The pack I’ve used the last three years is a Granite Gear Virga. It’s an ultralite frameless pack, weighing in at a mere 1 lb 3 oz. It’s a basic pack, no fancy bells & whistles, just a good reliable piece of gear. It has 3200 cubic inches of space, a simple top-loading system, with a drawcord to secure it. Because it’s a frameless pack, this means when no gear is stored in it, it simply collapses like an empty duffel bag. A simple rolled up closed cell foam sleeping bag is normally used to shore up the sides, giving some support to it. Your gear is stored inside the sleeping pad. To allow myself more room, I use a piece of an old cell foam pad, cut about 18 inches wide by 20 inches high. The pad is placed in the pack along the back panel.
Because of its lightweight, it lacks certain characteristics that other lightweight packs have. One thing is the absence of a padded hip belt. The Virga’s hip belt is a 1.5 inch webbing. It’s not intended to transfer much weight to your hips. After all, the pack itself is rated to comfortably carry 20 lbs. I will admit, I’ve had this pack filled to 35 lbs. before 
. For short term, it won’t kill the pack, but I wouldn’t recommend making this a common practice. Much of that extra weight I’ve carried in this pack was food, so it was a good kind of weight, meaning I could eat it away. The shoulder straps are fixed padded straps. There are two load-lifter straps, two side compression straps, two lashing straps on the rear & stretchy neoprene pockets on the side. It does not have a hydration reservoir sleeve.
My pack has the original colors, black with goldish-yellow trim. The newer Virgas have a cool looking bluish purple trim. For the price of this pack, it’s a hard deal to beat. Moosejaw has it listed as $109.95 with FREE SHIPPING! Good deal. My pack is showing signs of wear, and at some point, will probably pick up another Virga when I’m ready.
~Steve, The Pilgrim.
