My Tarahumara pack has a special place in my heart when it comes to gear it was one of my first pieces of gear from Hill People Gear that started me down a road of gear addiction and now a great business relationship as we proudly carry their products. I love this brand because they are genuine good people who bring a lot of experience into their designs. With the durability of military grade gear and the well thought out design of an outdoorsman these products have lasted me in the desert on snow covered peaks and everywhere in between. All of this and they still remain American made!
My buddy “Chato” turned me onto their gear and I immediately fell in love with the comfort and simplicity of design, the most difficult thing about this pack is spelling the name. This by the way is named for the Tarahumara people famous for their running prowess in Northern Mexico. That’s what originally drew Chato to this pack an avid runner he has completed ultra-marathons and wanted something fast and light. I on the other hand am more of what you would call a “full framed mountain man type” haha, and wanted a quality day pack. This is one of the great things about this pack, the yoke harness is quite comfortable across many sizes and makes for a comfortable day of carry.
This is a great day pack with room for two external water bottles and 16 liters of carrying space with a pocket and hook for an internal drinking system. The pack is rated for fifty pounds and comfortably carries my survival kit, first aid kit, gloves, wind breaker, mechanics gloves and, water purifier. Although anything past that gets a little tight.
I have pushed it to a couple of over nights, the first one was twenty miles on the PCT from the border to Lake Moreno and up to Hidden Forrest outside of Las Vegas. For both of those trips I used the external straps to attach my thermarest z light pad and a compression bag with my light sleeping bag. Admittedly that was kind of pushing it to its limit but it still worked out well and I would use it again in a pinch.
One of the greatest attributes of this pack though is the thought that goes into their packs and the modularity shared among their products. The straps can be removed and this pack can become an exterior pouch on their larger packs like the Umlindi or Ute backpacks. I like this because it allows you to keep your daypack essentials on longer trips opening up the other pack for necessary cargo like food and clothes.
From the Factory:
Features include:
- 500d Construction
- two generous wand pockets (one on each side) are big enough for USGI pattern 1qt bottles. we like the "Oasis" version made by Nalgene. you can also fit dual 1.5qt round nalgenes on the sides.
- hang tab for a water bladder on the inside. if you are using a water bladder, the hose routes out the top of the zipper underneath the zipper hood.
- quilted padding on the body side with an exposed flat slot pocket suitable for stashing a netbook, machete, or even a lever action rifle.
- comfortable contoured shoulder harness
- can be used as a back pocket on our larger packs
- parachute and cordlock compression / lashing system on bottom
- dual horizontal compression straps allow you to carry larger items (like snowshoes for example) strapped vertically on the pack. this is the location the 717 stuff sack was designed for.
- Weight 1.44 pounds
- Length 4 inches
- Width 9 inches
- Height 17 inches
- Volume 1000 cubic inches or 16 liters
- Chasis Capacity 50 pounds
This is a great pack and has served me well; I would advise anyone who is interested in this brand to pick one of these up first. The Tarahmara is a great introduction to Hill People Gear and will grow with you and serve a modular addition to their many great products. I still continue to use mine and ther is a pretty good chance you will see me getting the Fox Out there with this on my back. As always thank you for taking the time to check us out and until next time, get the Fox Out There!
