel the pressure on your hips and the front of your legs do a lot more work than before and you will feel it.
With my previous backpacks, the entire load was on the hip and / or the shoulder and the back of the legs. Here, when the weight is evenly balanced between the front and the back, the bag floats over your shoulder and you don't feel it there. The front of the legs start doing more work since the weight in the balance pockets is going straight to the hip in the front.
Yes, you are right. I have stopped measuring my backpack's weight :). I don't update my firepack website (I had actually written an iOS app for this as well) anymore. So much so that I have now added another luxury item, a 1.2 lb chair (Helinox zero) in addition to my ultra wide mattresses and camera gear.
There are two sweet spots on the hip belt which are soft and if your Iliac Crest rests on it, you have good fit (please order the correct size lumbar length).
Anyway, the Aarn USA folks are helpful in general, but they do not get stock all the time, but have a decent return policy. They told me that the pro backpacks should show up in Fall this year, I would make sure you talk to them first and make sure you are happy with the return policy before you buy the packs. If the backpack fits broadly, then you can start dialing down the minor adjustments. There are many to fiddle around with.
Hi Anand. Great articles. You mention that the pro is 1lb lighter than the standard FF. Is this from your measurements? The weights on their website seem to have the pro as barely 50grams lighter than the standard. This doesn't really make much sense though. Any thoughts? ta
Hi Cameron
That is from my measurements. Unfortunately, I don't have the standard FF anymore to compare. The pro / dyneema version is better in most aspects even outside of the weight and I won't hesitate to buy it.
Aarn has retired and the business has been handed over the NZ vendor. Either the NZ vendor, or the Backpacking light Australia website (where I got my pro from and had it shipped to US) or the US vendor can measure exactly and tell you.
Thanks for the review! So the balance pockets rub against or impede your forward arm motion when walking with poles? The picture of Ashwin makes it seem like it would.
I'm considering getting the bag for the heavy water carries in the desert section of the PCT. Would the balance pockets accommodate 2 1-liter Smart water bottles in each pocket? If so, which size balance pockets? Sorry if you don't know. You're one of the few independent reviewers of the bag. I appreciate the help! Thank you!
Sheelah
That is the only way to carry water with the Aarn. There is no water pouch in the back. I regulary carry 2 1-liter soft bottle https://www.amazon.com/Platypus-Ultralight-Collapsible-SoftBottle-11527/dp/B08PG34DMX/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=platypus%2Bcollapsible%2Bsoftbottle&qid=1706975271&sr=8-3&th=1 on either side.
Also, I don't carry them INSIDE the balance pockets. I carry them OUTSIDE the balance pockets in the front pouch.
Inside the balance pockets, I carry food for 5 days, my battery packs, my camera and lens as well as day use stuff.
On day 1, I carry about 18-20 lbs in the front balance pockets. I have the 15L balance pockets. Ashwin bought the extra large ones. I think you need at least 15L for carrying 2L of water. On low water areas, I also carry a 2L collapsible pouch on the side.
The review is unclear perhaps, the best thing about these balance pockets is they DO NOT impede your motion or rub against the arm. The O-rings based top allows them to float freely, but you can adjust the balance pockets either close to each other or away from each other by adjusting the two straps that you use to connect. Ashwin perhaps has them too loose. You can cinch the pockets just so that they are close to each other to not interfere. Also, Ashwin has 17L pockets that is why they look big.
I always hike with hiking poles - I use pacerpoles (recommended by Aarn himself) and I swear by them. The big downside if any to Aarn balance pockets is that if you are scrambling on all fours and going uphill against rock, they are awkward, but I have not done that so far.
I honestly think if you get used to Aarn (it takes about 50 miles to dial it in right with 7-8 adjustments), the bag just starts to float on your body and your gait is upright. It changes the muscles you use, your quads get used more than hamstrings and IT band. When you dial the bag just so, you won't carry any other bag.
I do see that Ashwin is carrying smart bottles. This is my setup.
https://www.norcalhiker.net/p/review-of-aarn-featherlite-freedom?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Faarn&utm_medium=reader2
As you see, I am carrying two platypus bottles, since they fill the pouch horizontally, I feel they are a better solution than smart bottle.
I do see how it appears that the bags may impede arm motion, I don't think I have ever felt that in practice, unless I am in a very tight situation as I explain above.
Thank you so much for the feedback and excellent reviews! I'm really excited to try the bag!
The other thing I realized is this, the pacerpoles hand movement is more up and down and not forward and back, if you see the videos on their website, you will know what I mean. That is also perhaps why I don't feel that the balance pockets impede my hand movement, but I don't think it is a big deal, you can adjust it just so.
There are 3 retailers now in the US, please call them and see who has the best return policy. However, I should tell you that it took me over 50 miles to dial in the pack correctly, a bit more than trying a bag at REI for an hour and getting it dialed in. There are 8 or 9 adjustments that you can tweak. You can adjust just about everything with this bag. You can swivel the hip belt up or down, expand it or shrink it, move the weight forward or back (of the legs) and so on. You need to invest time on the bag and when you dial it in right, it really makes carrying weight easy.
