If you happen to went again in time 150 years and informed folks that sooner or later they’ll carry every part they should dwell for per week on their backs, you’d get run out of city. Carrying gear is the job of horses and mules, not individuals! 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 right this moment every part it’s essential dwell for per week weighs significantly lower than it did 150 years in the past. The ultralight backpacking motion, born from obsessive thru-hikers and ultimately broadly adopted by weekend warriors, has pushed innovation within the outside gear business for greater than 20 years. Each iteration of backpacks, tents, and sleeping baggage has been lighter, stronger, and hotter.
However simply once you assume they could not presumably get any higher, these backpacks are getting lighter and extra rugged. As we speak, 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 robust, sturdy, and waterproof, however featherweight as nicely. 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 out there completely 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 referred to 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 lots of of miles on it, seems to be 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 mountaineering in locations just like the desert Southwest, the place brushing your pack in opposition to onerous rock tends to destroy your gear shortly.
