The great thing about this test crew is that they don't have to take time off from their real jobs to test packs for six months, because hiking, climbing, and skiing are their real jobs. Meet the lucky stiffs who get to do year-round what you only get to do on the weekends — three equipment sadists with a combined forty years of outdoor adventuring under their waistbelts.

Becky Ploof — mountaineer, snowboarder, and alpine guide — prefers a pack that can hold a lot of gear comfortably for longer hauls into the mountains. Brandon Weathermon splits his year by hiking the beautiful Olympic National Park coast as a backcountry ranger from spring through summer, then skiing the world-record snows of Mount Baker Ski Area as the head of ski patrol in the winter. Yours truly, Paul Cleveland, is another outdoor jack-of-all-trades. I guide whitewater raft trips down the Methow and other Northwest rivers during summers, and write and test gear for major outdoor publications and Web sites during winters.

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