Man isn’t meant to stay indoors — our weekly “Trekking” column can attest to that. It’s a column dedicated to the adventurer inside of all of us, the one pining to ditch the office humdrum for a seven-week jaunt in the Grand Tetons, or fiending to catch some waves someplace other than the North Shore. One day we may highlight a new ultra-light camping stove or minimalist water filter, and the next you may find us getting wrapped up in a set of Norquayco’s handmade canoe paddles. Life doesn’t just happen inside the workplace and home, so get outside and live it.
Not all backpacks are created equal. These days, it seems like manufacturers specifically build packs for every occasion imaginable, whether it be a quick romp on your local trail or a laborious trek through the mountains as part of a five-day backpacking binge with your cohorts. However, wouldn’t it be nice to have a single pack fit for more than one occasion? Thankfully, the crackshot team of designers behind the Eddie Bauer Sorcerer Pack ($500) seem to think so.
Honing in on the expandable design of the company’s award-winning Alchemist Pack, the convenient Sorcerer looks to quell the notion of a single-purpose build. The backpack features lightweight and weather-resistant construction thanks to the durable polyethlene fiber, along with the ability to quickly expand storage from 40 to 55 liters when in need of additional hardware and equipment. Furthermore, the packs feature a set of four Delrin compression straps designed to balance heavy loads and slims down to just under 3 pounds when you remove the BFF framesheet, which conveniently serves as as barebones sleeping pad or an emergency splint in times of trouble. It’s not a dry pack per se, but the space-age materials help shed both the elements and bulk, while offering the ability to adapt to whatever situation you might face. Convenience may come at a cost, but then again, so does buying two separate bags.
Check out the main Eddie Bauer website for more information or to make a purchase.
