New gear: MEC Brio 40

I got a new pack today: a MEC Brio 40, intended to serve as an intermediate option between my day pack and my 60L+ expedition pack. To test it out, I filled it with gear and several litres of water (meant to serve as a simulation for camping gear still in Vancouver) and walked up through Gatineau Park, around the Lac des Fees, and back home.

Walking through several feet of snow (as I was for most of the northward leg) is certainly quite tiring. So far, I am pleased with the pack. It is much less awkward than my big pack, but a lot more capacious than my day pack. Two people with Brio 40s could probably carry a small tent, light sleeping bags, clothes, a stove and enough food for a weekend. It should also be good for urban travel, though it is too small to carry a daypack inside and a bit too large to use as a convenient daypack in and of itself.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023. View all posts by Milan