ULA Arctic 1000 Packs

When did you order the pack, David? I thought I was 1st! :-)>

(I ordered within 2 hours of prepurchase announcement–a size L)

Ditto for Kevin…

Kevin,
I ordered a size M and I don't remember if it was the first day or the second.
Maybe the Size M's came in first.

Yes!,
Mine shipped today too. I didnt order until the morning of the 3rd day and I also got a size medium –

also a medium

Merde! Height discrimination!

Brian! (Frankle of ULA)

Well hush my mouth. It's shipped

My backpacks here, and there’s gonna be trouble
ULA, ULA, my backpack’s here
The weight on my back, it’s now gonna double
ULA, ULA, my backpack’s here
Those big long trips gonna fall like bricks,
ULA, ULA, my backpack’s here
Cause now I got all those arctic summer tricks
ULA, ULA, my backpack’s here

Meter infraction. We only use iambic pentameter on this site. :-)>

My Arctic Pack is slated to arrive mañana. (Yawn)

:-D

So my Artic pack was delivered but I'm a few thousand miles away from home right now, can someone feed my artic pack need and post some pics of the pack harness and the pack being worn?

Thanks

Hopefully back to MN, before long. Be careful, guy! One of us will post pictures, soon. Promise.

Pack just arrived—-report to follow in near future.

Large Arctic w/ the 65L Drysack ( what it came w/, mounted) and frame stays is 42.35 oz. There is going to be some webbing to be trimmed (there's a lot of extra) and the frame stays will need to be molded—-this will change the apparent torso length for many so don't panic if out of the box it seems too tall. I would suggest that a little tape be added to the frame, top and bottom—although the frame ends are beveled, I see a potential for them wearing through the frame sleeves. The belt pockets are capacious enough for some serious photo gear (like my Canon G6) or what you will.

Quality is very high in that estimable Brian Frankle/ULA way. I wonder if Brian personally sewed these up or one of his local Logan seamstresses? No time for pictures or a trial run today—-this is in between CAD work sessions and am swamped. Hope to take it on at least a trial run (dayhike but loaded down) in a day or 2.

So far, so good.

As promised to Nicholas, some photos. These were of a loaded pack w/ the 50L bag, my Pad and a 2L Platypus in the back (yes, a 2L filled up to about 1.5L fits in the zippered pocket).

A Revolution in Pack Evolution—-very comfortable w/ the 25# I've loaded it with to date and shlepped on a little 5 mi. dayhike. I think that Ryan Jordan and Brian Frankle may well have knocked this one out of the park!.

Nice pictures Kevin. My pack should arrive any day, but in the meantime, just a few questions:
1) Normally the shoulderstraps are sewn to the bottom of the pack. Here the shoulderstraps fit into the slots of the dry bag. Does that look like a weak point to you?
2) I see a cheststrap but on your picture it's positioned quite low although it seems it can't be moved any higher. Doesn't that interfere with breathing?
3) lot's of excess webbing. Any idea how much weight can be saved by cutting that off (I know depends from person to person but just curious)?

Thanks, Tom.
1) Time will tell. If the shoulder strap is really slack, it is possible for the buckle to wiggle through if you really try. I think a hack is possible to make things more secure down there.
2)Sternum Strap is ok for me but it is in the top position. There is a lot more strap above this top anchoring point that could be employed for a sternum strap, but that would involve popping stitching to get ladderlock buckles in place. May be a mod that some users will have to do.
3) Lotsa excess webbing but I will not put anything under the knife, yet until I have tweaked the suspension for ultimate comfort. Maybe save 1/2 -1 oz.—guesstimate.

Love those big side pockets!

I think that there are one or two things that I would improve on the pack beyond the above concerns—
I would cant the shoulder strap placement, where it is sewn at the top, more agressively. I would also beef up the Dyneema bottom with a bit heavier duty fabric—at the cost of no more than another oz. or so of weight gain.

I like the hip-belt with the dual buckles and I have a feeling many of his packs will eventually have this feature as well.

I like this type of hip-belt design over what is now current with some of the ULA packs. (Catalyst,Circuit, etc)

Although, I think a 1-1/2" wide, single buckled hip-belt is good as well. Simple,quick & easy.

Thanks.

great pics, exactly what I was looking for.

After staring at these pics, I think a great MYOG project would be to make a Artic pack SUL clone for the POE 25L dry bag. I think with a harness with more convential exterior mesh pockets would be awesome.

I really look forward to getting the Artic pack into operation!

By the way, nice balaclava and pipe, you've got a UL hiker meets symbioneese militia look going. I like it!

Actually that was supposed to be the twin brother (seperated at birth) of the leader of S. Mexico's Zapatista movement. Gotta know your "liberation" movements.

Be safe in Iraq!

Oh, I thought it was a Ninja Turtle that hung out with Tommy Chong or Popeye.

Flattery will get you no where, dude.

That's my BD Binding Buddy I'm smoking. Review to follow. :-)>

"Bushwacker Safe"

I just got back from an overnighter with my new Arctic pack. I had already left before Brian Frankle advised me that the dry bag would be better next to the frame w/ pad rolled and stored on top or in front. I had put my foam pad against the frame out of sheer habit… having used them as a virtual frame for years. Brians suggestion makes perfect sense and I will follow it next time. But that said despite the adjustment shift to this new design, it carried beautifully. Far better than I expected considering that I havnt use a "real" frame pack in so long. I also purposely carried more weight than I needed and overpacked since this was designed for heavier loads than I usually carry- I had about 30lb. give or take ( I just threw a bunch of extra clothes and more insulation and food than I needed in it). I was half dreading hiking with this kind of weight over so many ups and downs but like I said it carried wonderfully. As expected It carried better and better as it got broken in and I made adjustments.
As for its durability, I climbed/ducked/crawled over and under a lot of Spruce blowdowns this weekend and it didnt leave any but one very faint superfical mark on the dry bag.
Very happy with this pack… Thanks Brian Frankle and Ryan

Cool!

I was counting on it. Also hope to use this pack for multi-day backcountry skiing
trips. Actually, pretty much anything extended except for alpine climbing.

I discovered as I was playing with my new pack that my sleeping pad fit in the 50 Liter dry bag almost perfectly. It occurred to me to use them to make an inflatable air mattress. So I trimmed my Gossamer Gear NightLight™ Sleeping Pad a little so it fit the dry bag perfectly and inserted it and my Gossamer Gear SitLight™ Sit Pad into the dry bag and then sealed the dry bag and blew it up. It worked perfectly and was much more comfortable than the foam pads themselves! This was just a short term test at home and merits a more realistic test but I was exited by the possibility and couldn't wait to share the idea. The big test will be if the pad will stay inflated all night. I've posted some photos below.

The following picture shows the entire sleeping pad system. It is long enough to accommodate me at 6'4". The beaver tail from the Artic pack is under the pad.

This picture shows the pad in use with my Montbell pillow. The toggles on the pillow fit the slots in the dry bag.

This shows the dry bag with the foam pads that were inside of the bag on top, to show their configuration. My SitLight™ Sit Pad is used on top of the NightLight™ Sleeping Pad for lumbar support and to easy the pressure on the hips when side sleeping.

By sealing the open end of the dry bag with a hot iron you could make a permanent custom air mattress if you wanted to. Maybe this belongs in the "Make Your Own Gear" thread?

Something like what you did occurred to me, too—-glad you refined it and great pictures, too. Is this a versatile pack or what?