Since 1986, Granite Gear has been offering hikers and packers a wide array of storage and travel bag solutions. Creativity and innovation are the cornerstones of the company’s products, and at this summer’s Outdoor Retailer trade show, they continued to push the industry with some inventive new offerings.
Many new packs and daysacks will be joining the lineup in Spring 2014. The Granite Gear Go and Stow Travel Pack is an ultralight sil-nyon pack that stuffs into a built in pocket. Jam it into your suitcase, carry-on or even your jacket pocket and bust it out when it’s time to carry some extra weight. At 8.4oz you won’t even know it’s there. The Go and Stow has padded shoulder straps with earbud gauges, and the removable belt can be used on a daypack or pouch. It’s an ideal solution for travelers and packers who will need some extra carrying capacity once they reach their destination.
My favorites of the new offerings are the Slacker Packer Drysack and its cousin, the Slacker Packer Compression Drysack. The Slacker Packer is an ultralight, packable bag that also happens to be a fully submersible dry bag. The Compression version adds three straps around the main bag and gives packers the option of cinching down big items like sleeping bags or tents. Both are fully seem sealed and have lightly padded shoulder straps. These look like the perfect option for summit bids or day hiking from a base camp, plus you’ll never have to worry if you plan to bring them somewhere wet.
Of course, Granite Gear may be most well known for their many storage solutions. I’ve been using Granite Gear stuff sacks and compression sacks for several seasons to store my tent and other backpacking goodies. The friendly folks at the booth loaded me up with even more storage bags, and we will have a thorough gear review after we put them all through the paces. Any piece of gear you have, from tents to base layer clothing, has a Granite Gear bag to stash it in, and they are all lightweight and trail tested. Looks like the company has only added to the arsenal for the upcoming season.