I’m as much of a pack geek as I am a fly rod nerd; I know what I like when I feel it, but I’m never entirely sure why.
That’s why when Glacier Glove — long known for their neoprene gloves — asked if I wanted to test their new fly fishing-specific daypack, I said yes.
A special harness holds your wading boots in place
The River Pack sounded interesting and sounded innovative, and yes — I wanted to like it.
I just couldn’t.
The unique design features?
- Waterproof lower compartment for waders (which drains to the outside of the pack, but keeps the pack contents dry)
- Waterproof cutout and retaining harness for wading boots
- Changing mat that folds up into the pack (like a tongue)
Considered as a whole, the River Pack offers up some interesting ideas, though like any design feature, it involves compromises.
In this case, the boot and wader compartments were nicely implemented (though heavy-duty “pro” waders fit a little tightly into the wader compartment, and the changing mat is nice), but come at the cost of reduced capacity for other goodies.
For instance, the Glacier Glove River Pack feels as big as a full-size overnight pack, but – aside from waders and boots – carries only as much as a regular daypack. That’s either good design based on normal user patterns, or an unacceptable trade off.
It's a pretty pack -- and nicely constructed -- but suffers a few flaws...
It’s also heavier than even my full-size backpack – the product of all the goodies mentioned above (especially the fold-up changing mat) and a fairly substantial internal frame.
Again, weight isn’t an issue if you’re not huffing your way up any mountains, though the old saying about “ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal pain” didn’t occur to somebody simply because it sounded cool.
The Real Competition: Comfort
I’ve long used a Lowe Expedition winter technical daypack for fly fishing in the backcountry; it offers numerous exterior lash points and a panel designed to hold a snowboard.
All those lash points make it possible to attach gear (wading boots, wet waders) to the outside of the pack, though it didn’t guarantee a dry interior (sometimes goodies leak through).
The Glacier Glove River Pack seems to obviate that need, and in fact, I’m prepared to say it’s a wholly interesting design that’s marred by one sizable flaw.
The fit of the thing–especially the waist belt.
Comfort Is Your Friend
The whole point of a pack is to carry your gear (typically, way too much gear) comfortably and efficiently, and to that end, packs are a little like hiking boots; what makes me swoon might turn your foot into a mass of blisters.
Fit is important, and the Glacier Glove’s biggest issue is a waist belt hamstrung by a set bizarre double buckles — connections that made it impossible to quickly adjust the belt length.
The dreaded hard-to-adjust buckle (it's on the male side of the clip too). You'll want to replace it...
In any pack designed to carry more than a little weight, the waist belt should fit snug enough to transfer at least some of the weight to your hips.
Also, hikers often adjust their waist belt on the go, tightening and loosening it over the course of a hike (I regularly tighten mine when traversing rough ground, loosening it when I’m in full stride on the faster stuff).
The Glacier Glove made that difficult, and as a result, the belt didn’t allow me to rest much of the pack’s weight on my hips.
Even when I finally fiddled it enough to get a decent fit, you only have to wear different clothes (or simply gain/lose weight), and it didn’t fit again. This is more important than it sounds if you’re using the thing (like I did) both winter and summer.
The Final Word
In the end, I couldn’t quite bring myself to fall in love with the Glacier Glove River Pack, but not for lack of trying.
It’s an interesting design that could do away with the dreaded “wet pack syndrome” you experience after hiking home from a fishing trip, but suffers from a bad waist belt decision, some weight issues, and what might be perceived as overspecialization; if you’re hiking to a stream where you plan to wet wade, most of the pack’s unique features are wasted (you’d be better off with a smaller pack).
The built-in changing mat is a nice touch (though you could always carry a small tarp square, which would be lighter) — and you could change out the worthless waist belt buckles at any good outdoor store — but as it comes from the factory, I can’t recommend it (unlike their sun gloves, which I’ll review in the future).
See you on the review trail, Tom Chandler
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