What annoys me about looking about to buy outdoor kit is that there is barely anything which deviates from the main lines which manufacturers say about their products.
It's almost as if no-one has ever gone out and bought their stuff, and there is never any real information about what it is like to use.
At the moment I'm looking at a couple of rucksacks. One of them is the OMM adventure light 20, along with the leanweight compressor. I think it looks fantastic, and I'm pretty sure the rucksack is a good one, but I simply cannot see how the compression system fits onto the new version of the Adventure Light.
I borrowed one from a friend, and I STILL can't see how it would work.
You'd think that someone, somewhere on the web (including the company that produces them) might actually have got around to clipping them together to show just how it works and that these things actually DO work together. Otherwise its just a leap into the dark, and annoyance when they don't work.
The other one I'm looking at (for a different purpose, I must hasten to add) is the Grivel Freney. I've seen them on the internet, all with exactly the same blurb as Grivel says on their website. Which doesn't actually help me in any way shape or form. As far as I can see, no-one has ever bought one, certainly no-one has ever reviewed one, and so it would seem that there is no resource on which to see if it is any good or not.
Its really quite hard to actually find anywhere that sells them as well.
Both rucksacks are almost periphery items in the world of outdoors-ness, so maybe not quite as popular as other rucksacks which lots and lots of people buy... but the problem remains - the manufacturers write a lovely aspirational bit of blurb on their website, it gets copied by every other website out there that is trying to flog their stuff, and there is no real point of view as to quite what it is like. Added to that, unless you know someone who has bought one and owns it, the first time you see the item is when you buy it off the internet and it arrives on your doorstep.
I realise this is just the way things are, but the most annoying thing, and something that could be done better is different perspectives on gear... not just the same generic blurb that the manufacturer has stated, but real thoughts on stuff that people have used.
I suppose thats why I do this blog... to give a slightly different perspective.
Have you tried writing to both companies about their products? Maybe they will send you ones to review? Worth a try mate!
ReplyDeleteHi Tim
ReplyDeleteThe Omm sack is a good one. I have one of the first versions. It has been used for Mountain marathons, as a datsac and for winter runs, when I need more than just a bumbag.
The compressor vecros onto the gear rail, at the bottom and attaches to 4 points on the sac with a small plastic buckles and a adjustable cord. It does compress the sac well and can be used to store wet gear etc.
All the best
Steve
Forgot to say you can just use bungee cord instead of the compressor
ReplyDeleteMatt... yup. And Nope. I think I'm just too honest about what is good and what isn't
ReplyDeleteSbrt, thanks for that. I can see how it fitted to the old style sack, but the new one... really, I have no idea. Good shout on the bungee though. That is definitely the way forward.