Well, I survived the trip and I have to say the Eberlestock G2 is one hell of a solid pack.
Spent two days hiking through the Cumberland Plateau with the G2 strapped to my back and truth be told I'm thoroughly impressed with how tough this thing is. Final pack weight for the trip was 35 lbs. Once I got them adjusted where I needed, the shoulder strap buckles never moved at all. Seemed like the other guys kept having to readjust their packs but mine stayed solid in place the whole trip. Didn't treat the thing gingerly by any means, actually quite the opposite. It got tossed around quite a bit, spent some time leaning it back against trees and rocks to get the weight off my back and shoulders during breaks and it got rubbed, smacked, and scraped against rocks and trees the whole time. There's not so much as a mark on the pack itself and it still looks brand new other than the black finish got scraped off the exposed parts of the frame on the bottom. A big note on the plus side is that the bottom of the frame works as a prop and the pack stands up on its own. That came in really handy for putting the pack back on after breaks. Just found a big rock or downed tree to set the pack up on and slid right into it. It fit sideways right into head end of my bivy tent and made a great pillow too.
I will say that if you're looking for a casual hiking/camping pack for recreational trips the Eberlestock G2 is probably overkill. At over 8 lbs empty it's around four times heavier than your average hiking pack. However, if you're looking for a downright rugged pack that will survive countless range trips packed with tons of heavy gear or a pack that you can count on in a bug-out situation then the G2 should do the job just fine. They say you get what you pay for, but in this case I really feel like I got much more...
Spent two days hiking through the Cumberland Plateau with the G2 strapped to my back and truth be told I'm thoroughly impressed with how tough this thing is. Final pack weight for the trip was 35 lbs. Once I got them adjusted where I needed, the shoulder strap buckles never moved at all. Seemed like the other guys kept having to readjust their packs but mine stayed solid in place the whole trip. Didn't treat the thing gingerly by any means, actually quite the opposite. It got tossed around quite a bit, spent some time leaning it back against trees and rocks to get the weight off my back and shoulders during breaks and it got rubbed, smacked, and scraped against rocks and trees the whole time. There's not so much as a mark on the pack itself and it still looks brand new other than the black finish got scraped off the exposed parts of the frame on the bottom. A big note on the plus side is that the bottom of the frame works as a prop and the pack stands up on its own. That came in really handy for putting the pack back on after breaks. Just found a big rock or downed tree to set the pack up on and slid right into it. It fit sideways right into head end of my bivy tent and made a great pillow too.
I will say that if you're looking for a casual hiking/camping pack for recreational trips the Eberlestock G2 is probably overkill. At over 8 lbs empty it's around four times heavier than your average hiking pack. However, if you're looking for a downright rugged pack that will survive countless range trips packed with tons of heavy gear or a pack that you can count on in a bug-out situation then the G2 should do the job just fine. They say you get what you pay for, but in this case I really feel like I got much more...
