circa 1984

I just took a friend on a backpacking trip. It was his first time and he said his dad had a pack. He came over with a Lowe that looked like a duffle bag except it had a big flap that rolled up and revealed straps and a hipbelt. It looked crazy uncomfortable. I couldn’t find much info on it.

Oh come on. 1984 is not THAT old …

Cheers

Oh come on. 1984 is not THAT old …

Well, let’s think about this. In 1984 I had zero kids. Now I have two, ages 29 & 31. And now I also have two grandkids. But kids do live longer than dogs, which is why we have them, plus they can be trained to raise the roof on a tent trailer at a young age, like 5 or 6 years old.

1984 was a long, long time ago especially if you live in Airstrip One.

Good news is I have some gear significantly older than that Lowe pack that I still use on occasion.

No, there was no Internet in 1984. We used CompuServe and BBS’s instead, computers with 16K or maybe even 64K of memory, 5 1/2″ floppy drives, and 300 baud modems. We didn’t need electronic pictures or high speed. We had spreadsheets like VisiCalc, Lotus 123, and MultiPlan but amazingly we didn’t need them to go backpacking. And some of us did have lightweight and UL kits. Not much has really changed much since 1984 backpacking-wise. The 60’s and early 70’s were more fun than 1984. No permits needed for the JMT or Whitney.

Since this is an election year, Reagan won his 2nd term as president in ’84. He got 525 out of 538 electoral votes (won 49 of 50 states), the most in history. Since the first debate is next week, here is something from ’84. Regan was 73 years old during that debate. Walter Mondale knew he was screwed when Reagan started the debate with

I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.

I used to own a Lowe Backpacker II model from the 1970s and let Little Mitten use it on several winter trips.

H

Here is the pack on a trip in 2002 as we climb up the tough North Fork Citico trail.

A closer shot showing the Lowe label barely visible.

In 2013 I was pulling a backpacking trip in the mountains of TN and ran into this guy with a vintage Lowe pack.

haha I love it, and am quite excited to adorn myself with this older than me but not that old bag.

In any case, the science of backpacks and materials have progressed while still serving the same purpose, but it seems that the retro look on highend backpack brands has become trendy again, around here in Seattle.  My chance to blend in with the hipsters.

That’s one of th Lowe alpine climbing packs.

Their backpacking packs from 1982 had very beefy hipbelts and lumbar pads, plus 2 aluminum stays down into the back of the pack and hipbelt.

Best carrying load monster I ever used – beats the new designs hands down in every category but weight.

The lowe alpine packs WERE the original minimalist pack. The Dana Designs packs were the same harness technology and fabrics – but with lots of extra pockets.

Ps: Dana Designs is now called Mystery Ranch.  Same guy :)

I also have some info about your pack in particular.

The side strap is NOT to add a pocket.  It’s to hold down the ends of the coil of rope you have under the top lid so it doesn’t flop around.

The ice axe loop at the top of the pack is NOT for an ice axe. It’s a 3 point haul system. Ie: when you haul your pack up the cliff you just climbed, you attach the rope to the shoulder straps and the loop to keep it upright so it doesn’t snag as much. The strip of webbing holding the shoulder straps onto the bag is there to keep the straps from ripping  holes in the bag when hauling it up the cliff.

The hip belt has webbing sections between the pads and the pack to make it easy to wrap the hipbelt around the pack and fasten the buckle at the over the ice axe.

The lid is big and comes off because you need to fit everything you need on approach into it – because your rope is blocking access to the inside of the pack. Ie: water bottle, lunch, gloves, hat, etc. It comes off because you don’t need the lid while climbing.  On packs where it doesn’t come off, you tuck it inside the pack to allow easy access to your belay coat and water bottles inside the main compartment.

Forgot to mention:  the larger sizes have what looks like water bottle pockets. They aren’t big enough to cram water bottles into unless the pack is packed loosely – and you’ll wonder how the designers could have made such a mistake.  They are NOT water bottle pockets. They are for easy / quick access to an avalanche probe :). If they were bigger, the probe would rattle around when you are climbing. Also – Climbers keep their water bottles in their top lid.

As a result – the larger sizes will have 2 compression straps on each side. The top one is to hold your rope down. The bottom one is to secure your avalanche probe.  They are NOT for adding an exterior pocket. Lowe was a minimalist and designed packs for maximum agility on rough approaches. Ie: All gear goes inside the pack, packs are streamlined not cluttered with pockets, shaped tall and narrow for maximum load carrying ease, and stuffed tight to allow for 2 aluminum stays to serve as a frame.

His “internal frame” idea was a revolutionary departure from traditional frame packs.

whoa! so you’re telling me this is the great grandfather to most pack construction these days? I’ll make sure to pamper it incase there were ever a camp museum in the next 100 years to donate it to.

Awesome information, exactly what I was hoping to dig up! you guys are great.

whoa! so you’re telling me this is the great grandfather to most pack construction these days? I’ll make sure to pamper it incase there were ever a camp museum in the next 100 years to donate it to.

No, Lowe built his first internal frame pack in the late 60’s.

“No, Lowe built his first internal frame pack in the late 60’s.”

+1

Lowe is pretty much considered to be the inventor of internal frame backpacks.

While I don’t use it but once every other year, here’s a pic of my daughter sporting a late 80’s 100 liter Specialist Cloudwalker (please note the vintage blueberry & teal color combination). The only thing I ever needed to do was switch out the buckle for the best buckle ever made: a Kelty Cam Lock.

While heavy, that pack is soooo durable.

The only thing I ever needed to do was switch out the buckle for the best buckle ever made: a Kelty Cam Lock.

+100 !!

“Dana Designs is now called Mystery Ranch.  Same guy :) ”

And Dana Designs was preceded by the Kletterwerks. Same guy, and now resurrected by his son.

I still have two Kletterwerks packs; one’s not really usable anymore.

” the best buckle ever made: a Kelty Cam Lock”

I had a Kelty frame pack with one of these. The pack is long gone, but I recycled the buckle for my carpentry tool belt.