ZenTrekker
Section Hiker
Atom Prospector (Mountain Mover) Review
I promised @Chris2901 that I would do a write-up of my Atom Prospector Mark 2 at some point, so better late than never I suppose.
The backpack is not really a Prospector at all because the addition of the side compression cords meant that the construction with additional seams, was more like the Atom MO. Tom Gale hasn’t come up with a name as yet but his take on the design was a “. . . . wildly re-imagined Prospector/Mo/Mospector”, bit of a mouthful !!
The description reads as. . . . . "795g VX21 with crisscross side compression, removable HDPE frame sheet with contoured alloy bar, and a YKK AQUAGUARD zipper into internal pocket complete with a fancy ‘zip garage’. “
For the purpose of this write-up, when I refer to the back of the pack, its the bit with the shoulder straps that fits onto the wearer’s back. The front of the pack therefore is opposite to the back, even though it faces backwards when in use (confusing, isn’t it!).
First of all this is a custom pack, I wanted a ‘clean’ pack with no external mesh pockets. If you like your backpacks with lots of external pockets, you will not like this pack at all. This is an Alpine style rucksack that I can use for backpacking as well as hut-to-hut type excursions and longer mountain days. So this is not your typical thru-hiking/long distance path load lugger with a tent, sleep-mat and tin mug hanging off the side. I can get everything I need inside including 4 days of food.
I’ve used the pack on around 25 day walks with a full backpacking load, including food & water. Total all-up weight between 18 pounds and 22 pounds. I’ve also done around 10 days in the Peak District backpacking.
Wayne Gregory, founder of Gregory Backpacks and one of the ‘fathers’ of backpacking, once said that . . . . “you ‘wear’ not carry a backpack”, this sums up my feelings, I need a rucksack to be comfortable, low weight is great but secondry to comfort.
Atom Prospector front view
I originally bought a pack from Tom Gale of Atom Packs but was not really happy with it. I have to say that this was as much down to my lack of knowledge as anything. I subsequently discovered that Tom was not that happy with it either, in Tom’s own words . . . “A few months back Phil asked me to build him a pretty off the wall pack. There were a few teething problems with the design that were obvious to me before I mailed it out to him and, in the name of product development, I sent the pack out with the offer of building him a new one in return for some feedback on the design after a month or so of use.”
So I wanted a pack that was lightweight, comfortable to carry and could hold all of my kit inside the main pack-bag, around 40 to 45 litres, a pack that was ‘fuss-free’ that I could load without worrying where I put stuff. The new Mark 2 Prospector backpack ticks all of those boxes in my view.
The pack is very well made with lots of attention to detail such as little webbing tabs on the hip-belt to secure pockets (in contrasting colours!). The workmanship is undoubtably top notch.
Fully loaded with food for 3 nights/4 days plus a days supply of water (8.93kg/19Lbs 11oz), it carries really well and there is still some room to spare. I should say at this point that I have a very long back (21 inches) for my height (5ft 7in), so getting the right fit has always been a bit of an issue for me in a way that other people may find unproblematic. If you have a British Standard back length, then good on you. Some backpacks don’t suit me at all, I have never found an Osprey pack that fits me yet, to mention just one make. The Prospector (MOspector?) is a perfect fit and the addition of conventional ‘load-lifters’ and ‘tri-glides’ allows fine tuning of the back system plus moves the pack closer to the top of my spine.
The weight of the pack, as supplied, was 790 grams, however changing the foam padding (more later) has brought that down to 760 grams and replacing the aluminium frame-stay with a length of carbon fibre srip has reduced it further to 745 grams. There is a bit of excess ‘strappage’ which needs trimming at some point when I have the whole thing dialled-in. The weight by a combination of lightweight materials but only where where appropriate and not adding unnecessary bits & bobs but at the same time maintaining comfort. This is a very simple pack that does its job and does it extremely well.
Atom Prospector fully loaded for a 3 night/4 day trip
The pack-bag itself is made of lightweight material (VX21) that seems to have a very slight stretchiness to it. Certainly stuffing gear inside is very easy as the material seems to ‘give’ slightly and I can fill all sorts of odd spaces. When loaded the pack has very clean lines. In terms of volume, the pack-bag is spot-on for my needs. I don’t have an exact volume figure but I would say its between 40 and 45 litres. The top opening is quite large making loading very easy. Inside, the VX21 is white making it easy to spot things inside of the pack.
