GoLite seems to have had a big role in popularizing lightweight backpacking. Its frameless packs weigh next to nothing (pound and a half, max), which is inviting to all those who sleep under tarps and trim their sleeping pads to fit the shape of their bodies (no foam below the knees for them, by God). Over the past few years GoLite developed all sorts of extra-light camping gear but I get a sense of product creep lately: now the company sells inner-frame packs that are starting to tip the scales at decidedly non-Lite weights. Case in point in this free review at backpackinglight.com: The GoLite Galaxy is a mondo 4600 cubic inches of capacity and tips the scales at a hair under 4 pounds.

GoLite’s gear is generally well regarded and the review I linked is mainly positive but I have to think to myself: The company seems to have no real marketplace/brand advantage in a pack this big, and this heavy (by GoLite’s standards, that is; a lot of packs in this size range weigh five to seven pounds). But I know what happens: enough lame-brain consumers tell the company “haven’t you got one of them great big packs with the internal frame like everybody else does?” and the company starts thinking: well, we better make ’em one.

Mind you this is the biggest bag GoLite sells, near as I can tell. And the company sells so much other stuff these days that it’s a little silly to single one bit of gear as evidence of anything but widening their product line.

I guess it’s just a matter of the company’s founding myth being so cool: a guy who loves to backpack gets tired of hefting heavy junk around all the time and starts a company to do something about it. Now the company sells so doggone many products that I can’t help wondering what became of that keep-it-light-and-simple ethos. (Or maybe I’m just jealous that he’s got a big, successful company and all I’ve got this little ol’ blog. ).