I've been wanting a new pack for a while and have been eying the Miura 50, but it's price keeps turning me away (and the used ones that have popped up aren't my size). I recently stumbled across the Mammut Neon 45, however, and it's compelling in it's own right, especially since it's $85 less than the Miura. Some things don't seem that great though...the lack of compression straps and the poor excuse for a waist strap seems like it might make it less suitable for longer approaches. I haven't seen either in person...partly because I've been busy to track them down, and partly because I'm lazy.

Also, in case it matters, I'd be using it for both sport and trad climbing w/ full rack. Approaches up to however long some of the approaches get around here (probably not much longer than Sundance at Lumpy, though I've only been living in CO for <3 months so maybe something longer?). I've never done alpine and might be interested in that soon, but for now we'll just assume no alpine.

For those of you that haven't seen this pack at all, there's a decent little video on REI's website (link under the pictures): www.rei.com/product/798183/mammut-neon-gear-45-climbing-pack

So, anybody have any experience with it? Even better would be if somebody has used the Miura too and can compare both, but I'll take what I get.

I have on and I like it, its a tough functional rival of the Miura 50. it loads great carries well and hold my whole rack and a rope plus all my other stuff. the waist strap...yep garbage. as is the racking loop on the inside, too small. it looks like an after thought. I am not going to lie though the Miura is a way better pack, much more thoughtfully designed. I personally Like my Neon Gear but if i had the money I would have bought the Miura. the neon has some nice features its lighter the straps are nicely contoured and the the rope tarp it comes with is a tad small but works well. all in all you could get whatever and it really wouldn't matter

Looks sleek, also check out the Mammut Trion Guide. A partner of mine has it, and I'm jealous!

Put a double rack, a rope, a gallon of water, clothes, and food in that Mammut pack and let me know how that works out for you.

Seems to me it's more of a Gym/ Sport bag than a mountaineering/ climbing pack. That being said if I had the cash I probably would get one to compliment my Mammute Guide (which I love).

My friend owns the "previous generation" of this bag and he really digs in. He doesn't do much trad stuff but it works for him.

I have the Miura 30 and I love it. Honestly 95% of reviews on REI are complete shit. I think the pack looks pretty slick but the gear loop inside of the pack is completely ridiculous. You could maybe hold 8 draws at the most.

+1 for the Miura Series

Completely bomber durability and design

I'd get something with a better suspension and maybe more capacity if you are going to be carrying a rack and rope plus food and water, raingear, etc for long trad days. The Neon pack looks pretty small for a 44L pack and looks to be designed for gym/sport climbing where all you need is a rope, draws and a pair of shoes. You will want a bigger pack with a better suspension, compression straps, etc for longer approaches with more gear. Some sort of external rope carry system is nice too. I like top-loaders as you can carry more if you need to overstuff them.

I got the Spindrift by Mammut, for both climbing & skiing and it's a great pack, very comfortable and roomy. I've had it on a few trips and it stands up well to abuse, carrying a full rack, rope, food etc. It's also got a handy side-access zipper. I got it from Backcountry - tinyurl.com/2af4q7n

i woud say this would work pack will work for about 90% of the rock out there. i have put my 60m 9.8 a double rack from 0-3(BD) with a 4 thrown in, with water and food in there and still had some room left for odds and ends. that being said this will not work well for Multi-pitiching, big walling or alpine, and would probably be a huge pain in the ass on a long approach. (read several days) but for an average climber its going to work great and cost less. its a win in my book and way better than my last pack a BD 50 cal which annoyed the living shit out of me. it has almost the same space with much more usable space. I even use the gear loop thing, to hold a few small items that are easy pushed to the bottom. such as my GriGri. I have only used it for single pith climbing so far so I cant speak as to its pros and cons on larger walls. who knows it might be great.

I got this pack to replace my old CiloGear pack that was a POS. In general I like it. I looked at the Miura, but could not justify spending more on my pack than any other single piece of gear that I own. The Mammut Neon was reasonably priced, and not too heavy (important for me b/c I'm pretty small -- I also considered the Mountain Hardware Splitter, but it was too heavy).

90% of the time I've used it for cragging -- but I've hiked it up steep 10 mile approaches on alpine type climbs. The waistbelt is sort of crap (more on that later...) and it's not really made for super long approaches, but it did just fine. I've also climbed some easy (5.8/9) multipitches with it -- again not great, and not really what it's intended for, but it works. My major problem with multipitching with this pack is that it's a bit too big for me, so my head hits the pack when I look up. I'd say that it probably wouldn't be a big deal for the average size climber. 99% of the time that I'm climbing I'm one of the shortest people around (sucks getting beta from all you tall folk!!).

Last weekend my climbing partners all screwed me by leaving the crag early one by one and I got stuck packing out a 60m rope, AND an 80m rope, plus 20 draws and an entire trad rack (pretty much doubles of everything BD makes up to the #3 and a set of nuts, assorted slings and random biners), an extra harness and 3 pairs of shoes. It sucked to carry that much and I had to use the rope catch to put the 2nd rope on top and clip the shoes to the outside, but I made it out with all my gear. I'm not going to lie and pretend it was comfortable carrying that much gear, but I was shocked that I got it all in.

My major complaints with this pack are that the sternum strap doesn't cinch down enough, but I'm pretty small (5'4", 115#), so I'd say for 99% of the population that would not be an issue. As a female climber, I'm used to getting screwed with men's gear (or fake unisex gear) that doesn't really fit women. At first glance the waist belt does look like a POS, but I discovered when wearing a harness that the minimalist waistbelt was actually quite a bonus. It doesn't provide all that much support, but does stabilize the pack enough so it's not swinging around, and doesn't conflict with my harness.

I take back all the nice things I said about this pack. Has fallen apart and been nothing but a pain in the ass...

Have gotten a 45 guide and it's doing great :P

I have the Mura 50 and I'm not that impressed with it

It does cary nice but if you unlucky enough to load it to the gills and cant close the fold over
lid the required three times be warned it will drop gear like a flower girl spreading rose pettals at a wedding .Also the side zippers tend to unzip themselves at the most inconvenient times.

Lucky for me I bought it on sale . Would I buy one again ....not a chance

I know a lot of people like this pack and the build is really nice I'm just not a fan of the closure
system I think for the price it could have been made more secure for the few times you have to load it up .

Just my .02

Ice man you interested in getting rid of that miura 50 your not into?

Hey Rob

Ive beat the crap out of that Miura getting my money's worth out of it and don't think mine is the one your looking for.