Rei Flash 18

By Author: Dr Joel Cooper
Total Articles: 13
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Anyone recall the 10 year old Saturday Night Live skit with Christian Slater? Ok...well if not, then the joke of the title could possibly be lost on you :) Read on anyway, it is great information.

There is necessarily going to be a time where you've got to carry them if you are planning to perform any regular hiking with your small dog. Maybe their feet get sore, they get exhausted or they just get lazy. I know. I have been there.

For occasions like these I believe to constantly have my REI Flash 18 Pack with me. It was a life saver when we hiked to and needed to carry Chester out 6 miles.

He spent that evening and the next morning hobbling around camp like a little old guy. It became clear that he was in no condition to make the 6 mile hike out. I had to produce a solution fast.

Being all MacGyver-like as I am, I scrounged through my pack and pulled our my REI Flash 18 Pack. I put a little microfiber towel within the base and after that put Chester in so his mind and arms were sticking out of the topmost part of the tote. I put the pack on back so that the backpack was worn on my front. I then ...
... put on my big backpack with tools on. The straps to the display pack are so thin that I didn't also feel them under the fat of the bigger pack.

Chester was 16 pounds at the moment. To be honest, it wasn't totally comfortable carrying 16 lbs of dog on my own front. It was a little tough on my back. My overnight backpack helped balance the weight though and the point is that this pack works fantastic in a pinch. I'm not certain what we might have done without it. Chester, at about 16 inches long, not including tail, fit in it nicely. If your puppy is substantially bigger than that, it may not work for you.

This pack is soft sided with no structured, stiff backing so it is a bit of equipment you may easily throw in your backpack since it doesn't take up much space. The matter actually has uses too like...AS A BOOKBAG. Move figure. Once you are at camp you can stuff enough stuff in it for day hikes, pull this bag out and set your big, overnight backpack in your tent. It also makes a great stuff sack for your clothes.

Note: If your intent of bringing it is as an emergency dog - carryer - outter do not use it as your one pack for day hikes. When you need to put it to use to carry your dog out what are you going to do with all that things that was IN the pack?

I only have two complaints about the pack.

One is for the same purpose I like it -- its ease and insufficient support. The pockets are a few of mesh pockets in. Regrettably, the sole factor they are great for is frustrating you because the rubbish you are planning to stuff within the pack keeps getting hung up on them. Additionally, they are on the aspect that lies against your back so anything you'd put in there -- like keys, snacks, wallet, knife -- will dig into your back as quickly as you put it on. This may cause it to rub on your backside. It is superb however as long as you do not expect to put more than 5 to 8 pounds in it.

The 2nd grievance is about the manner in which you open and close the pack. It has this system, which I guess is imaginative to someone, where you catch a black tab and draw on the clasp in the nylon twine to cinch it shut. It does not open the same way though. To open it you must stick your finger in the starting at the top of the bunch and draw the opposite direction on a loop of webbing attached to the cord toggle. It's easy after you get in the habit but whenever I had the bunch to a friend for the first time they always hand it back with this perplexed look.

Overall this pack is fantastic and, at its relatively low-cost, I'd advise that everyone have at least one. It is additionally something I just take with us every time we go trekking with Gretel and Chester in case they desire a little lift on the way out.

The truthful truth: I love REI however do not work for them and so they do not compensate me for reviewing their products. This can be something I purchased years back and wanted you to learn about because it's wonderful.

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