Great info! I'll make sure to test it on day hikes until I've dialed it in. You've been an amazing help to me. Thank you so much!
Glad to help. Aarn has created something very good here. For good or for bad, it’s owned by a small firm in New Zealand. It’s popular down under but not so much here. I’m glad there are three distributors in the US now. I imported my dyneema pack from Australia.
I hope it works out for you.
Anand, thanks for the review(s) of the Aarn body pack. I've been looking at these for a few years now. I first saw Aarn when I had started looking at replacing my MASSIVE REI Traverse backpack. I still have that pack, and in fact it's still has the most comfortable carry of the packs I own (even if it is weighs 6 lb). After looking around I settled on a Sierra Designs Flex Capacitor (60-75L version). The pack is great in that it weighs just about 2 lb. I like the flexibility of the capacity, it's just that after 3 trips into the Sierra, it just doesn't carry the weight as well.
I'm leaning towards an Aarn pack. At the time I was looking (early 2019) I didn't hear back from the Aarn USA folks. It turns out I had contacted them during their move from Washington to Utah, so everything got misplaced until they sorted it out. Unfortunately, I had already purchased the Sierra Designs pack. I still kept Aarn in the back of my mind.
I'm still looking for someone in the SoCal area (I'm in Orange County) that has one. I'd like to at least look at the pack before I commit.
Thanks for writing to me. I have owned both the Featherlite freedom and the Featherlite Freedom pro pack. Nothing carries the weight as well as this does.
You should absolutely look at it and try it on before you buy, but I should warn you that it took me nearly 50 miles to dial it in just right. There are many controls and it takes times to adjust just right.
I have now done two long sections of the JMT (130 miles and 60 miles) and there is no question in my mind that the Aarns were pivotal for me to hike these sections.
If I am in the SoCal area, I will let you know :).
Anand, thanks for the feedback. I suspected that the pack takes quite a bit of fiddling to get the setup right. I'm glad to hear a clear and honest assessment. Was part of that dial in period trying to figure out what to pack in what section of the pack?
Reading your review(s) of the Featherlight/Featherlight Pro I suspect that you take a similar approach as I do to backpacking: I'm ok with a little bit extra weight as long as the pack is a comfortable fit. Glad to hear that the pack was pivotal in section hiking the JMT. I'm planning on hitting the full JMT in 2024-2025 (after I retire) and I would like to have a complete setup dialed in and ready for that.
Hi James
https://www.aarnpacks.com/pages/instructions
A regular backpack has at most 3 adjustments. The hip tightness, then the shoulder adjustment on how much the shoulder strap presses your shoulder and the "compression" of the shoulder straps.
Aarns have at least 7-8, if not more. You can adjust the hip belt position, hip belt angle, you can adjust how much of weight you want to be in the front of the hip versus back.
Choosing what goes in where is probably the easiest to figure out. You can do that at home. The one annoying thing with Aarns and bear canisters is since the densest items go to the front, your food and battery packs always go front (and my camera / lenses). At the end of each day, you have to move the food back to the bear canister. I have gotten used to it.
As days go by, as I deplete food, I start to move stuff from my back to the front.
When I started my last year's JMT (after overnighters), the front of my legs started to cramp up, that was because I had over-tightened my hip belt, I had to loosen that a bit, then I felt that the weight was more on the back and not balanced. Then I remembered that based on the instructions, adjustment 9 of the hip belt cords (12) helped alleviate it and moved the weight evenly.
As it goes with good backpacks, once you dial it all in, the bag starts to float on your shoulder and you don't feel it. You feel the pressure on your hips and the front of your legs do a lot more work than before and you will feel it.
With my previous backpacks, the entire load was on the hip and / or the shoulder and the back of the legs. Here, when the weight is evenly balanced between the front and the back, the bag floats over your shoulder and you don't feel it there. The front of the legs start doing more work since the weight in the balance pockets is going straight to the hip in the front.
Yes, you are right. I have stopped measuring my backpack's weight :). I don't update my firepack website (I had actually written an iOS app for this as well) anymore. So much so that I have now added another luxury item, a 1.2 lb chair (Helinox zero) in addition to my ultra wide mattresses and camera gear.
This video from Aarn shows how to adjust the hip belt shape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXj6os3u5uw
There are two sweet spots on the hip belt which are soft and if your Iliac Crest rests on it, you have good fit (please order the correct size lumbar length).
Anyway, the Aarn USA folks are helpful in general, but they do not get stock all the time, but have a decent return policy. They told me that the pro backpacks should show up in Fall this year, I would make sure you talk to them first and make sure you are happy with the return policy before you buy the packs. If the backpack fits broadly, then you can start dialing down the minor adjustments. There are many to fiddle around with.