GET OUTFITTED
Tales from the trail
Adventure Into Summer with the Summit Series
Explore the Frost River Summit Series
5 Perfect Packs for Every School Year
Whether you’ve got a little tike getting ready for the first day of class, a teen taking the next step into high school, a grad preparing for the move on to higher education, or a budding professional heading off to the start of a career, we’ve got perfect packs for every chapter of life.
Lash Squares - Unveiling Their Purpose
These seemingly small yet ubiquitous features on some of our packs can play a crucial role in the functionality and versatility of your outdoor gear. From the rugged trails of the backcountry to the bustling streets of the urban jungle, lash squares offer a myriad of possibilities for organizing and carrying your essentials.
Our Commitment to Sustainability
The Levels of Frost River's Sustainability: With Earth Day right around the corner, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on a topic that Frost River holds near and dear to...
CUSTOMER Reviews
Customer Reviews
Exactly what I needed it to be. Daypack/backpacking capable if needed. Love the craftsmanship!
Bought for my 12 year old son. As usual from FR a great pack and well designed features. Our families favorite company. Also LOVE the new paper catalog.
So yea, couldn't walk more than 10 paces without lower back pain if I put more than 5lbs of stuff in it, due to how low the bag sat (you can even see it in the marketing photo above with the person in the red jacket). Decided to take fate into my own hands and removed the brass ring, affixed the shoulder straps directly to the bag with brass rivets, and permanently re-dyed the strap color to brown. Now it's perfect, goodbye brass ring thing and lower back pain!
Got the 'deluxe' version with buckskin shoulder straps. Was able to fit everything that was in my Osprey 70L in this 32L bag, so that's saying something! Obviously just as heavy fully packed but the size is substantially reduced (duh), so this works far better as a bugout bag. Unfortunately, there is NO support for your back (it's basically just a potato sack with shoulder straps) and hangs quite low, so not toooo sure about comfort for longer distance backpacking. I had to punch another pair of holes on the strap to try to shorten them but still not enough before risking cutting off circulation to the arms (I believe the brass ring yoke-thing is far too big, along with 0 back support this thing just sags...); so I dunno maybe I did something wrong. Very much wished there was also a sleeve to insert a kevlar plate or something to soften it against the back, so yea DO NOT put anything that is not totally soft on the backside of the bag. The leather used is also very very soft, like butter; so will see how much they hold up in the field long term. But they do seem to be fairly tough since I had to use some decent force to punch and file a couple of more holes as mentioned above. I guess just keep them maintained with a decent leather cream. I do wish the buckskin straps were dark brown or something, the yellow makes them look like 70's suspenders...not very subtle...
In summary, to me, if the brass ring wasn't so big (so the bag doesn't sit so low punching you in the hip with every step [if I'm using this bag incorrectly maybe an employee can educate me]), and if they added a sleeve on the back inside for a insert it would be 5 stars for sure...(also color options for the buckskin shoulder straps other than yellow).
I recently added the Summit while visiting Duluth to my FR collection. First outing was last week climbing to the summit of West Spanish Peak in southern Colorado. It was the perfect size for the 7-hour round trip. Four water bottles, rain gear, extra clothes, food, binoculars, etc. Balanced super well on the rocky ascent / descent. Never felt the need for a sternum strap or padded straps, the pack stayed comfortably glued to my back the entire time. My new go-to adventure pack - thanks FR!
