MEC Ibex 80 Backpack

I purchased this pack in the spring of 2007 to use to attempt the Juad de Fuca Marine Trail. I hadn't done any significant backpacking since I was in my early twenties and figured that I needed something with a large volume and lots of pockets. I almost bought an Arc'teryx Bora pack but figured that I would save the extra money and purchase the Ibex 80 instead.

The pack itself is great but as I now know it is nowhere near being a lightweight pack. The empty weight for the standard length pack is 2.9 Kg (6.4 lbs) which is 3 times the weight of the Granite Gear Vapor Trail that I now have.

Tha pack is very well built and stands up to a lot of abuse. There are pockets everywhere on the thing so you should have no problems finding somewhere to put all of that gear.

The shoulder straps and padding on the back of the pack make it pretty comfortable even when hauling large amounts of gear. I had over 27 Kg (60 lbs) of gear with me for my attempt on the JDF and even though I came off the trail at the half way point it wasn't because the pack was uncomfortable.

If you are looking for an expedition grade pack and don't want to spend a wack of money this is the pack for you.

I still have the Ibex but for now it is retired.