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Teton Sports Summit 1500 |
I
recently received the Teton Sports Summit 1500 backpack for a
review. When I first opened the package I was a little concerned with how
small the pack looked to be honest. The pack only weighs in at 2.4
pounds, which may have added to my mind thinking the pack was so small.
The pack was light, yet it had a sturdy internal frame which gave the pack
great structure. Before I went any further, I got online to read a few
reviews on the same pack to see what others thought about it. I noticed
that I was not the only one with a concern about the size of the pack. A
few people who reviewed the pack noted that they ended up passing it onto a
younger family member or friend rather than using the pack themselves.
After doing my own review on the pack, all I have to say is that those other
individuals may want to consider getting that pack back from whoever they gave
it to!
For
part of my review, my wife and I were able to get an awesome deal on renting
two snowmobiles from Island Park Adventures, which is only about 40
minutes from where we live. My wife had played around on a snowmobile a
few times growing up but had never really gone on a snowmobile ride. Even
though a snowmobile trip wasn't what I would normally use a pack like the Summit 1500 for, I
decided I would take it along on the trip to see how I liked it. The
night before the ride, I loaded it up with the following:
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Teton Sport Summit 1500 and everything I fit in it |
- 2
bandanas
- 2
extra pair of socks
- 3
sandwich size bags of food
- 1
bag of cashews
- 1
bag of jerky
- 3
candy bars
- 1
box of granola bars
- 1
bag or dehydrated apples
- 1
32 oz Gatorade Bottle
- 1
16 oz water bottle
- 2
extra beanies (snow-hats)
- 1
extra pair of gloves
- 1
flashlight
- Emergency
fire supplies
-
Toilet paper
- Extra
pair of contacts
- My
SOG Flash II (Pocket Knife)
-
Taurus 40 Caliber Pistol
I
didn't really need all of that gear for this trip but I wanted to make sure I
packed the Summit 1500 the same way I would (or close to it) as if I was going
on a hike. Another disclaimer is that I was not only packing all of this
stuff for me; my wife didn't want to have a backpack on during our trip so I
got to carry what she wanted as well. This helped me cope with my doubt
that the pack was too small. I filled my pack with this gear in no
certain order or fashion and it all fit with ease in the main
compartment. I even had some room to spare and hadn't even filled the
pockets on the side or the hood of the pack. The pack has six different
pockets and two pouches, as well as multiple straps and loops which can be used
to attach and secure gear.
For
those of you who may not know much about snowmobiling, riding a snowmobile for
a whole day is quite a work out. The ride is usually always bumpy and is
full of ups, downs, and lots of leaning to one side or another. I figured
if this pack could stay on without sliding all over my back while I was
attempting to toss a snowmobile around in the powder of the Rocky Mountains,
then the pack would be fit for a good hike or two. My wife and I started
our ride around 8:30 am and took off to a scenic byway called
Big Springs. Later on, we
decided to take off on a long ride to the top of a local mountain called Two
Top.
All
together, my wife and I rode around for close to eight hours. We saw lots
of great scenic views and had a wonderful time together. The only time
the Summit 1500 ever got in the way was when my wife
got her snowmobile stuck and I had to get her out of a four foot snow pit she
dug. Even then, the only reason I realized I had the pack on was because
I was rolling around in chest deep snow trying to dig out a thousand pound
machine.
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Me riding with the Summit 1500 on my back |
What
I liked about the pack was that it fit very securely to my body and it did not
bounce around no matter what terrain I was on. I did adjust the pack a
few times to get it just right. I had a little bit of a difficulty
centering the pack to where the load was mostly on my waist instead of my
shoulders. The pack is only 22.5 inches long which was a little short for
my torso. If I adjusted it all the way to carry the load on my hips, then
the pack would pull away from my shoulders because of the slack in the shoulder
straps. Once I played around with it for a while I found a happy medium
for the load I was carrying that was just right for me.
The
pack does have two adjustment straps which I thought helped tremendously when I
was trying to get the right fit. The first strap is from the top of the
shoulder strap and attaches to the top end of the pack itself. You can
adjust this strap to take out any slack from lengthening your shoulder straps.
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Shoulder adjustment strap |
The
second adjustment strap is on the waist belt which cinches the pack securely to
your waist strap. This also helps the pack from bouncing around or
tipping from one side or the other. These are only a few of the features
I quickly learned to appreciate about this pack. I also enjoyed the
double draw string enclosures to the main compartment which allowed me to
expand my load capacity as well as ensure my gear was secure in my pack. Another
feature I liked was how the hood fit around the top of the pack with two heavy
duty clips and an elastic bungee sewn in the hood to create a snug tight
fit. I never had to worry about snow getting down into my gear or anything
randomly falling out of my back while I was jumping or climbing my snowmobile
up the side of the mountain.
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waist adjustment strap |
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Draw-string enclosures |
I
wanted to make sure that this pack was not only good for snowmobiling, but also
other activities. Because of this, I also took it on a quick snowshoe trip to
hunt coyotes. I loaded the pack similarly, with less food and more
hunting supplies and adventured out on a quick trip. Overall, during this
hunt, I enjoyed how comfortable the pack was and how well I could adjust the
pack for the different load I was carrying. I was unlucky on the coyote
hunt but I was just as happy, if not more so, with the pack on my second small
adventure as I was on my first adventure.
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Cool view of the sun between the trees |
The
description of this pack says that it is great for an overnight or full-day
trip. I would completely agree that it is a great day pack and that it
would be able to meet all of your expectations for this type of outing. I,
myself, would have a hard time trying to use this pack on an overnight
trip. If I was just hiking, and that is it, I may be able to make this
work. Most of my over-night trips involve me packing in hunting and or fishing
equipment on top of all my hiking gear. For an overnight trip, I would
probably consider Teton Sports' Summit 2800 or their Hiker 3700. My overnight gear is a little
large to fit onto or into the Summit 1500 but I could see if you used Teton Sports'
over night gear, this would definitely be a possibility.
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Me riding past Big Springs |
In
conclusion, I would highly recommend the Summit 1500 to anyone interested in a great day
pack and a possible one-night adventure pack. I feel with the different
straps and loops on this pack you would be able to fit the gear you needed for
either one of these type of trips. You can pick up this pack on Amazon and
Sportsman's Warehouse for under $60 bucks or you may be lucky enough to win one
here on my blog! Teton
Sports is confident enough that you will like the pack that they
have decided to offer this pack to a lucky winner by following the instructions
on RaffleCopter below! (Please note that this contest is limited to the lower 48 states)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you are ever in the Island Park area and want to rent some snowmobiles or any other type of toy be sure to give
Island Park Adventures a call and see what they have to offer!
Disclaimer:
As with all reviews on Idaho Pursuit, the following review is my honest opinion. I received the Teton Sports Summit 1500 free of charge and agreed to provide a review in exchange. I am not sponsored by or associated with Teton Sports and
am not accepting any compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for
this review. My independent status may change in the future but, as of
the date of publication, no relationship other than described above has
been pursued or established.