Large Top Opening
Though the material is waterproof, the seams are not taped, so the pack is not totally waterproof, I am using a very light 35 litre sil-nylon dry-bag (40 grams) for the essentials (clothes/food/quilt etc.) my tent, Platypus, stove and water filter kit are all packed outside of this dry bag (but inside the pack). If extra space is really required it would be possible to strap gear to the top of the pack using the compression cord. Tom has also thoughtfully added some additional webbing lashing points to help with this.
The wide external zipped pocket on the front of the pack is good for storing loose, need to have items, such as keys, sun-block, compass, headtorch, whistle etc. Its a big pocket but its capacity is constrained by how the main pack-bag is loaded. I don’t envisage ever filling it up though.
I didn’t opt for shoulder-strap pockets, preferring to attach my own that I know will fit my sunglasses/camera etc. and that I can remove if I so wish. I have heard good things about the Atom Pack shoulder pockets though, so don’t discount these as an option.
The side-compression cord and lower webbing compressors work well. Slacken them all off, load the pack and then tighten everything up. No bulging bits as can often happen with plain webbing compression straps, everything looks clean and tidy. The side compression system also has the advantage of being able to compress the volume of the pack right down to almost day-sack proportions when required, so no additional day-pack required when going off on walks from base-camp.
The base and back panel are hard wearing Cordura®.
The back system consists of a pocket inside the pack into which are inserted the foam padding and HDPE frame-sheet. Down the centre of the frame-sheet, a webbing channel is stitched to hold the aluminium frame stay, which can be moulded to the wearer’s back.
The frame-sheet pocket is secured with a flap and velcro strap.
Initially the back did ‘barrel’ ever so slightly , to negate this Tom has provided a slightly thicker frame-sheet. This has helped quite a bit and actually appears to transfer the load more efficiently onto the hip-belt and is noticeably more comfortable.
Some will not like the plain Cordura® back panel because of the lack of ventilation, it doesn’t overly worry me, I'm happy to trade a sweaty back for comfort any time.
I did find the supplied back padding slightly uncomfortable, so I have replaced this with thicker ‘egg-crate’ type foam which I had lying around (this is also slightly lighter).
The hip belt is very nicely constructed and easy to cinch up tight, though the webbing is slightly on the thin side (20mm). If I ordered another pack I would specify 30mm webbing or wider I think. Originally the hip-belt had a habit of riding down at times, which ended up with more load being carried on the shoulders. I had originally thought that the issue was caused by the hip-belt not being stiff enough. After some thought, I felt that the issue was in the lumber pad area. I found that between where the hip-belt is stitched to the back of the pack and the lumber pad, there is a ‘void’, I inserted some thick foam into this void, thereby increasing the size of the lumber pad (almost doubling it in size in fact). Amazingly such a simple modification solved all the issues with the hip-belt. The lumber pad now sits comfortably in the small of my back and the hip-belt stays put. I’m guessing that the thicker lumber pad has effectively ‘tuned’ the hip-belt/lumber region to my shape.
The other issue with the hip-belt is that you need to get into the habit of loosening the four strap adjusters before unclipping as they are not that easy to loosen once unclipped but that’s a very small issue and easily overcome with training!.
The harness system is pretty conventional with sternum strap, ‘load-lifters’ and tri-glides. The shoulder straps are comfortable, supportive and well shaped but not overbuilt. The length of the shoulder straps are a tad short for me, probably because of my long back and broad shoulders and I also have the load-lifters up tight. This makes no difference to the way the pack carries but it does mean that the sternum strap rides a little higher than I would want. The adjustment buckles for the shoulder straps come just under my arm-pits, so if you have broad chest or shoulders, make sure you ask for a longer padded section. The chest strap itself is a simple elasticated version with no bells or whistles (especially whistles!), just as I like it.
