Mountainsmith Drift Lumbar Pack

UPDATE: After 18 months of use, I’m still an even bigger fan now! This has become my “go bag” for dog walks, which makes getting out the door WAY faster—just grab it, leash up the pup, and go (my dog thanks you, too, Mountainsmith)! Here’s what fits in the bag easily, with room to spare: 12-16 oz water bottle, foldable water bowl, keys, iPhone 7+, a couple extra rolls of poop bags, sandwich bag with dog treats, 1-2 extra fabric masks (COVID-19), small wallet, trail bar, pocket knife. All of this fits easily—just toss it in, no special “arranging to make it fit”! The extra space remaining would be enough for a couple pieces of fruit, a sandwich, a crushable sun hat, extra leash, hand sanitizer...PLUSSES after countless uses: It’s durable; it’s washable; all the straps adjust easily; you can cinch the bag itself down to “compact” it; you can easily open the zippers with one hand while walking; it’s the Goldilocks bag—not “too” anything (big, small, bright, boring, flashy, cutesy, ugly...)! TWO TINY NEGATIVES: I find the side pockets for water bottles a tight fit for most of my reusable water bottles, and the bag does tend to flip forward slightly (not enough for anything to fall out)—but the latter can be mostly fixed by cinching down the front (smaller) straps or repositioning the heavier items in the bag. This has turned into such a dog-walk game changer (cute, convenient, plus *reassuring* to know I didn’t forget something I’ll need), I’m tempted to buy a second bag just in case they stop making this model!ORIGINAL REVIEW: I love this bag! It’s just the right size and I love all the options for carrying it. Cute color, too—a dark slate grey with kiwi/lime green trim. Way cuter than the usual black/red/royal blue options.

I absolutely love this pack and have put in several hundred miles with it so far trail running. It is the best thing I have ever tried. I wear it in front so I can easily grab water and stuff I have packed away. The trick I found is how I use the neck strap. I put my head and only my right arm through the neck loop while the pack is in front of me. This tends to make the strap cut diagonally across my front. I then cinch down tight on the two small straps that cause the pack to tighten against my waist. This cuts down on the bouncing initially. Next, I adjust the neck strap until it just barely tightens up so when I am running, the bounce weight of the pack is taken across my neck and shoulders. Works like a champ.One small issue I had to fix was the pad on the neck strap. Once I had things adjusted for comfort, I put a few stitches in the pad to fix it to the strap, now it's fine. If you don't do this, the pad will slide around on the strap and be annoying.I am able to fit two approximately 560ml old Gator-aid bottles in the side bottle holders, plus another one inside the pack (my dog gets thirsty). The cellphone pockets internally work, but are a tight fit for my Samsung Galaxy S7. It's a bit of a pain to get at the internal pockets when I need to, but not too bad. I wish they had made some extra pockets on the front to stick things into as that seems to be wasted real estate.It's built like a beast, so it should last quite a while. Will definitely buy again if this one wears out.Update 2018 - I am now well over 1000 miles on the trail with this pack, and have no failures to report. A great pack that I am now very attached to.

I received a colored bag LABELED "Hops" that is nothing like the color pictured. It is more of a army drab green with beige straps--none of the pictured color choices match what I received. I am contacting Mountainsmith for clarification and will update.This is the third drift bag that I have bought--I love the size and usefulness. I wore one for eight hours last weekend while clearing brush on the Pacific Crest Trail and hardly knew it was there. It was great to have my water and snacks with me, rather than sitting a mile back in my backpack. The quality seems excellent. Two regular size water bottles fit in the dual pockets, with sufficient interior space in the two compartments to carry your essentials.UPDATE: I contacted Mountainsmith and was sent the attached photo of the correct color for Hops. It matches what I received, but not the listing photo.

Very good pack, BUT...You'll need to add a frame sheet. The Drift is a nice size, with a lot of really excellent features. It's relatively breathable, has nice padding, good zippers, plenty of storage, and the cinch-straps are clutch. However, for some reason Mountainsmith decided to sewn the waist straps to the bottom of the pack and not integrate a frame sheet. That means when you actually utilize the water bottle pockets, the top of the pack rolls backwards as there's no real support for the weight. I quickly added two pieces of cardboard to the rear of the back pad and that alone was able to offer enough structure to the pack to stand up straight. I'll be making a new frame sheet out of polymer soon to last longer. Great pack, and it'll do you well should you be willing to rig a small piece of structure to the pack. Real shame Mountainsmith didn't just design it with one from the factory...

The Drift is a great practical, not too large, not too small, very well thought out waistpack, that was obviously designed by people that know what a pack should be. I use this mostly for several hour hikes in Texas. It's key that it holds two good sized water or Gatoraid bottles. It has nice quality zips, the Cordura is great. It holds plenty for a hike, a phone, snack, a bar, a wallet etc. It could hold a SLR. I like the attached key clip. The straps to cinch things tighter is a important feature. The mesh in the back is important for some comfort in the heat. I haven't used the extra shoulderstrap, but then I never pack things heavy. The Barley color is great, a nice tan and medium brown. It also comes in many color combos so that anyone can find something that they like. The Drift looks like it will last a long, long time. It's not a cheap thing, it's the real thing. It's just what I wanted.

This my first time brand from mountain smith, before this I have a lot brand for my waist bag .. what I can say, its super high quality material for me to use it,not too small not too big... that perfect for me use it everyday ...Thank you Amazon US for the great services .. its delivery earlier from the expected date ...Im very happy ...

渓流の釣りで谷の方へ入る時には、斜面で身動き取れなくなった時用に8mm径で20mの補助ロープと環やらを持って出掛けています。これまでは小型のバックパックに収納していたのですが、現実に使う時には「行けるかな？」で突っ込んだ結果既に動くと危険な状況になっており、そこで背から怖々バックを降ろしてロープを取り出して…と嫌な汗をかいてました。腰にウエストバッグで付けたら出しやすいのでは？と思いつき、何点か買って試しましたがロープの嵩が張るので容量的に間に合う物自体なかなか見つかりませんでした(2Lボトル入る物でもパンパンです)。また容量が間に合うサイズの物は、本体が重くなったり肩掛け併用式でショルダーストラップ側がメインでウエストベルトは補助用で貧弱になったりとイマイチでした。何かないかとアマゾンであれこれ見ていて見つけたのがコチラのバッグ。そういえば以前にこのタイプが流行ったコトがあったなぁと見ていると、容量6.5Lと良さそうな上に気に入った色が安かった(49%off!)のでポチリと購入しました。届いた商品を弄って感じたのは、このサイズにしては軽いし、さすがはランバーパックの開発元だけあって着けてからサイドを良い感じに締めるコトが出来て腰への収まりが良いです。縫製もこの手の物を買った時には出てる余り糸をライターで炙って処理するのがお約束みたいなものですが、殆どの余り糸は処理されていて製品管理がシッカリしてるなぁと驚きました。肝心の容量の方も、片手前腕に巻いて束ねたロープが余裕をもって入れることが出来て(30mが入るかは微妙な感じ)満足です。コチラを腰に着けて大型のバックパックは無理でしょうが、私が釣りに使っている20L程度の防水バックパックやタックルベストでは干渉もなく良い感じです。環やスリングもサイドポケットなどに収納出来ましたので、ガチャガチャしなくて良いです。私が試行錯誤した中で、現時点で「一番良いかも？」と思うバッグですので、同様に補助ロープ収納方法で思案されてる方の参考になれば幸いです。