ULA Camino

But do you need such a 'sturdy' belt with the types of weight you should be carrying in the Conduit anyway?

Hey folks if i can post my 2 cents worth here,I would love to be able to produce smaller packs, but the reality is this, there are 3 families plus mine that depend on ULA for a living wage, and we have to make the most productive use of our time. It takes as much time to cut and sew a small pack as a large pack, and frankly we can't compete with the larger companies that outsource and can have a small pack made for $15 or $20/so we are going to concentrate on what we do best and hopefully continue to produce innovative equipment for the ultralight community. We want to be able to produce a pack like the OHM or probably the soon to be EPIC that meets a need, but we may only sell a few hundred of them a year. On another note I want to say how much Sally and I appreciate the very warm welcome this community has given us, it's difficult to replace an icon like Brian, but you have made us feel very welcome indeed// Chris

Thanks Chris, very awesome to get the owners perspective! From the end user stand point it is easy to forget that the business does not exist just to create us really cool stuff…

'Just think how comfortable the Ohm would be with the old Conduit hip belt.'

Robert,

I'm very much in agreement with your dream of an Ohm with a pre 2009 Conduit style hip belt. I tried to get Brian/Casey to consider such an option before Brian left, but could not get any interest.

This is a big shame. The 2008 Conduit hipbelt for me was about the best I've ever used, whilst the Ohm is amongst the worst.

To ULA, there seems to be a fan-base who like your smaller packs. Why not just try putting them at a price point that still works out profitable for you folks, to see if they sell?

"But do you need such a 'sturdy' belt with the types of weight you should be carrying in the Conduit anyway?"

Good point David, it is probably just personal preference. The old hipbelt did a better job of wrapping around the hips and since the pockets were sew in, they did not flop around. That said I have no major issue with the new belt, like I said just a preference.

Chris,

Nice to see you here. It's always good to see the cottage manufactures keeping a peak here.

I don't even own a ULA pack now but did own a Circuit and have an Amigo Pro still and I've always been very impressed with what they had to offer. I still contend that my Circuit is/was the best pack I've owned to date even at the ~2lb weight. Overall fit and comfort for a given load is/was outstanding as is/was the workmenship. I've since gotten down to smaller/lighter base weights and have no need for the volume it offers but it will always be one of those pieces of gear that was "just right"….

That being said, in order for a small company to not only survive but thrive, one needs to continue to develop and offer products people want. As with any "gear" maker, nothing promotes sales like new gear. The market ULA caters to is still the UL guys so regardless of pack size, configuration, etc – if the market wants a smaller circuit with slight frame, you should make it (and you did ie: ohm).

I'd bet if you offered a revised Amp, it would sell a bunch. So while it may take the same time/effort/cost to you in order to build, sheer volume of new products "should" dictate viability.

My thinking anyway.

Best of luck. I hope to see ULA offer great stuff for a long time!

"But do you need such a 'sturdy' belt with the types of weight you should be carrying in the Conduit anyway?"

I'm not saying I need it. Just that to me it feels a lot better. Makes the pack ride a little better, is more comfortable carrying it on a long day.

It's not like I want a Circuit style belt on the Conduit. It's just personal preference for a little more substantial hip belt for my packs.

Yeah, if ULA made a 40 liter pack similar in design to the Circuit I would probably buy two. If it fit me correctly.

I would just love to have a pack that carries as comfortably as my Circuit in a 40 liter size.

ULA Circuit= my favorite pack ever.

The same price as a Circuit for a lower volume pack by ULA. The truth is that the only aesthetically pleasing pack that would compete with a potential ULA offering at say 28L would be the MLD Burn and it is 135 at a lower volume than the Circuit. For 3 season use I simply don't need the volume of the Circuit. My base weight right now is somewhere around 4 lbs without the pack. I think that simply because it's a lower volume pack doesn't mean you have to lower the price point beyond the Circuit. I would be in for the weight savings vs a higher volume pack, and am not so much concerned about any potential cost saving for the consumer. A 9 oz 28L pack at 110 is much more appealing to me than a 17 oz 55L pack at 110. I think in the Ultra Light community this is not so uncommon.