The pack-bag is simple, again no frills, roll-top closure, with a top compression strap to keep everything neat. The top opening seals with velcro, which I requested, its quicker to use and easier with cold fingers than the standard press-studs. The whole thing makes for quick and easy access to the pack’s contents. Big plus point as far as I’m concerned. The one thing I would specify next time would be a longer top section to increase the volume and allowing the pack-bag to accommodate more food on occaisions. Obviously this would add to the weight of the pack, so its a bit of a trade-off.
There are no straps etc. for ice axes on this pack, because I didn’t specify them, though these can be easily added during manufacture. On the occasions where I might use an axe, I would stuff it down the side compression system with the pick facing rearwards. For carrying trekking poles (useful on public transport), these can be slid down inside the compression cord (point downwards) and secured by the lower compression webbing.
Finally there is a small haul-loop, which I asked for, that makes picking up the pack useful but could do with being a bit longer and maybe thicker. Had I have given more thought to the project I would have also asked for a different coloured haul-loop to make it easier to see.
Lower Compression Strap detail
In terms of facilities for a hydration bladder, there aren’t any apart from the H2O port. You have to slide your bladder between the load and the back system, where it will normally stay put. However I have found that this arrangement can exacerbate the ‘barreling’ of the back system. What I do instead is to place the hydration bladder down one side of the pack and my tent and stove bag down the other side. These seem to balance each other fairly well and getting the bladder in is much easier with this arrangement. There is also far less of a risk of it being squeezed to the point of bursting (I have several ‘medals’ for this this not to mention wet pack contents).
Close-up of H2O Port (before modification)
In conclusion I really like this pack, it carries well and is comfortable. I did initially have some minor issues but I now have it all 'dialled-in'.
The supplied aluminium frame stay was a bit of the 'soft' side and after a while needed re-shaping. I have changed this for a piece of flexible carbon fibre strip (same size).
The pack has shaved nearly a pound in weight off my load and the workmanship is excellent. Highly recommended and well worth the money. If I need another pack, I won't hesitate to go to Atom Packs again
For more information, see . . . .
Atom Packs Website - https://www.atompacks.co.uk/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/atom_packs/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Atom-Packs-197365791075833/
I promised @Chris2901 that I would do a write-up of my Atom Prospector Mark 2 at some point, so better late than never I suppose.
The backpack is not really a Prospector at all because the addition of the side compression cords meant that the construction with additional seams, was more like the Atom MO. Tom Gale hasn’t come up with a name as yet but his take on the design was a “. . . . wildly re-imagined Prospector/Mo/Mospector”, bit of a mouthful !!
The description reads as. . . . . "795g VX21 with crisscross side compression, removable HDPE frame sheet with contoured alloy bar, and a YKK AQUAGUARD zipper into internal pocket complete with a fancy ‘zip garage’. “
For the purpose of this write-up, when I refer to the back of the pack, its the bit with the shoulder straps that fits onto the wearer’s back. The front of the pack therefore is opposite to the back, even though it faces backwards when in use (confusing, isn’t it!).
First of all this is a custom pack, I wanted a ‘clean’ pack with no external mesh pockets. If you like your backpacks with lots of external pockets, you will not like this pack at all. This is an Alpine style rucksack that I can use for backpacking as well as hut-to-hut type excursions and longer mountain days. So this is not your typical thru-hiking/long distance path load lugger with a tent, sleep-mat and tin mug hanging off the side. I can get everything I need inside including 4 days of food.
I’ve used the pack on around 25 day walks with a full backpacking load, including food & water. Total all-up weight between 18 pounds and 22 pounds. I’ve also done around 10 days in the Peak District backpacking.
Wayne Gregory, founder of Gregory Backpacks and one of the ‘fathers’ of backpacking, once said that . . . . “you ‘wear’ not carry a backpack”, this sums up my feelings, I need a rucksack to be comfortable, low weight is great but secondry to comfort.
Atom Prospector front view
I originally bought a pack from Tom Gale of Atom Packs but was not really happy with it. I have to say that this was as much down to my lack of knowledge as anything. I subsequently discovered that Tom was not that happy with it either, in Tom’s own words . . . “A few months back Phil asked me to build him a pretty off the wall pack. There were a few teething problems with the design that were obvious to me before I mailed it out to him and, in the name of product development, I sent the pack out with the offer of building him a new one in return for some feedback on the design after a month or so of use.”
