Video Review: Mountainsmith Colfax 25 - $54

The Mountainsmith Colfax 25L Crossover Day Pack.

Video review:

The good stuff:

This is a pack that most folks haven't heard much about.  I have looked at Mountainsmith in the past, but their packs always seem to have too much in the way of yellow bungee for my comfort.  This pack, obviously, does not.  The other thing that is attractive is that this pack is a steal at only $54 from Amazon.  Just a crazy good deal.


The pack is compact and well made.  The material is not as heavy as the Patagonia Blackhole or the Gregory Sketch 28, but it is plenty stout.  The hardware is no different than any of the other packs - secure and high quality throughout. The Colfax also has a clip to hold your water reservoir in the laptop sleeve area.  Too many packs in this class forget the necessity of that bit of hardware.

I like the fact that it has a divided organizer pocket that is separate from the main compartment. Since one is often going into this particular pocket, having a higher degree of accessibility is always a good thing.  I also appreciate that the compression straps are below the huge top opening making it possible to open the pack fully and breeze to access stuff at the bottom of the main compartment.  The fact that the top to the main compartment opens away from the suspension system side of the pack is a giant plus in my book as I like to wear my pack on my front when accessing stuff in the pack. (Imagine that situation and then think about how this opening will open away from your face instead of towards your face.)  There is also a small zippered pocket along the outer wall of the main compartment that is convenient.  It could hold the power block and several other cords for my MacBook if need be.

The suspension system is tops.  The center air-flow channel is deep and, I would imagine, effective at transmitting sweat up and away from the center of my back.  Of course, I do sweat all over my back, so its true effectiveness may be less impressive.  The daisy chains are stout - I could literally hang from them if I needed to.  They are the stoutest of all daisy chains that I have reviewed thus far if that it important to you.  Perhaps this is a reflection the overall build quality of the pack.

This is an simple, unadorned pack that fits my aesthetic tastes.  It may be a keeper - particularly since it was so inexpensive!

The bad stuff:

Not too much bad going on here.  The two zippered side pockets are not nearly as convenient and flexible to use as two open-topped mesh pockets.  They are too small to hold a water bottle but I suppose that they are great for a wallet, cell phone, or keys.

I did notice after playing with this pack a little longer that the zipper for the compartment that contains the divided organizer panel is a bit hard to open up.  For one thing, there is only a single zipper so you are forced to open up the entire pocket to access the stuff inside.  Also, the overhang that prevents rain from getting in through the zipper is so wide that it interferes with your ability to open up this compartment.  It might have been a better choice to go with a waterproof zipper here instead (and make it a double zipper to boot).

I do think all packs in this class would benefit from having the laptop sleeve in a separate area from the main compartment.  It just makes the laptop or tablet that much more accessible.  That said, it is easy to remove and insert a laptop in the Colfax because of the size of the opening to the main compartment - so this is less of an issue here.

Lastly, I love having a small, shallow pocket on the top of the pack for my glasses that one can access from the outside.  The side pockets would put my glasses in too vulnerable a position for my comfort.  Again, Patagonia really gets this just right with the implementation of the glasses pocket on the Refugio.

Summary:

I am a BIG fan of this pack.  It works really well and does not have any excess that bugs me.  While it still is not the perfect pack for me, so far it meets about 90% of my needs.  Predictably, then, it earns a grade of...

Grade: A- B+ (see update below) 

Update:  In looking even more closely at this pack I did notice that the build quality is not a good as it could be.  There are some mis-stitches and some misalignments in several places throughout the pack.  It is not awful, but clearly there was some inattention to detail which is never a good thing.  Ultimately, you always get what you pay for.  This has forced me to downgrade this pack from an A- to a B+.

Photos:

The front of the pack.  Clean looking.

The suspension system.  Comfortable and functional.

Divided organizer.  A must.  Bit hard to get access to this area.

Looking into the depth of the organizer section,

Solid hardware.  Not the best in the class, but in the upper half for sure.

Looking into the depth of the main compartment.

Padded laptop pocket  Note that there is no clip to keep the laptop in  The clip you see is for a hydration bladder.  You might be able to see a stitching issues along the border between the yellow and black on the right. 

The bonus pocket in the main compartment.

Bonus pocket open.

Outstanding daisy chain. 

The tiny side pockets where mesh pockets should have been.