Zpacks Nero Review

Description

** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

Zpacks Nero - http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/nero.shtml

AZT Gear Set-Up Video - https://youtu.be/FcpfsIgRwkE

AZT Section Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/09/22/darwins-2017-azt-section-hike/

DISCLOSURE:

Zpacks provided me with a sample of the Nero Pack. I have no contractual agreement with this company and only give reviews on gear I myself would use or feel would benefit my viewers to know more about. I am self employed and do not receive further compensation from Zpacks for this gear review.

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------Intro & Animation By: BlackStrap Media------

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------- Music By: Mike Boren --------

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Tags: Zpacks,Zpacks Nero,UL Backpacking,UL Hiking Gear,Cuben Fiber Pack,AZT,Arizona Trail,Section Hike,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru Hike,Zpacks Arc Blast,UL Hiking,Hiker Trash,Hiking,Backpacking,Gear Review,Thru Hiking,Gear Set-Up,UL Backpacking Gear

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with a for review of the Z packs Nero [Music]

[Applause]

all right so before we get started I do not work for z packs in any way and I was not paid to do this review z packs did however supply me with a sample of the nero to test review and let them know my thoughts if you guys want to find out more information about that i'll put a disclaimer in the description box below and you can find more info so let's talk about the nero Peck i picked this guy up specifically for my section hike of the Arizona Trail last month now as you guys might know one of my favorite all-time packs is a Z packs pack and that is the arc blast I love that pack and that is the pack that I will be carrying next year on my thru-hike of the PCT but for that section of the Arizona Trail I wanted to put together a little bit lighter of a kit and try something that I've never tried and that's getting down to a base weight of seven pounds so for that task I chose the Nero because it's an insanely light pack and it's perfect for an ultra light setup on the trail now overall I have really enjoyed this pack in it's done phenomenal for me it's held up great to everything that I put it through it's been super comfortable and it's been the perfect size for that gear loadout alright so before I start talking about what I like about the pack let's go over the specs so the Z packs narrow has a total capacity of 38 liters now that's 25 liters for the main body the main compartment of the pack 8 liters on the mesh pocket that is on the outside and 2.5 liters for the individual pockets on the side the pack has an overall load capacity of 20 pounds which means that if you're going to be carrying the Nero you need a base weight between 5 and 6 pounds for my Arizona trails section I did have a base weight of 7 pounds so I was definitely pushing that max weight limit however I was comfortable with the loadout that I had in this pack the Nero is made of a very heavy-duty Dyneema composite or Cuban fiber it's completely seam sealed and is waterproof now without any of the extra accessories that you can add on to the pack the overall weight of this guy is ten point nine ounces and they retail for $200 now you can get the pack in a few different colors and all of z-pak stuff is always made to order so does take a little bit longer to get this guy to your door alright so let's go over some of the features of the pack so the Nero is a frameless pack which means it has no internal or external frame the only thing that Zi packs added on to the pack was this pad so you can take this pad in and out and it is a seat pad so an ass pad kind of like the Z rest that I typically carry it has fixed shoulder straps with no load lifters nice thick padded shoulder straps exactly like the ones that are on my ark blast which I absolutely love it has a nice adjustable sternum strap a non padded hip belt that is fully adjustable so you can extend the torso length if you want or you can remove it and then a roll top compression closure system so the compression straps that are on the side not only compress the pack but they're also what keeps it closed and locked down into place like I said overall this pack was perfect for what I took it out for with a 7 pound base weight even though that was over the suggested base weigh it still worked great and held all of my gear phenomenal the max weight that I had in this pack was 17 pounds so I was pushing it a little bit and that was with five days of food and two liters of water some of the features that I really loved on the pack are obviously this big mesh pouch that I can put everything on the outside so I kept my water filter my rain jacket my ditty bag my toilet paper anything that I wanted to easily access I put it on this mesh pouch now with a pack like this when you are carrying such a light load a lot of times hikers don't want to use a hip belt and that's why Z packs put that really single one piece of webbing hip belt on there that has no padding and a lot of times I would actually hike without that now you can remove the hip belt and make it a completely non hip belt pack but I did keep it on there just in case I was carrying a little bit of extra load and I wanted to support the weight on my hips now if you feel like you need a little bit of extra padding they do make hip belt pouches that actually have padding on them that you can buy separately and add on to the pack another cool feature that I think Z packs does with other packs is they put a full daisy chain on the front shoulder straps so you can add things and different components like the small little pouch that I added to mine but I kept my phone and my camera in all right so now that I've told you what I like about the pack let's talk about a few things that I didn't necessarily dig so number one would be the top closure system now even though I really respect that Z packs wanted to get the pack as a light as possible I don't really like how the pack closes so on my arc blast it has a Velcro top that clips together rolls down and then has a compression strap where this is sort of similar which it has the velcro you roll it down and then it has these cords to where you cinch it down and that's what holds the pack closed now sometimes these started to get kind of loose and I wish that I would have had that compression strap or I could really pull down the way now obviously adding all that stuff would add weight to the pack but I don't think it would add too much and I think that it would make the overall pack closure much sturdier and a little bit less of a nuisance when you are trying to roll it down and then the other thing that I didn't really dig about the pack and I don't think that I'm alone here is the pad that they include so even though it's nice that Z packs did include this pad it's kind of uncomfortable for one it's too small for the system that it's end and I constantly felt it moving around and kind of rubbing my back which over time could create chafing and I wasn't a big fan of that the other thing is because it is a solid thick piece of foam it created a lot of sweat on my back so what I actually did was I took this guy out and then I replaced it with a piece of therm-a-rest Zee light now as you can see this piece is a lot wider and a lot longer so overall it made a better back panel and because it has the little divots in here it allowed a little bit more airflow and it allowed it to breathe so aside from that I really have no complaints about the narrow it's been a really phenomenal pack and not only for an ultralight backpacking pack but it also makes a really great day pack so I actually used it as a day pack for a 17 mile hike in the Grand Canyon last month snuggles and I hiked down to the river and back up the other side and it was great for that so I would definitely also suggest it as a day pack and I really look forward to testing this a lot more and putting a lot more miles on it but as now I got about 200 miles on it and it's been working great if you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I'm posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past hikes if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

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