So I wanted a pack that was lightweight, comfortable to carry and could hold all of my kit inside the main pack-bag, around 40 to 45 litres, a pack that was ‘fuss-free’ that I could load without worrying where I put stuff. The new Mark 2 Prospector backpack ticks all of those boxes in my view.
The pack is very well made with lots of attention to detail such as little webbing tabs on the hip-belt to secure pockets (in contrasting colours!). The workmanship is undoubtably top notch.
Fully loaded with food for 3 nights/4 days plus a days supply of water (8.93kg/19Lbs 11oz), it carries really well and there is still some room to spare. I should say at this point that I have a very long back (21 inches) for my height (5ft 7in), so getting the right fit has always been a bit of an issue for me in a way that other people may find unproblematic. If you have a British Standard back length, then good on you. Some backpacks don’t suit me at all, I have never found an Osprey pack that fits me yet, to mention just one make. The Prospector (MOspector?) is a perfect fit and the addition of conventional ‘load-lifters’ and ‘tri-glides’ allows fine tuning of the back system plus moves the pack closer to the top of my spine.
The weight of the pack, as supplied, was 790 grams, however changing the foam padding (more later) has brought that down to 760 grams and replacing the aluminium frame-stay with a length of carbon fibre srip has reduced it further to 745 grams. There is a bit of excess ‘strappage’ which needs trimming at some point when I have the whole thing dialled-in. The weight by a combination of lightweight materials but only where where appropriate and not adding unnecessary bits & bobs but at the same time maintaining comfort. This is a very simple pack that does its job and does it extremely well.
Atom Prospector fully loaded for a 3 night/4 day trip
The pack-bag itself is made of lightweight material (VX21) that seems to have a very slight stretchiness to it. Certainly stuffing gear inside is very easy as the material seems to ‘give’ slightly and I can fill all sorts of odd spaces. When loaded the pack has very clean lines. In terms of volume, the pack-bag is spot-on for my needs. I don’t have an exact volume figure but I would say its between 40 and 45 litres. The top opening is quite large making loading very easy. Inside, the VX21 is white making it easy to spot things inside of the pack.
Large Top Opening
Though the material is waterproof, the seams are not taped, so the pack is not totally waterproof, I am using a very light 35 litre sil-nylon dry-bag (40 grams) for the essentials (clothes/food/quilt etc.) my tent, Platypus, stove and water filter kit are all packed outside of this dry bag (but inside the pack). If extra space is really required it would be possible to strap gear to the top of the pack using the compression cord. Tom has also thoughtfully added some additional webbing lashing points to help with this.
The wide external zipped pocket on the front of the pack is good for storing loose, need to have items, such as keys, sun-block, compass, headtorch, whistle etc. Its a big pocket but its capacity is constrained by how the main pack-bag is loaded. I don’t envisage ever filling it up though.
I didn’t opt for shoulder-strap pockets, preferring to attach my own that I know will fit my sunglasses/camera etc. and that I can remove if I so wish. I have heard good things about the Atom Pack shoulder pockets though, so don’t discount these as an option.
The side-compression cord and lower webbing compressors work well. Slacken them all off, load the pack and then tighten everything up. No bulging bits as can often happen with plain webbing compression straps, everything looks clean and tidy. The side compression system also has the advantage of being able to compress the volume of the pack right down to almost day-sack proportions when required, so no additional day-pack required when going off on walks from base-camp.
The base and back panel are hard wearing Cordura®.
The back system consists of a pocket inside the pack into which are inserted the foam padding and HDPE frame-sheet. Down the centre of the frame-sheet, a webbing channel is stitched to hold the aluminium frame stay, which can be moulded to the wearer’s back.
The frame-sheet pocket is secured with a flap and velcro strap.
Initially the back did ‘barrel’ ever so slightly , to negate this Tom has provided a slightly thicker frame-sheet. This has helped quite a bit and actually appears to transfer the load more efficiently onto the hip-belt and is noticeably more comfortable.
