I can't verify at the moment (the site isn't responding when I tried to open it back up), but isn't this a backpack for ultralight backpacking as opposed to an ultralight backpack for (traditional) backpacking? If so, you're working with sub-20lb loads where chest/waist straps are no longer essential. Durability also no longer a top priority. The needs and expectations of an UL pack are vastly different from those of a traditional pack (which is what you seem to be describing).
The example/use-case he gives is loading it with 25 pounds of clothes, water, and rocks to test it before a multi-day hike. That gets into the range where all of that matters. Which was the point of my post.
In fact, taking something like that on a multi-day hike is a good way to earn yourself a Darwin award.
I took that as he was load-testing with more weight than he would actually carry. If it can carry the 25 pound test weight with no issues, it can carry his (just guessing) ~15 pound average load just fine.
Even if we assume there is a logical load, durability is still a huge issue. Ignoring the narrow path issues I mentioned other posters pointed out that polypropolene (sp?) deteriorates rapidly in the sun.
All of which is a HUGE problem on a multi-day hike.
Understand what your gear can and can't do. I have a really nice (Patagonia) backpack that I take with me when I go into town on the weekends and to work when I don't need a laptop. It is also great for going to the gym and for multipitch climbs where we are maybe ten minutes from a car. It is durable as hell and I can tie a small static rope to it if I am going to go up a chimney.
But it is tiny and it doesn't have a particularly secure top (draw string closure with a buckle). So if it is raining, I leave it at home. And if I am more than ten or fifteen minutes away from the car, I'll take my normal hiking backpack with me so that I can actually carry supplies and extra gear.
Does that make it bad? No, not at all. But it does mean there are some huge caveats to it.
Scrolling up, you seem to be exceedingly concerned for this guy and his backpack, almost to the point of an obsession. Maybe you should try to contact him directly to offer your insights?
It wasn't a personal attack and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I'm just saying that you seem to be extremely interested in his welfare, given how much you keep repeating the same "facts" about why his bag is so inferior to a commercial offering, despite that it's clearly just a hobby project. Your fervor on this subject is staggering, that's all.
> I might as well accuse you of being obsessed with calling me obsessed because you bothered to reply.
Fair enough. I just found it odd that you're repeating yourself to every single person who replied to you. Or maybe I'm the odd one for noticing? That's a possibility too.
Initially they came in a quick enough burst that it seemed prudent to respond. Then it became clear nobody was going to read what anybody else posted and there was no point because I could explain what the site/imgur page itself said until the cows come home and keep hearing "It doesn't need to be durable or carry anything"
But apparently we are both just obsessive people for having a conversation and not ignoring people
