The Granite Gear Quetico portage pack (pronounced, “por-tahhhggg”) brings more to a canoe trip than simply a pack with a cavernous main compartment, shoulder straps, and a bottom shaped and designed to fit in the bottom of a canoe.
After more than a decade of memorable trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with a traditional Duluth Pack, the time had come for reflection. It was heavy (especially when wet). Uncomfortable to carry over long portages. I had been eyeing Granite Gear canoe packs for a few years but angst and guilt shamed into closing out the browser. How could I even consider a replacement to the artisan-class pack made in Duluth, MN? (Side note: After Duluth Pack hosted Ivanka Trump, a representative of polarizing administration that is a proponent of the Twin Metals mining project proposed for the BWCA, at their facility, whose backyard IS the BWCA) it’s a little easier to justify my deception.
In July, a Granite Gear Quetico sample arrived just in time for a seven-day canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Below is a story of angst, guilt, conflict and reconciliation.
Size
Granite Gear has four portage packs in their line-up. All accommodate torso sizes of 18 to 21 inches in length but vary in capacity size. To be transparent I’m 5’ 5” in height, weight 125lbs and on the small side.
The hulking Superior One, with 121 liters of capacity, was immediately nixed. I’m not an ultra-lighter. If I have 121 liters of space to fill, I’ll fill it. If the sheer cargo weight doesn’t sink the canoe it’ll destroy the cartilage in my knees and ankles as I plod laboriously over a long portage on my way to a double knee replacement.
Next in size is the Traditional #4 at 98 liters. In my opinion this was still too big for me. Next was the Quetico at 82 liters. The smallest pack in the lineup is the 57-liter Traditional #3.5. I chose the Quetico because it seemed more in line, capacity-wise, with my Osprey Xenia 85 multi-day pack. My Duluth pack is about 70 liters so the Quetico provided a little extra room.
It turned out to be the right size for me. Not only did it hold my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, stove, fuel, bowls and utensils for two people, headlamp, book, cleaning supplies, fire starting kit, toilet paper kit, ditty bag, water purifier, pack towel, hammock (no really!), solar charger, binoculars (for loon watching), sun shower, rain gear, wool pull-over, three clean shirts and one pair of long pants, I could carry it and portage the canoe.
Weight
I didn’t weigh the packed pack for two reasons:
- The days leading up to departure were crazy and chaotic and I didn’t fully pack the Quetico until an hour before I hoisted it into the canoe at Sawbill Lake.
- Why? I needed everything I had packed–even the hammock and the sun shower. And my longest portage was 180 rods (roughly half a mile). I could suck it up for that.
However, when the Quetico arrived, I noticed right away that it was lighter despite offering more volume. This wasn’t surprising because the Duluth Pack is made from a heavy-duty canvas and the Quetico is made from 420D Cordura Ripstop Nylon. Although now the Duluth Pack is heavier with the weight of hosting a proponent of mining in the BWCA.
In terms of packed weight to carry, it didn’t feel exceptionally heavy. I wasn’t moaning and grunting and on-my-god-how-much-longer-is-this-por-tahhhggg-because-I’m-dying?!
Harness
The Granite Gear Quetico’s harness is more in line with a multi-day backpack than that of a traditional portage pack with just standard shoulder straps. It has a padded back panel, contoured and padded shoulder straps, three sets of compression straps on each side, load stabilizer straps, and a comfortable waist belt. All told, it contributed to a more comfortable experience for both me and my back when portaging between lakes.
This is a big step up from my Duluth Pack’s harness system of just two leather shoulder straps—and that’s it. No hip belt to offset weight from my back to my hips and no back panel. I carried the weight of my burdens entirely on my back.
Having this upgraded harness made for faster portages. The ideal portage should be done in one trip but in my Duluth Pack days, I always made two trips. The first trip was carrying just the pack, which required both to help balance the load and offset some of the pack’s weight from my back. The second trip was to fetch the canoe paddles and food pack. I had never been able to carry both the canoe and the Duluth Pack because the combination of a heavy pack hanging entirely off my back and a canoe pressed uncomfortable on my spine and vertebrae.
With the Quetico, the harness absorbed all the manual effort of the Duluth Pack days. Portages only required one trip. On portages that I wasn’t carrying the canoe, I carried the food pack on my chest and the canoe paddles in both hands while the weight of the Quetico sat comfortably on my hips. When I did carry the canoe, I had no issues carrying both at the same time.
Durability
I evaluate durability based on the potential failure points: Fabric, stitching, hardware and a reinforced bottom. Stitching is important because if the thread is too thin, and the seams are flimsy, they will degrade over time and rip, usually in critical places like the shoulder and compression straps. Hardware made from lightweight plastic provides opportunity for disasters and other malfunctions. And if the pack isn’t made from a high-quality fabric, it will won’t be resistant to abrasion and tears.
The Quetico was designed and built with all this in mind. Granite Gear anticipated canoers over-stuffing the pack and hoisting its hulking weight in and out of canoes and across portages and then slapping it down on rocks and gravel with heaving sighs of relief and gasps of air. So they constructed it with 420D Cordura nylon, which is pretty much the breed standard for higher-end packs. The seams, with are tight and neat, are sewn with heavy-duty thread that is reinforced in the high-stress areas that secure the shoulder straps, compression straps and at the two side handles.
In addition, all buckles and d-rings are all made from industrial-grade plastic. Webbing straps are heavy-duty and the pack’s bottom panel is reinforced with a layer of ballistic nylon to improve its resistance to tears and scuffs. It also protects the pack from the fluvial zoo of canoe paddle splash that pools in the bottom of a canoe from .
Features
Because canoe packs are designed to spend most of the time in the canoe rather than on your back, they don’t usually offer a wide range of features beyond straps and a cavernous main pocket. But Granite Gear added a few extras that you’ll appreciate as much as I did.
- Two side pockets: At eight inches deep and 9.5-inches wide they securely held the items I wanted quick access to like my knife, whiskey flask (no judgement!) and bug spray.
- Six d-rings: I used of them to attach a bug net, a visor and a small drybag with first aid kit.
- Large external flat pocket: I used this to stash the map, my book and rain gear.
- Interchangeable hip belt: A size medium unisex hip belt comes standard. If you need bigger, smaller or women’s-specific, you can purchase the Ultralight Belt for an additional $40. I knocked out seven days with the standard size medium unisex belt with positive results. My hip size of 33-inches at the point where the hip belt sits puts me within the span of the medium anyway.
Final Thoughts
And thus concludes my story of angst, guilt, conflict and reconciliation. It wasn’t an enjoyable task pitting the Granite Gear Quetico against my Duluth Pack. After all I did choose it all those years ago and we had many portages, many happy memories. But the Granite Gear Quetico has blown me away with its performance, comfort and functionality.
I always strive to be objective when reviewing products. After all, my opinion is but one opinion in a sea of thousands. Still, I usually can find at least one point of contention. Maybe it’s overly complicated to operate or a cheap zipper was added to reduce weight. Sometimes a superfluous feature adds weight, or the price tag will feel like taking a bullet.
I can’t conjure any points of contention with the Granite Gear Quetico. I can’t think of a single reason not to buy this pack over Duluth Pack.