Some will not like the plain Cordura® back panel because of the lack of ventilation, it doesn’t overly worry me, I'm happy to trade a sweaty back for comfort any time.
I did find the supplied back padding slightly uncomfortable, so I have replaced this with thicker ‘egg-crate’ type foam which I had lying around (this is also slightly lighter).
The hip belt is very nicely constructed and easy to cinch up tight, though the webbing is slightly on the thin side (20mm). If I ordered another pack I would specify 30mm webbing or wider I think. Originally the hip-belt had a habit of riding down at times, which ended up with more load being carried on the shoulders. I had originally thought that the issue was caused by the hip-belt not being stiff enough. After some thought, I felt that the issue was in the lumber pad area. I found that between where the hip-belt is stitched to the back of the pack and the lumber pad, there is a ‘void’, I inserted some thick foam into this void, thereby increasing the size of the lumber pad (almost doubling it in size in fact). Amazingly such a simple modification solved all the issues with the hip-belt. The lumber pad now sits comfortably in the small of my back and the hip-belt stays put. I’m guessing that the thicker lumber pad has effectively ‘tuned’ the hip-belt/lumber region to my shape.
The other issue with the hip-belt is that you need to get into the habit of loosening the four strap adjusters before unclipping as they are not that easy to loosen once unclipped but that’s a very small issue and easily overcome with training!.
The harness system is pretty conventional with sternum strap, ‘load-lifters’ and tri-glides. The shoulder straps are comfortable, supportive and well shaped but not overbuilt. The length of the shoulder straps are a tad short for me, probably because of my long back and broad shoulders and I also have the load-lifters up tight. This makes no difference to the way the pack carries but it does mean that the sternum strap rides a little higher than I would want. The adjustment buckles for the shoulder straps come just under my arm-pits, so if you have broad chest or shoulders, make sure you ask for a longer padded section. The chest strap itself is a simple elasticated version with no bells or whistles (especially whistles!), just as I like it.
The pack-bag is simple, again no frills, roll-top closure, with a top compression strap to keep everything neat. The top opening seals with velcro, which I requested, its quicker to use and easier with cold fingers than the standard press-studs. The whole thing makes for quick and easy access to the pack’s contents. Big plus point as far as I’m concerned. The one thing I would specify next time would be a longer top section to increase the volume and allowing the pack-bag to accommodate more food on occaisions. Obviously this would add to the weight of the pack, so its a bit of a trade-off.
There are no straps etc. for ice axes on this pack, because I didn’t specify them, though these can be easily added during manufacture. On the occasions where I might use an axe, I would stuff it down the side compression system with the pick facing rearwards. For carrying trekking poles (useful on public transport), these can be slid down inside the compression cord (point downwards) and secured by the lower compression webbing.
Finally there is a small haul-loop, which I asked for, that makes picking up the pack useful but could do with being a bit longer and maybe thicker. Had I have given more thought to the project I would have also asked for a different coloured haul-loop to make it easier to see.
Lower Compression Strap detail
In terms of facilities for a hydration bladder, there aren’t any apart from the H2O port. You have to slide your bladder between the load and the back system, where it will normally stay put. However I have found that this arrangement can exacerbate the ‘barreling’ of the back system. What I do instead is to place the hydration bladder down one side of the pack and my tent and stove bag down the other side. These seem to balance each other fairly well and getting the bladder in is much easier with this arrangement. There is also far less of a risk of it being squeezed to the point of bursting (I have several ‘medals’ for this this not to mention wet pack contents).
Close-up of H2O Port (before modification)
In conclusion I really like this pack, it carries well and is comfortable. I did initially have some minor issues but I now have it all 'dialled-in'.
The supplied aluminium frame stay was a bit of the 'soft' side and after a while needed re-shaping. I have changed this for a piece of flexible carbon fibre strip (same size).
The pack has shaved nearly a pound in weight off my load and the workmanship is excellent. Highly recommended and well worth the money. If I need another pack, I won't hesitate to go to Atom Packs again
For more information, see . . . .
Atom Packs Website - https://www.atompacks.co.uk/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/atom_packs/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Atom-Packs-197365791075833/