There’s a fine line between a sleek, functional rucksack and a backpack
that was best left behind in middle school. A good backpack will make you look like you know how to carry things, like you can find your way around this world.
Also, a wise man once said that the difference between a boat and a ship is that a ship has a boat on board. That is a great analogy for the Marmot Kompressor, a lightweight, versatile bag (boat) that will fit inside your super hard-core mega backpack (ship) that you have taken around the world and on the Four Pass Loop.
The Kompressor is a nifty little guy that takes the concept of the day pack and refines it for serious mountain use. You will still look cool with it at the pool, however.
The pack is versatile. One of its many reasons for being, the 920-cubic-inch Kompressor is a perfect stuff sack for a backcountry sleeping bag, and its three-strap system will compress material down to the lowest possible volume for transport in the larger bag. Then, when you get to camp and decide the peak rising above you is fit for the taking, the Kompressor has you covered. It is big enough — not too big — to hold everything you would need for a day’s journey, and it even has an “integrated hydration sleeve” that will hold a large bladder full of water. Said hydration sleeve has a removable closed-cell foam backsheet. If you take that out, the bag can pack itself into its top lid pocket.
Other features include air mesh straps and a side loop for ice tools. The 10-ounce bag is made of 210D nylon double ripstop and 70D double ripstop silicone-impregnated nylon. Oh yeah.
Get Your Own
The Marmot Kompressor is available for $45 at both the Ute Mountaineer in Aspen and the Aspen Marmot store.
