Price:
$399.90
Our Rating:
The Atmos is a heavily featured tramping pack managing to keep just below the 2000g mark (1980g) – pretty good for a pack embellished with many zips and buckles.
Uniquely, it has an almost exoskeleton-style fit, due to a bulky three-dimensional hipbelt that is literally sprung and contoured to wrap around the waist. The belt’s contact surface is seamlessly integrated into the rest of the harness, forming a tensioned hip and back panel that ‘floats’ the main compartment away from your back, allowing unparalleled breathability. It’s clever and works well: no more wet, cold pack on your back after elevenses.
The frame is stiffened with curved and slightly springy wire and tensioned webbing.
Some weight saving comes from the fixed back length (it’s available in gender-specific small, medium and large), but these are offset by too many features on the rest of the pack: sleeping bag compartment, extra lid flap, dual external pockets, large mesh stash pocket, dual ice axe loops and a clever method of stashing walking poles while on the move. They’re all useful, but I’d prefer a simpler, lighter, approach to the main compartment.
Three pairs of well-located compression straps allow fine tuning and crampon attachment, but the top-most pair are too short to be useful for bulkier objects.
In use, the Atmos AG (standing for Anti Gravity) is a pack with a ‘place for everything’ and is suitable for all-round tramping, but I wouldn’t take it bush bashing due to the numerous things that could catch on branches. While I found the figure-hugging frame comfortable and supportive, the pronounced concave curve of the harness was a little extreme for my back and the height of the pack made it difficult to tip my head back.
Many will find this pack the most comfortable they have ever worn, while for others it might be too specific in shape. Try before you buy.