My Personal Use
I’ve been using the Seek Outside Divide 4500 as my go-to load-carrying pack for about the last three years. A good example of an ideal trip for this pack is a five-day packrafting loop in Canyonlands National Park I did in 2018. I carried typical three-season equipment, five days of food, a 6lb 11oz packraft, an 18oz PFD, a 37oz paddle, a ton of water, and other packrafting gear. At my heaviest, hauling water from Spanish Bottom up 1000 ft in less than a mile to the Dollhouse and then through the Maze to Water Canyon, my pack was probably around 48lbs. I do not like carrying weights like this. But sometimes it happens, especially with boats, and especially in the desert where water is potentially scarce. When I have to, the Divide is the perfect pack for the job.
Weight
SO claims the minimum trail weight of the Divide is 45oz. Mine is a bit more. With most straps attached and the addition of a single hipbelt pocket it weighs 57.2oz on my scale. I debated for quite a while on this weight. It’s pretty heavy for most three-season backpacking, but not quite as heavy as popular, traditional internal frame packs like the Osprey Aether Pro which is more like 63oz. I was replacing my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Porter 4400 which was about 46oz. Eleven ounces didn’t seem like too much of a jump; I’d find ways to save weight elsewhere. But the fact is this pack is so ridiculously comfortable while carrying large, heavy loads that the weight is often worth it.
Features/Durability
This pack uses Xpac X42 for the pack body and a 500 denier Cordura for the pockets and accents. These are good, durable materials, and while not the lightest, they are reasonably priced, which keeps the cost fairly low. The same pack made with DCF hybrids for example could be $50 more. For what it is, a packrafting and load-hauling pack, I’m happy with these materials. They match the burliness of the frame and the general construction. (Nov 1 2021 Note: After several years of use, I have managed to get some abrasion on the bottom of the pack which has developed in places into small holes. This is to be expected and can be patched easily with seam grip. That said, it will be interesting to find out if Ecopak EPX400 with its lack of raised x-ply, or EPL Ultra200 or 400 will be more durable fabrics than X42 and if SO will consider constructing this pack with them in the future.)
Adjustable frame. This pack, unlike a lot of UL paks out there, has an adjustable torso length. This is partly why it is so damn comfortable. When I dial it in, the weight rides about 70% on my hips and 30% on my shoulders, which is how I like it. With minor adjustments, I could change that to 90/10 or 50/50 or any other ratio I would like. This feature allows the Divide to compete with all the other adjustable packs out there like the Aether Pro 70. And you’ll find that most other adjustable torso packs are heavier too. My torso is 19.5” and I use the regular frame without extensions. (Update, April 2021: I added the extensions because I realized that the 24” frame is really more like 22.5” effectively without them (because the pack sits below the belt). With them it’s more like 24.5”. I haven’t tried them yet, but the angle on the loadliftes is much better now than it was in that picture above.)
Articulating Hip belt. I was skeptical when I first saw this feature. I took the pack out of the box and the hip belt flopped over. It’s only connected to the pack with some bolts at the very bottom of the frame so that it can match the angle of your hips. This is great for someone like me with pretty severe anterior pelvic tilt and contributes to the supreme comfort of the pack. Try it to believe it. I wish more packs were designed with something like this and I’m happy to see that the Rogue Panda Zoro pack has moved this design feature to an all-around pack in the 2lb range. That’s a pack I’d like to try after experiencing the Divide. My illiac crest measures 33” around and I use the M hipbelt.
Gatekeeper buckles. The straps on this pack are all attached with gatekeeper buckles meaning you can take them all off, leave them on, only use a few, or whatever you want. This makes the pack extremely versatile, and maybe more importantly, makes field repairs easy and low anxiety. It would be very easy to replace a broken hipbelt buckle for example with some gatekeepers from a strap elsewhere on the pack.
Best Uses
Packrafting, hunting, desert water-hauling, winter load-hauling.
Conclusion
I don’t use this pack as my primary pack because I’m not often carrying large bulky loads or packrafts. But I will probably never get rid of it because it is perfect for those applications when I need it. For example, this year my partner has been recovering from a foot injury so we tried to keep her load as light as possible while we walked along the San Rafael River. I carried two packrafts, the tent, the stove, and basically everything besides her clothes and sleeping bag in my Divide. Yet again, I was very happy to have a pack that fit everything inside it with space to spare and rode like a dream. My first heavy load of the season, my hip flexors were sore as usual, but my iliac crests were not, my waist was not, my shoulders were not. The pack was distributing weight as it’s supposed to.
Pros
Doesn’t absorb (much) water.
Great weight to volume ratio.
Very versatile strap system. Gate keeper buckles are super versatile.
Extremely comfortable
Cons
A bit heavy for some UL applications.