In case you went again in time 150 years and informed people who sooner or later they’ll carry every part they should reside for per week on their backs, you’d get run out of city. Carrying gear is the job of horses and mules, not folks! Quick ahead to the current, although, and right here we’re, schlepping into the backcountry with the necessities on our again. Progress!
The excellent news is that immediately every part it’s essential to reside for per week weighs significantly lower than it did 150 years in the past. The ultralight backpacking motion, born from obsessive thru-hikers and finally broadly adopted by weekend warriors, has pushed innovation within the outside gear trade for greater than 20 years. Each iteration of backpacks, tents, and sleeping baggage has been lighter, stronger, and hotter.
However simply while you assume they could not presumably get any higher, these backpacks are getting lighter and extra rugged. At present, Dyneema launches a brand new material composite known as (shock) Dyneema Woven Composite that’s being utilized in up to date backpacks by cult traditional Hyperlite Mountain Gear, which is a long-time collaborator.
Mild as a Feather
Courtesy of Dyneema
Dyneema’s namesake material has lengthy been famous for being not simply sturdy, sturdy, and waterproof, however featherweight as effectively. Its new material, Dyneema Woven Composites, is made for the ultralight backpacking group. It melds a completely woven Dyneema face material to Dyneema’s pre-existing composite material.
Dyneema Woven Composites was created at the side of Hyperlite Mountain Gear, and for now’s accessible solely within the firm’s core ultralight backpacks, together with the Southwest, Junction, and Windrider fashions.
Mike St. Pierre based Hyperlite in 2009 and was one of many first producers to embrace Dyneema (then often known as cuben fiber). As crinkly because it was, that ultralight material endeared Hyperlite to backpackers. The corporate’s minimalist, stripped-down designs and unwavering dedication to high quality—my 2019 Junction pack, with a whole bunch of miles on it, appears to be like prefer it did the day I purchased it—made the corporate a pure match for this collaboration.
Robust as a Board
Courtesy of Dyneema
Due to that outer layer of Dyneema, the brand new Woven Composite has 10 instances the abrasion resistance and 5 instances the tear resistance of the older material. The previous statistic is especially excellent news for anybody climbing in locations just like the desert Southwest, the place brushing your pack towards onerous rock tends to destroy your gear shortly.
