I've been very happy with my ULA packs. The Circuit for trips with a heavier load and definitely for trips requiring a bear canister and the CDT for shorter trips or "town to town" or "hut to hut" trips in Europe. My Circuit is now 11 years old with thousands of miles and is in great shape. But as others note, everyone is different when it comes to packs. ULA is under new ownership but the previous owner was very good about exchanges so long as a pack was not used. I also owned a ULA Catalyst briefly before the Circuit but since I used it I resold it for not much of a loss. The Circuit is comfortable under 30 pounds but can carry 35+ if needed, as I've done on the PCT with heavy water carries coinciding with a resupply. But most of the time, I have under 25 pounds in the Sierra Nevada after the first couple of days of food consumption and the Circuit is super comfortable under 25 pounds, for me.
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I don't think the ULA packs go on sale very often. I seem to recall a Black Friday deal a few years ago but I'm not sure.?
ravi_jmt2013