New Japanese gear – Snow Peak pack, 43 gram windproof etc

D-Dub,

All of those look interesting. It will be interesting to see what makes its way to our side of the pond.

Todd

Based on my experiences with wind jackets, a frontal wind jacket won't be much good at all for hiking/backpacking, especially in alpine environments. Not only will it be subpar for properly blocking wind currents from stripping heat (full coverage is pretty much necessary), there's also a very good chance it will turn into a sail and become quite obnoxious to wear – think of what happens to windshirt hoods in high winds, and now extrapolate that to the entire body… hmm. I suppose it would be useful for running or biking, however.

The pack looks interesting, especially if it contains a framed suspension. Likely, the torso length will be miserably small, however, thus relegating it irrelevant for the stated weight, compared to other options that already exist.

The rain smock looks like the only truly interesting item on the list, from a practical perspective. Kudos – Goretex in a 7oz package (though the OR Zealot was Goretex full zip and weighed the same). The hood design doesn't look too terrible, and might function quite well. It's certainly different!

"The pack looks interesting, especially if it contains a framed suspension. Likely, the torso length will be miserably small, however, thus relegating it irrelevant for the stated weight, compared to other options that already exist."

I checked: the catalogue gives the packs dimensions as W300 x H480 x D200. My Lowe Alpine Contour Runner has a 48cm back, so the SP is in the 30 litre day-pack range.

There's no mention of any frame, but it does seem to have a fair bit of padding. The shoulder straps can be tucked behind the rear padding for when you're travelling.

They also make the point that the side pockets are big enough to take a 1 litre Nalgene bottle.