Gregory Mountain Products J 53 Backpack

I love this backpack. It is very well designed and comfortable to wear. I just used it to pack for a hike at the Grand Canyon. We hiked and stayed 2 nights at Phantom Ranch so I did not have to pack a tent or sleeping bag. It is a top load pack so there are no separate compartments on the inside but it has several compartments on the outside that can be used to separate smaller items or items you might want to get to quickly, I purchased various sizes of lightweight packing cubes to keep things separated inside of the pack. The compartments on the side are designed to hold water bottles but they are not easy to reach when you are hiking, I recommend either inserting your own hydration pack in the compartment designed for that inside the pack or purchasing a lumber pack that runners use to hold water bottles (basically a fanny pack designed to hold a water bottle and other small items). The cross air design really does hold the pack away from your back and allows air to circulate. Granted that I loved this pack and how well it fit, it will not magically make your pack any lighter. With that said, I did one practice hike with about 23 pounds and about 7 miles round trip and had no problems. Our hike into the Grand Canyon was 9.5 miles each way and the pack worked great, I didn't experience any shoulder or back pain. I am 5'3" and about 125 pounds. I purchased the small women's Gregory J53 backpack. I also spoke to other experienced backpackers and they both own various sizes of Gregory Backpacks. I would definitely recommend this back pack.

Seems to be the pack for me. Well conceived and executed. Very lightweight. The mesh back creates a perfect fit and excellent weight distribution. Cinches down small but expands nicely so it is perfectly versatile. Should fit in the overhead bin on a plane. The only slight negative is the small clasps give me trouble. There are some good descriptive videos online that are worth watching. The teal color is lovely but for me the color was not worth the increased cost so I bought the grey, which is fine. Honestly it is the people behind me on the trail that will be looking at it anyway. So color was not a deciding factor.

I have been using a good day pack to go backpacking with my husband. We were very limited on what we could carry and I wanted to try solo backpacking so I ordered this Gregory pack as my first "large" pack. The back ventilation is unlike anything I've ever seen. It actually holds the pack a few inches off my back to allow a breeze to keep my back cooler. I really like that a lot! Although, it may be slightly less stable, I'm not sure about that. Somehow, they have kept it very lightweight. The pack itself feels lighter than my 40 liter daypack. I used it for my first solo overnight trip. I don't think I could carry enough food for much more then a day and a half unless I figured out how to size down my gear, but its really neat to have the independence I've gained from this pack. I take off and go into the woods whenever I want now with or without my husband.

I love this backpack series, I actually bought the smaller one for day trips. Shoulder strap adjust comfortably and has nice lumbar support with mesh back lining for great ventilation!

This is an excellent product. It fits a woman's frame well. The straps rest comfortably. It has a good amount of pockets.It is good quality for the price!

Perfect

I took this bag backpacking on a 3 night/4 day trip at RMNP and couldn't be happier with my purchase. I was blown away with the number of pockets, compartments, features, etc. Like other reviewers have stated, it's worth watching Gregory's videos on how to pick the right size for your body. I was nervous about buying a size small, but after watching the videos and receiving the bag, it fit perfectly. So far, I've only used this bag on the one trip, but I have nothing negative to say about it. Great purchase.