Gregory Women’s Jade 50 Backpack

As far as outdoor equipment and backpacks go the Gregory Jade 50 seemed like a dream. Cute in style and functional in design, the Gregory Z55 and Jade 50 won the 2007 “Best All Around Weekend Pack” from backpacker magazine. Unfortunately it doesn’t win any awards for best travel pack. [ad#reviews]

High quality construction and designed for a woman’s body, the Jade 50 is great for walking, trekking and hiking around in urban and back country settings. Unfortunately it is difficult to pack correctly. The curve in the back, which keeps your back cool when wearing it, makes the interior shaped like an hour glass. It is almost impossible to fill the bottom of the pack completely, I find the bottom of my pack always as awkward negative space that I have trouble filling. The curve also makes it more difficult to get things in and out of the pack. We use compression sacks for our clothing again the curve of the back makes it difficult to use the space. I also find that because of the curve the middle of the pack is extended making it harder to shove the pack into overhead bins or under seats even if the front pocket is not full. This does not seem to be a problem with the Z55 which is more slim in appearance.

If you can’t tell, my biggest complaint is the curved back. Besides the back, the backpack is high quality construction and well designed with a side access zipper and a front pouch that I like to use for wet things. The straps on the bottom function well for attaching shoes, but overall the pack is sleek in appearance with out a lot of dangling straps and gadgets. The top pocket can be difficult to get things out of as unlike the Z55, the zipper does not go all the way around the pocket. When its full you have to take almost everything out to get to stuff on the side of the top pocket. I never put anything in there that I might need quickly.

Overall this is a good pack, but if I had the option I would trade it in for something more travel friendly. In my opinion the short comings of this bag would also negatively effect a back country traveler.

Gregory Women’s Jade 50 Backpack

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