Thanks for your review, which prompted a visit to the GG website for more detail. I’m impressed with the thoughtful improvements that GG has made to their packs over the years. We dumped our heavy packs for the early GVP Gear pack and then have stayed with the first edition of the Mariposa, Your pack is tempting, but I’m afraid our Mariposa packs still have life left in them. One small point. I assume that your pack has a strong lifting strap, which isn’t displayed in GG website. I regard that as an essential component of the pack since it helps extend the life of the straps.. As a young boy I was taught the “proper” way to put on a pack, a Duluth pack with leather straps, which was to face the straps, pick it up by the “ears” (canvas bag top), lift it up onto a bent knee, grab the strap opposing the knee with the arm on that side, and then thread the other arm and shoulder through that strap and around down to the bottom of the pack. With the hand supporting the bottom of the pack, swing the pack around onto your back, thread the other arm through the remaining strap while straightening up. No stress on the pack or your back. Hope this isn’t too confusing, or presumptuous. A broken leather strap with many portages and many days to go on a canoe trip was to be avoided. I see most hikers slinging their packs on by grabbing one strap. Strap failure is the only pack problem that I‘ve observed with other hikers. And even with the graceful, low stress method described above using the lifting strap, the only minimal repairs needed on our old Mariposa packs has been to reinforce the strap stitching. (Bring a needle and use dental floss. No weight penalty} I enjoy the way a good piece of equipment recedes in importance, once under way. Have a wonderful journey.