The Six Moon Design Swift V is a 50-liter ultralight-style backpack that’s out there with three several types of backpack straps, together with vest-style backpack straps, and a number of hip belt sizes. It’s configured like most ultralight backpacks with a entrance stretch mesh pocket and aspect pockets which might be good for carrying water bottles. I examined the backpack with the vest-style straps and actually loved utilizing the pack, which is nice for carrying high-volume, however low-weight hundreds. The vest-style straps are snug and high-function, offering plenty of pockets and accessible storage with out having to cease and dig round in your pack to search out one thing.
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- Quantity: 50L + 10L in extension collar
- Kind: Body (Fiberflass hoop)
- Gender: Male (Feminine-friendly straps out there)
- Entry: Prime-only (roll-top)
- Weight: 38.6 oz, weighed with vest suspension (mfg weight is 40.2 oz)
- Pockets: 6 with out vest, together with one inner. 6 extra on the vest.
- Hydration-ready: Sure, ports behind every shoulder strap
- Bear Canister Compatibility: BV500 matches horizontally within the base of the principle compartment
- Supplies: Robic Nylon, Extremely Stretch Mesh
- Likes: Vest harness pockets are very handy, and the adjustable torso size is straightforward to make use of
- Dislikes: Has many straps, that are tough to distinguish from each other
The Swift V is just about equivalent to the Swift X (see our overview) besides it’s made with inexpensive Robic Nylon and never a water-proof ultralight laminate like Extremely, XPac, or Liteskin.
Backpack Body and Suspension
The Swift V has an adjustable torso size, so you’ll be able to dial in an ideal match that matches your physique. It really works by elevating or decreasing the peak of the shoulder straps relative to the hipbelt, so that almost all of the pack weight rests in your hips and never in your shoulders.
The shoulder strap yoke matches right into a sleeve on the again of the pack that’s lined with velcro. You increase or decrease the yoke within the sleeve to the specified top. This must be executed by really feel as a result of there are not any markings on the sleeve equivalent to your measured torso size (in inches or cm), so becoming the pack is finest executed with the assistance of an skilled hiker in case you’re a newbie.
Backpacks with adjustable torso lengths are uncommon within the ultralight backpacking world and are an actual bonus for individuals who have issue getting an excellent match with packs utilizing the mounted torso ranges provided by different producers. Lots of the packs that Six Moon Designs (SMD) has made through the years have had adjustable torso lengths: my first ultralight backpack, the SMD Starlite, had an adjustable torso size circa 2006, in order that they’ve been at it for a very long time.
The body within the Swift V is a light-weight Delrin rod (fiberglass) bent in a loop that provides the pack some physique so it doesn’t collapse on itself when empty and maintains a boxy form when full of gear. It additionally supplies some load switch to the hips for the reason that rod ends terminate within the lumbar pad, however a lot lower than a extra inflexible aluminum body or framestays. Nonetheless, it doesn’t stop a bear canister from barreling (rounding) the again of the pack if positioned horizontally, which may make it uncomfortable to hold.
The Swift V hipbelt is flippantly padded with spacer mesh, offering an excellent wrap round your hip bones. The utmost beneficial weight of the Swift V is just 25-30 kilos, so there’s no want for a closely padded belt. The hipbelt has two tiers of push-forward straps and a middle buckle, so it’s straightforward to tighten, and the 2 tiers of adjustment are appropriate with completely different hip geometries, particularly these of women and men. Lastly, there are two pockets on the hip belt, giant sufficient to carry a smartphone or a large number of snacks.
Vest Type Shoulder Straps
I examined out Six Moon Designs’ vest-style straps with this pack, and just like the assortment of pockets it supplies. I can carry my iPhone and InReach Mini 2 very securely, along with maps and snack bars galore. The vest has lengthy open pockets to retailer water bottles: for instance, you’ll be able to match a 23.7 oz good bottle in them or a smartphone, which is my desire.
The vest has two sternum straps that pull the perimeters collectively over your chest, however it’s a bit tough to place them in order that they’re parallel. Not like typical shoulder straps, which have a prime and backside connection to the pack physique, SMD’s vest has 4 factors of contact, making for a busy pack with many straps, all coloured black, which makes them tough to distinguish from each other.
- The highest of the vest is hooked up to the yoke, which controls its top
- A aspect strap connects the vest to the aspect and backside of the pack bag (typical shoulder straps will not be related to the aspect).
- A load lifter strap connects to the higher half of the vest strap.
To suit the pack, it’s important to tweak every strap, which might be arduous to do by feeling alone and not using a full-length mirror useful. Whenever you take away the pack, it’s important to loosen the load lifters and retighten them over again once you put the pack again on. I don’t suppose I’ve ever used the load lifters on the Swift V as a lot as on any backpack, however they’re important for pulling the load ahead with the vest-style straps so it sits flush towards your again. Internet web: if you would like the pockets and comfort of the vest-style straps, it’s important to be keen to regulate them steadily on this pack.
Backpack Storage
The Swift V is configured like most ultralight model packs with a entrance mesh pocket and two aspect bottle pockets, which have elastic/twine locks on the prime to stop bottles from coming out. All of the pockets are made with Extremely Stretch cloth, which has glorious sturdiness.
The pack is a 50L rolltop with an added 10 liters of storage within the extension collar. The ends of the rolltop might be secured utilizing aspect straps once you need extra prime compression, or clipped collectively on prime of the pack bag. Six Moon Designs cleverly added two completely different buckles to the ends of the rolltop so you’ll be able to hyperlink the ends collectively on prime of the pack or to straps on the perimeters. The highest of the extension collar has a velcro strip to carry the perimeters collectively and forestall them from separating as soon as rolled and secured by the highest Y strap.
The pack comes with an inner hydration pocket to hold a reservoir, with two hydration ports behind the shoulder straps. There are not any hydration keeper straps on the vest-style straps, so that you’ll most likely need to MacGyver one thing up your self.
Exterior Attachments and Compression
The Swift V has a static twine as an alternative of compression straps made with webbing alongside the perimeters above the bottle pockets, that are tensioned with a prime line-loc. Whereas they don’t present a lot in the way in which of compression, they do stop taller gadgets, like fishing rods or trekking poles, from falling out. It’s additionally very straightforward to reroute these cords in different areas of the pack, which has additional buckles and beastie D-rings sewn into the seams as potential anchors.
The pack additionally has a Y-strap that loops over the roll prime, which can be utilized to lash further gadgets on prime of the pack. In my expertise, it’s fairly tough to safe a bear canister beneath a Y-strap, notably on packs that lack a non-rigid body and will not be bursting full, however the Y-strap is appropriate for securing different cumbersome objects like a foam pad or rope to the highest of the pack.
Comparable Backpacks
Advice
The Six Moon Designs Swift V is a light-weight 50L backpack weighing 38.6 oz with vest-style shoulder straps, though a model with typical shoulder straps can be out there. The Swift V has an adjustable size torso and a number of hip belt sizes so you’ll be able to dial within the customized match, which is a uncommon function within the ultralight backpacking world the place fixed-length torso sizing is the norm.
Whereas the Swift V has a body, Delrin loops don’t present the identical diploma of load switch, stiffness, or safety (from feeling the contents) {that a} pack with a full body or framestays supplies. The Swift V is most fitted for cumbersome however light-weight hundreds that don’t have a whole lot of inflexible edges that may poke via the pack bag and trigger discomfort. For instance, the Swift V can be a wonderful pack for hammockers who carry a number of quilts or ultralight thru-hikers with frequent resupplies.
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Disclosure: Six Moon Design donated a pack for overview.
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