Let's dive into the gear used: I took a Gregory Mountain Zulu which holds 38 liters, weighs 2.9 pounds empty, and retails for $150 (depending on where you look it might be more, it might be a little less). The link for that backpack is below.
This backpack has what is called a “free float ventilated suspension,” featuring a 3-D “comfort cradle” hip belt with “dynamic flex panels that move with” the natural movement of your body.
Improving Backpack Airflow and Sweating Less
So… what's really key on this backpack is that I'll remove my Cool Dry Frame – right here is the curved frame that does allow some airflow to happen – and we're going to look at airflow, along with the contents of this backpack.
I had water and extra clothes, just in case, and took off some clothes and shoved them in the backpack. Total pack weight no more than six pounds. I also took my Cool Dry Frame, which is Part Two of the test to increase the airflow of this backpack.
Here are the results, with gear specific to airflow and keeping the back cool and dry during the hike:
Part One is the incline and I only had the Gregory pack. As you can see from the graph, my back temperature gradually increased to 64º F. The humidity was lower initially because I had layers on. The Govee hygrometer doing the tracking didn't pick up my humidity because of the extra layers.
When I took layers off, you can see on the graph that the humidity rose right after because the Govee could more easily track heat dissipating off my back. The outside temperature, as mentioned, was in the low 40’s F.
Part Two of this test was the descent and that’s when I attached the Cool Dry (which you can easily do). Put the loops around the straps and Velcro the frame to the backpack. You can do this to any backpack.
I attached the Cool Dry Frame to my backpack and, as you can see from the graph, my back temperature was much more stable and the humidity was also more stable.
Even though I wasn't on an incline I was moving quite quickly on the descent, and the heat from my back wasn't registering as high because the Cool Dry was providing more airflow. Overall, my back temperature and humidity were more stable with the Cool Dry on my backpack as opposed to off.
Overall results? You don't necessarily need an expensive backpack to increase airflow across your back. All you really need is to take your favorite backpack, order a Cool Dry Frame, install it in a few minutes, and you will have increased the airflow of your favorite backpack (without spending a lot of money on promises).
That's it for me. If you want to learn more about Vaucluse, just click the link or visit VaucluseGear.com.
Thanks so much for your attention to sweating less.
You can read our 5-star customer reviews by clicking here. Yes, this gear works.
