The NEMO 45 Persist Backpack is a bombproof hiking backpack that is optimized for tough hikes, backpacking and multi-sport adventures in mountainous terrain. Featuring an adjustable torso length, it’s made with an incredibly tough 300D/900D fabric that’s extremely water resistant and has a host of other innovative features that are different from most other backpacks. When evaluating this pack, it’s important to understand that this is not an ultralight backpack or one designed for thru-hiking on the hiker highways we call National Scenic Trails. While you could use it for those purposes, the Persist’s sweet spot is of a more rugged nature like off-trail travel through canyon country, bushwhacking through dense vegetation, scouting game over hill and dale, rock climbing approach hikes, or backcountry touring.

• Gender: Men’s (Women’s also available)
• Volume: 44L
• Weight: 3 lbs 11 oz
• Type: Internal frame
• Adjustable torso length: Yes
• Access: Top lid, side zipper
• Floating lid: Yes
• Pockets: 9
• Load lifters: Yes
• Hydraton compatible: Yes
• Compression straps: Two tiers
• Bear canister compatibility: BV475 fits horizontally in the based main compartment; BV500 only vertically.
• Material: 300D/900D ripstop nylon (5000 mm – that’s really waterproof – although the zippers aren’t waterproof)
• Sizing:  Torso 17-22″; Hip belt 31-51″
• Pros: Tough exterior, top and side access, lots of pockets
• Cons: Bottle pocket can be hard to reach.

The adjustable-torso length enables a good fit.

Design with a Capital D

There’s something you should know about NEMO and that is that they are focused on Design with a Capital D. They are not afraid to buck a trend or break longstanding norms if it results in a better product. They did it when they invented spoon-shaped sleeping bags for side sleepers, and they’ve have been at the leading edge of the outdoor industry ever since, with their with innovative tents, sleeping pads, and camping furniture. The Persist 45 Backpack embodies this design philosophy as well.

Here are a few of the innovations on the Persist 45:

1. Evaporation pump back panel
2. Off-center, metal tri-glide buckle
3. Hidden bottle pocket on the hip belt which can be deployed if needed
4. Side visibility panels that provide light in the main compartment
5. Pack components and fabrics that can be 100% recycled at the product’s end of life

Backpack Frame and Suspension

The Persist 45 is an internal frame backpack with a flexible steel perimeter frame that has a lively feel even when it’s loaded up with gear. The pack has an adjustable-length torso system that lets you dial-in a precise fit, which is great if you fall in between sizes. If you raise the shoulder yoke, which is velcro’d in place, you lengthen the torso length and if you lower it, you shorten the torso. It is very simple and provides the pack with a 17″-22″ torso length range which is a good torso-size range for men. A separate female-specific pack is also available.

The mesh back panel works like an evaporation pump, drawing perspiration away from your body.

The back panel behind the Persist’s shoulder straps is a porous mesh with a foam backer. It’s a little weird because it sticks out along the sides of the back panel like short stubby wings. But it’s really quite clever and works like an evaporation pump: the porous mesh comes in contact with your damp baselayer and wicks moisture out of it and into the foam backer. From there’s its drawn to the drier foam along the sides of the back panel by natural capillary action, where it’s not in contact with your back. There it can evaporate easily and continuously. It’s remarkably smart.

The shoulders straps are wide and very comfortable which is good to distribute weight across a wider surface area. The pack has load lifters, and while they’re anchored to the pack bag and not the frame itself which is preferable, they work fairly well when the pack is full. The hip belt is also lightly padded and provides a good wrap around your hip bones. For mid-volume packs, I prefer hip belts with less padding because they wrap my iliac crest better, resulting in better load transfer.

The hip belt buckle is positioned on the left not the center.

NEMO has done an interesting thing with this hip belt and positioned the buckle on your left hip not in the center like almost every other backpack hip belts in existence. The hip belt buckle is also a non-standard metal tri-glide that locks in place but still lets you tension it when buckled. It takes a while to get used to it, but it’s lighter weight than a lot of other hip adjustment options like push-forward webbing straps (called a Scherer cinch) that weigh more. (I also have a nasty habit of breaking plastic hip belt buckles by slamming them in car doors and this metal buckle will never suffer that fate.)