So that being the case would you be able to produce a lower volume pack at the same price as a circuit? to me it seems like it would be a cost saving measure if nothing else.

I would be willing to group together for a limited build of a full dyneema grid 40L 'Circuit' (with same hipbelt but perhaps less feature rich – i.e. could drop the back padding) even if it cost a couple of hundred bucks for the pack. I wonder if Chris would be open to taking a group order? I wonder how many it would take? 10, 20? More?

Just a thought.

"Camino" was deleted from ULA site…

—
Wondering what's been bouncing around at ULA this year?

In April, we're planning to releasing a remake of a ULA super-performer …
The EPIC backpack is a revised Arctic 1000.
—

It's confusing, isn't it?

青柳さんはULAのパックを買いたいと思ってますか？
今まで買った事有りますか？
もし持ってるならパックの事どう思ってますか？

Sometimes I wish I had taken the opportunity to buy a ULA pack while I had the chance…

ミゲルさん、こんにちは！

>It's confusing, isn't it?

Yes, That's right.
I have used the ULA packs and like it.
So I was looking forward to the Camino too.

こんにちは、青柳さん！
冬の山行ってますか？
大菩薩峠に行こうと思ってるけど、ちょっと天気が心配。

I have only used the ULA Arctic Dry Pack, which I like, but is inconvenient in some ways. I'm wondering what the Camino is like and what the Epic will look like. Both the Epic and BPL's autumn Arctic Pack both have me very curious.

On my last section hike on the lower AT I saw more ULA packs than any single other brand.

Out of the 30 or so people I ran into, over half of which were early thru-hikers (this was early feb), I counted literally 14 ULA packs.

12 of which were Catalysts, one Ohm, and one Circuit. Obviously the Circuit and Ohm users were the only ones that really had done any major research into their packs, as I asked almost everybody that was carting around a catalyst how they liked the pack. Some people didn't even really know how they chose the Catalyst, I'm guessing they're getting recommended left and right.

Guys I ran into from the WestCoast said that when they did their PCT thru, it was by far the most popular pack on the trail also.

They were. The company is under new ownership and there hasn't been enough time to tell how things will do now.

Well, I have no idea how well they're doing from a business management perspective, but I'm just saying, they're selling the hell out of Catalysts.

90% of those packs were brand new, one still had tags on it.

Probably all purchased from Mountain Crossings at Neel's Gap. They push Catalysts pretty hard there.

Yeah I noticed.. They've also got some like, 2 year old stock of SMD's.. Good prices actually on those.

Let me know if you want to go hiking sometime Chris :p

I'm in GA also.

I think it is great to see ULA packs on the AT and PCT, instead of Gregory, Osprey and similar packs. Hell, I just watched a (2008, German produced featuring US Americans) AT documentary yesterday and in 90 minutes I saw ONE GoLite Pinnacle, everything else was Gregory, TNF, Osprey, Deuter, and all other major players, no single cottage pack. So of the 2000 or so attempted AT thru-hikers only a tiny % seems to make an effort of educating themselves on gear, and if they end up with a ULA Catalyst, good on them.

On my AT thru last year the top 3 brands of packs I saw were Granite Gear, Osprey and ULA. Shelters on the other hand were more onesided with a majority being a Shires Tarp Tent. So I'd say the small home brew companies have a major place on that trail.

ULA had a huge presence, partially due to being at the Kick Off. I was actually pretty surprised. I must admit the Catalyst really held up amazingly well for the abuse I put that thing through. A good pack indeed.

Dirk

I was watching for the Camino and saw it disappear from the website. I contacted ULA and was told their dyneema shipment wouldn't arrive in February as expected, now will be early May. So maybe in production sometime in May and (I hope) something on the ULA site about it… soon I'm hoping.

ULA CAMINO

Hmmm… 48oz panel loader with frame stays, but the volume capacity of a Conduit. I don't think the panel loading feature (for me) is worth the additional weight. I'll be interested to hear others weigh in on this.

Not quite a reply so much as a new question. How's the back panel on this pack? I'm concerned that it won't breath and my back will be soaked with sweat…