UL backpack durability??

I have a Mariposa Plus that I have used for part of a season. It is great for trail hiking, but I am not sure that I would attempt a bushwack or slot canyon with it for fear of tearing it up. I think you will find ULA-Equipment packs to be more durable, but you will pay a bit of a weight penalty (you expected that, right?).

Hi Rusty,
You might check out the ULA line of packs> Pretty tough for UL, IMO.

Rusty, you can't go wrong with ANY pack made out of Dyneema Gridstop fabric. Very tough stuff.

Thanks for the info. I've got a few new packs to look at now and the fabric will give me a new way to search for them. Thanks again.

Rusty

Don't overlook the Mountain Laurel Designs Zip either. It is made of much stronger silnylon than any other pack that uses silnylon. The MLD gear is known to be of extremely high quality. The packs have multiple bartacks for additional strength where seams could be weaknesses. The Gossamer Gear packs have been known to fail at the seams when you overload them slightly.

I definitely have to recommend ULA products extremely highly. I used their Catalyst for my AT thru hike last year, and then it went with me (overloaded) while I hitchhiked across canada. Definitely quality there, and no worries with the dynema gripstop fabric if you are uncomfortable with using silnylon.

If you want a more durable pack does that mean it can be a bit heavier than those you mention? You could get a full dyneema pack from Wild Things or McHale – makes dyneema grid look wimpy.

Is there anyone besides McHale that does custom pack work with this kind of fabric?

Cold Cold World makes 3 or 4 basic packs. All basic climbing rucksacks. I have the bigger original Chaos and the smaller Chernobyl. Randy made the Chernobyl our of Dyneema for me. It weighs right at 2 1/2 lbs.

He will make you a pack with any reasonable material you want, price of pack listed plus fabric costs.

Work is done fairly quickly to, within a few weeks has been my experience.

Was it full dyneema or dyneema grid?

The Dyneema Grid similar to the fabric on the Golite packs.

Randy helped me eliminate items to lessen the weight. The lid was made where it was not removable, the second zippered pocket on lid omitted, quick release crampon straps made removable, and the hydration sleeve was omitted.

Randy also used lighter webbing for all the straps.

http://www.coldcoldworldpacks.com/

yes. we do. http://www.cilogear.com

R2 also does custom packworks. Ron works for me part-time and I can attest to his skills with designing equipment. If you can dream it up, he can pretty much make it: http://r2packs.com/

BPL did a feature on the process of custom ordering a pack from him a few weeks ago.

Last I had heard there were some supply problems on the market for the spectra gridstop cloth. I know there are many other competing fabrics that may fit the bill as well.