This pack has really served me well both on the trail and on the slopes. It has a decent amount of room in the main compartment to fit both the bladder and an entra layer, or, if you have kids, all their extra stuff they can't possibly carry themselves.

Its nice that you can access the bladder from outside the pack, so you don't have to unload everything to refill. Small pocket on the front lets you hold your keys, etc, and not get them lost at the bottom of the main pack.

The tube has a nice insulated sleeve, which protects the contents from freezing - USUALLY. I've had times where the water has prozen at the mouthpiece (which also has an insulated cap), but you can usually free the ice by gently biting on the mouthpiece. Putting warm water in the reservoir solves that problem for awhile too, and keeps your back warm.

Downside to the pack is that it is totally in the way if you have to ride a chairlift or gondola (if you've stuffed it with other things). You can slim it down as much as practicable with the side cinches, so its not quite as big.

Make sure you burp the reservoir if you're not filling it completely, or the sloshing will make you crazy while running trails.

I've also been really happy with the performance of the ATC xp - but I rarely use it in the high friction mode - its not as smooth as the low friction mode - but I do like the choice. On long lowers or raps it does get really hot. It doesn't care at all what your rope dimension is. Somewhat heavy, but not enough to be annoying - a worthwhile investment, especially if you can find it on sale!

The material on this pad is also really easy to clean up - so you can actually take good care of this one. Love the little place for your keys, and its real narrow when its folded up so you're not getting hung up on stuff when you're humping it through the woods to your favorite site! Has a tendency to curl up when its folded up for a long time. Great buy.

Also, its shaped so that you can wear a baseball cap underneath it if you are one of those guys that needs to have your eyes shaded from the sun...

This GPS device is easy to use, especially paired with NatGeo topo software, you can develop routes in advance of your trip and download the waypoints into the device - or plot them as you go if you have a laptop in your car on a long trip. While its tough to get a consistent signal when you're down in the trees it was a lifesaver in Death Valley where's lots of open sky and LONG distances. It has a nice backtrack function, which lets you re-trace your steps without a detailed map. It has a compass feature, but no formal altimeter; you do get altitude, but I think its calculated based on coordinates from the satellites. Even so, its pretty accurate, in the Badlands area of Death Valley, its -282 ft, and my Legend read -279; pretty close. Garmin claims it can be dropped into water for over a minute, but I wouldn't try it, but it's very weather resistant, and has nice rubber sides so you won't drop it when your hands are wet. Otherwise, very durable, and relatively lightweight. The screen is a good size, and you can zoom in and out for detail. It comes with map software already installed, that shows roads, cities, etc. You can download software to find gas stations, restaurants, all sorts of stuff. Regardless of which type of GPS buy, they all inhale batteries, so turn it on when you want to check your position, and then turn it back off. The Legend comes with a long carrying strap - attach a compass to the end of it. By far the coolest thing to do with it is to turn it on in an airplane (shhh, don't tell the flight attendants) and watch your position literally FLY by on the screen. Good luck - and remember that a GPS can only supplement and will NEVER replace a map and compass. You will know your EXACT position on the face of the earth, but you will still be lost without a map.