Coming Back to Backpacking with the ACT LITE

Deuter user Jonathon Runcan will be adding a Pace 30 to his gear closet as the winning guest contributor for March. Jonathon describes himself as a blessed man with a fantastic family of two dogs, one cat, and one son, all kept in check by his beautiful, fantastic wife. He credits his time as a youngster in the Boy Scouts for giving him a sense of adventure that has never faded.

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My wife and I decided to get back into backpacking, and it's a different world from back when we hiked in jeans, two pair of socks and a crappy external frame pack.

After much agonizing and product researching we decided to buy the Deuter ACT LITE 65+10 men's and women's packs. Immediately we realized how awesome it was to be able to dial the fit of the pack to our own bodies. It's a feature I had never seen before, but I notice now something that is copied less successfully by competitors.

We set out on a weekend trip to test out the new gear and couldn't believe how easy it was. The packs were so comfortable and carried the weight very evenly. The only problem we ran into was staying hydrated. It was a cold weekend, and we were going through our water quickly.

I had elected not to purchase a hydration bladder. Based on prior experience they were a pain -- hard to fill, hard to clean and hard to drink from. By the end of the first day we were really feeling the effects of dehydration. After we made it out on the second day, I vowed to fix this problem before trying a longer trip where we could get in serious trouble.

I did some research on the Deuter site about their hydration system. It seemed to address all the issues I had with other brands. So I ordered in two 3-liter Streamers. They arrived and I was blown away by the simple and effective design. We tried them out immediately to great success!

I now had access to more water than I'd ever carried before and was able to stay well hydrated, making the miles we racked up that much easier. They flew by, and we were able to totally enjoy our time outdoors -- all because Deuter had thought out the needs of modern backpackers. We recommend this gear to everyone we meet on the trail and they are all impressed. Water is life. Lucky for us, we can now take it wherever we go and live it fully.