Yo, I bought this pack (vortex 5800) and took it out for a week in the snow. I was carrying round 50 pds and I had read all the reviews about it. I CANNOT BELIEVE that the reviewers missed some of the basic flaws of this pack. For 1 look beneath the fold and look at what the shoulder straps are fastened to--a piece of plastic! And its single stitched! I tore my shoulder strap turning my pack over with ONE HAND. Thats how I found out about the inadequate stitching. A pack you buy at walmart using cotter pins has better support. Plus if you look at the piece of plastic the shoulder straps are single stitched onto you will find that its not secure. Hiking I found it had a tendancy to teeter back and forth making me walk like a pirate on the high seas. Plus--examine the joint that piece of plastic is sawing against! I had to and after one hike found its sawing away at that 1 inch stitch. I had to hike 25 miles out in the snow and ice with a blown shoulder strap--but used the adjustment straps to carry the weight. This is a real basic design flaw--and I CANNOT believe none of the reviews mentioned it. Additionally the slanted water bottle thing is all hype. Yes with some contortion you can get it out by yourself--but your still going to need help putting it back in. Look for yourself when you examine the pack. Follow the shoulder straps into back of the bag and check it out. This is not an expedition grade pack.

Customer Service

Can't tell yet. Its been weeks since i sent it in and I havent heard anything. I can't even get a live person when I call.

Similar Products Used:

Name it. Kelty/mountainsmith/handmade/

My Vortex pack has answered every call and demand I have placed on it. The padding on this pack can NOT be beat!! The KEVLAR construction is the BEST Available!! I am selling all other top brands I own so I can buy another Vortex for bigger trips. I take my pack icelimbing, school, everywhere it's the best! I have people offer to buy it all the time, they like the desgn and Comfy padding cannot be beat!! Vortex Rules!!!!!!

Customer Service

Great company!

Similar Products Used:

Gregory Massif, Dana Design packs, North Face, Artytrec, jansport, kelty, etc... I do my homework Vortex all the way!!!

I purchased a 2200 and a 5800 early summer 1999. Both packs, after getting wet, transferred the black dye from the pack, including the back support, shoulder straps and waist belt, onto my clothing including shorts, shirts, jackets as well as items inside the pack. After using the packs in rain and snow, everything that comes in contact with the Lycra material becomes blackened from the dye transfer. As bazaar as it sounds, this is the case. Vortex sent me several replacements and they all had the same dye problem as well as other problems.

Customer Service

Customer Services: The worst I have ever experienced. Yes, Vortex is quick to send out replacements. However, they have never sent me two identical packs in the 11 months I have been trying to resolve this problem. They always seem to be sending seconds, due to production defects. They have sent me three 2200s and one 5800 and they all had the same problem of staining clothing etc. when using them in wet weather. While they reimbursed me for the cost of a ruined Marmot jacket, they still have not replaced the defective packs.

After returning the packs (and the jacket as proof that they have a problem, which they admitted after some prodding. It's not easy to deny the problem with the word XETROV stained in to the back of the jacket) the last time, in December 1999, and after many promises to reimburse me the cost of the packs, ("The checks in the mail") nothing. I 'd call to inquire why the reimbursement never arrived I'd and be given another excuse, this one just as bazaar as the last.

Their latest solution in February 2000 was to send me two more packs. I agreed if they'd assure me that I wouldn't have the same dye transfer problems. They assured me the new ones would not. Yet as of April 23rd I am still waiting for the new packs. I call time and again when the stated date to receive the packs comes and goes. I talk to the same individual Jeff whom I'm told is the only one able to help me. Jeff always blames someone or something else for the packs not being shipped, but always assuring me each time, that I would receive the new packs in just a few days, I am still waiting.

Talk to someone else? I've spoken to 4 or 5 different individuals in the 11 months that I have had problems with Vortex which are still yet to be resolved. Two of those individuals are the co-owners of the company.

I've given up on my investment of $540.00.

My experience with Vortex, "Their the worst."

The Daypack offered by Vortex is an affordable and effective alternative. With its lateral frame design, the pack comfortably wraps snug to prevent any hastle while hiking. It is a highly effective pack for backcountry ski travel, although it is primarily designed for light touring due to its low volume capacity. There are two complaints, however, that must be addressed: 1. There is no shoulder strap adjustment to make the pack fit snug on top of the collar bone, and 2. Vortex packs in general are a bit awkward if they are not completey packed full of supplies/equipment.

Similar Products Used:

None

It's difficult to judge the value of this pack becuase I got such a great deal on it ($40). But it is a wonderful pack. It has a very well padded back with an aluminium stay, running horizontally in the bottom. This helps the pack to wrap around you back. The shoulder straps are also well padded. As well as having kevlar stitching and huge rubber pulls on the zippers, the hip belt is also wonderful. Although not padded (the pack is not made to carry much weight) you can wrap the hip straps around the back of the pack through beltloop type of straps. This is great when you dont want to use the hip belt. There are also three outside compression straps that are wonderfull for smaller loads. I also noticed that the bottom of the pack is constructed from the same 1600 Denier as other Vortex packs. This material is said to be pretty much indistructable. Overall, I think that this is a wonderful pack for smaller activities (Day hikes, school)

Customer Service

Customer service is wonderful. They quickly exchanged a hipbelt on another Vortex pack I own. I think it is also important to note that while other top companies have moved out of the states to construct there products (Dana moved to Mexico) Vortex's produts are made in Utah. Vortex packs also carry an unconditional lifetime warrenty covering not only manufacturing defects, but personal abuse of the pack.

Similar Products Used:

TNF, (Extremely uncomfortable and unstable pack)