Background:

This is a gear review, but in order understand the review, I need to give a little background about me and my use of different packs. Because of my Crohn’s Disease, I’ve had an ostomy on and off for the past 13 years, with my permanent ostomy for the past 7 years. Within those past 13 years, I’ve used all types of packs without issue for my ostomy. I’ve used anything from a 75 Liter to a 15 Liter backpack with waist belt to a belt pack for biking, hiking, climbing, skiing, and running.

Now I will say that I do tend to change my ostomy bag more when I’m wearing a larger pack, but the need to change it could be a combination of sweating while exercising and the waist pack rubbing a bit.

A couple of months ago I had another stoma revision and decided that I wanted to start experimenting more with my pack style. This most recent surgery was my 6th major abdominal surgery. In the past, I’ve waited quite a bit of time to return backpacking and hiking after surgery. And I recently realized how much of my life I have given up during those recovery periods. So I decided that this time I would rehab a little bit differently. I decided that I would build up to hiking and backpacking more quickly than I have before. And don’t worry, I’m doing all of this under the supervision of my surgeon and physical therapist.

Ultimate Direction Fastpack 25 Review:

I was initially looking for a running style vest, so that I could start walking and hiking without pressure on my abdomen, and in researching various packs, my co-worker and boyfriend mentioned the Ultimate Direction Fastpack.

I quickly realized that a Fastpack would not only make hiking more comfortable, but would get me back to backpacking more quickly after surgery (I initially thought I wouldn’t be backpacking until the Fall at the earliest). So after a bit of research, I ordered a size S/M Fastpack 25 (I’m 5’6″ 130 lbs) from Ultimate Direction. I tried the pack on a few walks and hikes at first, and really enjoyed the style with no waist belt to squish my stoma or rub on my ostomy bag. This was especially important to me because not only do I have the new stoma on my left side, but I have a wound that was slowly healing where my old stoma used to be on my right side. I figured the more I could keep those areas from being irritated, the more quickly they would heal.

I initially chose the Fastpack 25 because of the reviews I read online and feedback from a few friends. I’d heard a few women say that they opt for unisex or ‘men’s’ packs because they offer more pockets on the front chest area. And I have to agree. I like to have easy access to water, bear spray and snacks. And since I’m small chested, having more items on the front of the pack does not bother me. I will say that if that pack doesn’t have much in it, I can’t quite get a tight enough fit with the top sternum strap. I’m going to try to play around with fit a little more because I don’t want the pack bouncing around when I start running.

As an ostomate, easy access to water is crucial, since I don’t have a colon to absorb water and I’m at higher risk for dehydration. With my pack, I also opted to purchase two of the Ultimate Direction Body Bottle II 500s. I was telling my boyfriend on a hike last night that something about those bottles makes me drink more water. I even questioned if they truly are 500 mL each (they are). I think what helps me to drink more water if having my water bottles in my line of sight at all times instead of having a Nalgene tucked into the bottom of an inaccessible pack. I will say that as much as I like the bottles, I do find that they are a bit tricky to get back into the chest pockets, and hard to access from the side pockets. They also get a little bit awkward to handle when they aren’t full, but I think that’s pretty standard with ‘floppy’ water bottles.

So far, I’ve used my Fastpack for quite a few hikes and a short backpacking trip. I really like the weight distribution of the pack while hiking. To have easy access to my bear spray and water, I keep each of those in the main chest pockets. I’ve been putting the bulk of my gear in the main compartment and storing my rain gear in the outer mesh pocket for easy access in case it rains.

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When I went backpacking, I was only 7.5 weeks out from surgery, so I wanted to keep the pack fairly light in order to not strain my abdomen. I was able to carry about 10lbs of gear (sleeping bag, sleeping pad, spare set of clothes, snacks, book, extra ostomy supplies/toiletries, headlamp, inReach, gloves, hat, water bottles) in my pack and my boyfriend was able to carry about 20lbs of gear including our tent, stove, and Sawyer filter. We hiked 2.3 miles to where we set up camp and were able to take most of our heavy gear out of packs in order to explore without the weight. Tyler said he felt good with the 20lbs. With my body recovering from surgery, I wouldn’t have wanted more than 10lbs in my pack. I felt that with the 10lbs, it started pulling me back and put too much pressure on my shoulders. Again, take that with a grain of salt because I’m not at full strength yet. Once the pack was unloaded, I was able to hike another 8 miles or so more comfortably.

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I have yet to try out the trekking pole loops because I don’t have Z-poles. The side pockets are hard to access while the pack is on, but nice to store more gear. I like the small outer zip pocket for my keys and ID. I’m still deciding what I think about the additional small chest pockets. I love the outer mesh pocket since it adds more volume to the pack.

Overall, my first few weeks with the pack have been great! I mostly chose this pack style so that I wouldn’t have a waist belt rubbing on my ostomy, but I really appreciate how the pack encourages me to hydrate and gives me easier access to food and water while on the trail.