Flight 30

Spent several days on the Eastern Sierra's with my daughter and this pack with the vest and waist belt option. It is very adjustable and we were able to get everything dialed in quickly and make small adjustments as the pack broke in over the trail. So many storage options and tie down points. Had a great time and only good things to say about the flexibility of this pack.

TLDR: This pack does not work well for running and is effectively just a backpack with softflask holders on the straps. It suffers from attempting to be over-adjustable and misses many features other competing bags have. It may work for UL backpackers who don't run or as a day pack for those with lots of kit, but was a bit of a disappointment for me.

I had been looking for a larger capacity running pack for awhile, primarily for "very big days" (20+ miles) , scrambling, and some fastpacking, and ended up finding a Flight 30 second hand (but brand new). It wasn't quite my first choice, but it was a great deal and so I've been testing it out here in the Washington Cascades. Based on the description of this pack online this pack fit my needs really well, 30L capacity (enough for a sleeping bag and bivy) with run vest style harness to hold soft flasks. However, in practice I have found it to have made some very strange design choices that make actually using it quite annoying.

First, the pack tries to be so adjustable that there are a thousand things hanging off of it which can get caught on trees/bushes/rocks/etc. Even trying to stash the extra long lengths of cord and webbing when I run they end up coming loose again and bouncing around. Eventually I will probably cut and re-sew many of these to try and reduce their length because it is a bit absurd.

Second, the hip belt is massive with four long adjustment straps, I have no clue why in a running pack you would want…

I am typically a paddler, so when I was asked to hike sections of the Appalachian Trail, finding a pack was second only to finding a good pair of hiking shoes. I have to confess that I had not heard of Six Moon Designs until my research kept surfacing the Flight 30 as being the best option for me so I look a leap of faith based on the specs and positive reviews. I can't provide much insight into how it compares to other packs on the market, but I am extremely happy with it! I purchased the vest harness, and while it did take a little fussing to get all of the straps dialed in between this and the hip belt, the fit when I was finished was incredible - very comfortable and almost zero sloppy movement in any direction even when the pack was full. It's got tons of pockets to store things for quick access (phone, gloves, snacks, etc.), clips to hold accessories like a Garmin and straps/lashing cord to keep the pack compressed when carrying less... a very, very thoughtful design. I will also call out their customer service, I made a mistake and ordered the wrong size hip belt, Serena made the exchange process as easy as it gets. Five stars for both the Flight 30 and Six Moon Designs!

I have been so impressed by this bag compared to my old fastpacking pack. The vest component is super important to me as far as quick access goes, and the vest on this bag is great. Two bottle pockets deep enough for my 500ml flasks, zip pockets that are super handy for stashing trash on the go, and mesh pockets that work great for holding onto small bags of candy, gummies, mini Lara bars, single serve electrolyte. The gel pockets on the shoulders are so awesome - every Fastpack should have this feature! And above all, the best stays secure even while running.

The fact that this bag has hip pockets is AMAZING (my UD 30L did not). The pockets are huge, and the hip belt is obviously designed with stability in mind, unlike other bags that have a thin piece of webbing as a “hip belt.” I can fit a whole day’s worth of snacks in them, which means no digging around inside the bag throughout the day.

The large side pockets are fantastic for easy access to important items, and I can even fit my 3L filter bag very comfortably in the side pockets. The bottom stretch pocket is sort of in an odd spot (I’m always afraid items there will get wet/dirty if I set my bag on the ground), but works great for stashing layers like windbreaker, gloves, beanie as long as you have them in a ziploc.

My only gripes are that the bungee cord on the front of the pack doesn’t seem to have many uses (I put my Tyvek there, perhaps a good spot for a foam pad?), and that the zipper key pocket is in a hard to…

I bought this as a winter daypack, big enough for added layers and stable enough to strap snowshoes. At first I was really nervous about the unconventional design but quickly found out how well designed this pack is.

The suspension system is so much more comfortable, stable, and functional (with all the quick access strap and belt pockets) that I'm retiring my minimalist 20L day pack to city use.

The side/back and bottom pockets are accessible while being worn, for rain gear, etc. and the roll top can be accessed to rummage deeper faster than any other pack by simply loosening the retraining strap (no unclipping and reclipping)

The 30L size swallows the extra puffy layers for lunch breaks on winter hikes and I want to try it for ultralight overnights.

Wore it for a Salkantay to MachuPichu trek in Peru and it was fabulous.

Could even shove it under the airplane seat as a personal bag!