alt bag colors for ULA dry pack

POE has what to do with ULA?

The bags used with the ULA harness on the drypack are manufactured/sold by POE.

Thanks Chris . I learned something new today. Now I can go back to bed.

Mark, BPL has no plans at this time to offer a variety of colors for the ULA packs. I personally like the orange (keeps the gun-toting wilderness afficianados aware), but I can understand how you might not – it is a very 'loud' color.

Okay, I will look for the bags at another POE dealer. Can you confirm that the bags used for the ULA pack are the stock 50L and 65L POE Pneumo LTW bags, not an altered or custom version?

I'm a little disappointed that BPL isn't going to sell these drybags, given Ryan Jordan's statement, in April and May 2007, that muted colors would be available in autumn 2007, at this forum thread:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=7068&disable_pagination=1

But I understand that demand might not have been enough to warrant more investment in this pack. And so it goes. I like the pack frame and the drybags.

— Mark

While the orange color bothered me less than I had exspected, more mute colors still does sound interesting. I just wonder how strong the fabric will be.
When my Arctic Dry pack arrived, I noticed that the packaging of the two bags mentioned a 50 denier fabric while the BPL website mentions 40D x 30D fabric. Kind of confusing. Which is it now?
If my current bag really is 50D, I can imagine that the 33D fabric won't nearly be as strong and durable so how suitable will it be? Since I use this pack for high alpine routes, durability is kind of an issue.

The 33 D may well be even stronger- or not…Depends on a lot of factors.

I have been testing a range of new small D fiber wovens- 7d, 12d, 15d, 20d and 25d.

Some of the smaller D fiber fabrics use a lot more of them (higher thread count) packed tighter and weigh the same as a higher D fabric. Sometimes it is stronger and sometimes not.

My overall point about Denier is that a smaller one, once made into fabric, is not always lighter or weaker- It could be the opposite too.

Coatings, calendering, surface treatments, etc also play a big role in the small Denier fabics.

I would be more interested in the type of WP coating instead of the 33/40/50 D aspect- which may be unknowable.

It's not clear that the new POE bags are a good replacement for the ULA dry pack's bags, given this description (again from Case Carpenter, POE customer support):

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Going from 50D to 33D, yes you give up some abrasion resistance and a little puncture resistance but not much. They are both Diamond rip so tear strength will be comparable but less in the 33D. Like I said not meant to be used as a rafting dry bag or something that is dragged around. They are meant as pack liners and compression drysacks inside a pack. In the case of the ULA sling style pack you could still use them but it is more about the abrasion from the straps and from the ground when you pick it up and put it down. Bushwacking, truly trailless travel, where you could get hung up might be an issue as far as punctures and tearing.

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I would be using the pack on trails but setting it down frequently on rock. So I'm a little less excited about the new colors than I was before, but I will probably buy one, drag it around a little, and see how it wears.

— Mark