The hip belt has a pocket for a Nalgene bottle that positions it where it’s easier to reach than a side pocket, but folds away when not needed.

The hip belt has two pockets, both made of mesh. The left pocket is large and has a mesh face, so items inside can get wet. The right hand side of the hip belt has a hidden bottle pocket which is flush with the hip belt when zippered shut, but can be unzipped to hold a 32 oz Nalgene. It’s useful because you can’t reach the side pockets on this pack if you were to store bottles there. But I find this bottle pocket a little too far back to use easily: while I can pull out the bottle, I can’t get it back into the pocket without help. I suspect the pocket works better if you have a smaller waist size, which would position the pocket closer to the front.

When not needed, the bottle pocket can be zippered shut flush with the hip belt.

Backpack Storage and Organization

The Persist 45 is a top loader with 9 pockets: two in the top lid, two on the sides of the pack, two on the shoulder straps, two on the hip belt, and one in the front. The main compartment has a very large and deep mesh hydration pocket as well as a hang loop to hang a hydration system. There’s a central hydration port between the shoulder straps and hose keeper loops on both shoulder straps.

The top lid is floating, so it’s not sewn to the pack body, but held in place on top of the main compartment by four webbing straps, allowing it to be raised or lowered. Floating lids like this are great for carrying bulky objects that won’t fit inside a backpack like ropes, bear canisters, are foam pads which you can sandwich in between the bottom of the top lid and the main compartment. The top lid has a zippered pocket on top and one on the bottom. I use the top one to hold hats, gloves, and nav equipment and the bottom one to hold my first aid kit and trail toiletries.

The external pack fabric has a hydrostatic head of 5000 mm and is effectively waterproof. By comparison, most tents sold in the US have a hydrostatic head less then 3000mm.

There are two zippered pockets on the shoulder straps that are large enough for a smart phone or a hard sunglasses case. The side panels of these pockets is made of durable mesh, so they’re not waterproof.

The pack bag has side pockets that you could carry water bottles in although they’d be hard to reach. The inside of each pocket is a lightly colored beige fabric that allows some light to penetrate the bottom of the pack bag and is helpful for finding things when packing or unpacking. The same beige fabric is used inside the lid, in the extension collar, the front zippered pocket, and along the side zipper, which provides a second access method into the pack bag.

The pack has a large external pocket with a center zip

The pack has a front pocket with center zipper. I don’t have an avalanche rescue kit handy to see if it will fit, but I wouldn’t surprise me if it did, since it runs the length and breath of the pack bag. For warmer adventures, it’s a great place to stash a mid-layer or lunch and snacks.

The main packbag has a second access method, in addition to the top drawstring closure under the lid, which is a full length side zipper. Commonly found on mountaineering and hunting packs, side zippers provide easy access to gear buried deep inside a pack, without having to empty it first. They’re amazingly useful and convenient.

Side compression straps can be moved where you want them along daisy chains running the length of the pack

External Attachment and Compression

The Persist 45 also hosts a fine array of external attachment capabilities for hauling all kinds of toys. To start, it has a pair of discrete daisy chains running down the front seams of the pack and a top webbing strap on each side, which can be moved where you want it. There are also two “orange stretchy cords with hooks” that can be reconfigured as desired for attaching objects to the sides or front of the pack.

It’s easy to strap a bulky foam pad to the side of the pack.

The webbing and orange cords are long enough to secure a foam NEMO Switchback Pad to the side of the pack, to give you an idea of their length.

The outside two straps are for hauling skis, while the middle strap is long enough to hold a small tent body or foam sit pad.

There are also ski straps at the base of the pack and a webbing strap for hauling a tent body or sit pad, in addition to dual ice axe loops for carrying axes or trekking poles.

Recommendation

The NEMO Persist 45 is a well-designed and extremely durable backpack for adventures in mountainous terrain. It has great storage and organization and a plethora of external attachment options to carry all kinds of bulky gear on the exterior of the pack. But the thing that really stands out on this pack, for me, is how much this “one” pack can do. I could see using the Persist 45 all year round for every trip I take, from backpacking and bushwhacking to fly fishing and winter hiking up a big peak. If you want one pack that can do it all, this is it.

Disclosure: NEMO donated a pack for review.

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