New HMG Summit Pack maybe coming soon?

As an owner of HMG gear and a fan, in my experience they have a very different definition of "soon" and "very near future" regarding product releases. First it was the traverse shelter, then the accessory pockets (kangaroo and water bottle), now a summit pack. The accessory pockets were promised months ago, for example.

"Looks interesting?"

Looks like a cuben roll top compression sack with 2 shoulder straps and a mesh stuff pocket to me- a reiteration of the MLD Newt perhaps.

As an owner and supporter of multiple HMG items, specifically their Ice Pack, Porter Pack, and Stuff Pack, I put in a request recently for a hybrid of their Metro Pack and the Porter. As both a climber and an UL backpacker, I felt that there was not such a LW and durable pack *on the market* in that ~1/2 lb range besides possibly the Cilo 20L Worksacks or the MLD Burn. I am pretty familiar with the mainstream mfgrs and nothing has caught my eye there either.

I have now had a Summit proto in my possession for a couple weeks and have put in some dayhiking miles as well as some trad climbing approaches with a full rack of doubles, helmet, puffy, rainshell, 1L h2o, plus other essentials. Upon initial use I believe it to be an excellent offering for a ~25L simple ruck. It is simple and elegant, carries modest loads well (~15 lbs or less = comfortable), and well constructed. While it may be similar to the coveted but Ion and Newt, it's somewhat different in that it's functionally waterproof and also modular ala the Porter with 4 vertical daisies. I am a big fan of this daisy system on the Porter and can see the usefulness of this system on a smaller pack.

As a note, I added the x'd bungee in the pic, and you can't see that I am using a MYOG 3/8" closed cell back panel. The back panel is so that cams and such don't jab through. These are the only mods so far.

The pack can be closed as either a roll-top stuffsack or a compression style. If used as a roll-top, the vertical compression straps can be removed and optionally used as a webbing waist belt for scrambling/climbing if need be. There is a place for a simple threaded buckle attachment at the bottom of the daisies to attach the webbing belt if needed. While it did not come with a sternum strap, I personally prefer one and could see needing it for my own use. Keep in mind, also, that this is a prototype and who knows what a production model will entail. I look forward to using the finalized version this summer.

As a note, I added the x'd bungee in the pic, and you can't see that I am using a MYOG 3/8" closed cell back panel. The back panel is so that cams and such don't jab through. These are the only mods so far.

A big thanks to Mike and HMG for getting this one into my hands and hopefully soon into the works!

Nick,

That's a much better perspective on the pack- it sits up nice and high on the back.