I fell in love this backpack on my North Country Trail thru-hike in 2022. The 4800-mile trek was difficult enough without having already thru-hiked four trails totaling over 2000 miles. I wasn’t able to start the North Country trail till late June, which made big miles and speed imperative, because even averaging 35 miles a day I would be lucky to finish by Thanksgiving – and you never know when the snow is going to hit. Halfway through my thru-hike I knew I had to turn up the heat or risk another year with frostbite in the brutal Midwest cold. I swapped out from my 50L backpack to the Sub-Nero Ultra 30L and saved 10.8 ounces as well as dropping weight by shedding gear. What I really ended up liking about this bag was how well it worked for jogging on trail. I jogged a lot because late in the year there’s much less sunlight and I was cold and only getting colder. Getting my miles in was not only about my mental health but my physical safety. Being able to comfortably jog with my backpack allowed me to make the most of my limited day light but also help me generate the body heat I needed to prevent hypothermia.
The Sub-Nero Ultra 30L is frameless and super light (9.7oz); and, even though it’s only 30L, it almost feels like it has as much room as a 50L pack with the way it’s designed and the webbing. Sacrificing just a little bit of stuff, it’s been easy for me to go from a 50L bag with a frame to the Sub-Nero. Doxycycline 200mg I also like that this pack has a hip belt – it’s lightweight and keeps the pack more secure so that jogging is much easier. If a hip belt is not your thing and you want to save a little more weight, it’s removeable. The backpack also includes a sit pad, which keeps everything in your bag from jabbing into you while hiking and removes easily if you want a more comfortable seat.
Overall, I really liked this backpack and its innovations. I used to not be able to comprehend being able to thru-hike with so little capacity, but with Zpacks constantly focusing on making backpacks lighter (and thus less abusive on the body), this backpack is the right tool for the job for most of the trails the USA has to offer.
