PalantePacks.com is down for a while?

There was a thread on the Ultralight subreddit on this.

John Zahorian (jawnzee) said the following:

“O hey ya no need for a thread or anything,.. Im just doing some back-end stuff and redirected to the IG for the time being since the domain and hosting and transfers and stuff all wasn’t completely immediate. Working on a lil video series talking about our new pack and the design process and we’ll have a pre-order within the next month so actual news soon. But ya in some ways it’s the same and in some ways it’s completely different. Stoked to share”

Full discussion here:

Pa’Lante news incoming? from Ultralight

Bringing one in Feb. Rex?

I’m definitely curious to see what they do with the design, especially if their new pack turns out to be the long-hinted pack with a hipbelt (I have lower back issues, so I really need a belt, even if my hips yearn to be free.)

That said, my interest in picking up one of their packs has definitely waned in the last couple of months. While they’ve obviously been having normal start-up issues, as far as finding a way to effectively correlate supply and demand (which I know is hard to do on either side of the spectrum), I’d like to have at least some idea of what’s going on with the company- when I can buy products, etc. It’s fine if there’s going to be a five-month gap between manufacturing runs while they figure things out, but it would be nice to hear this from somewhere other than a comment on one of their Instagram posts). On the other end of the spectrum, you have Melanzana, where you similarly can’t buy their products online right now, but they’ve explained what’s going on, how they’re addressing their product shortages, and when you can expect to be able to buy again. I don’t have a problem with waiting by any means (I’ve owned enough MLD gear over the years), but I’m not going to keep checking back at a site that doesn’t have much information beyond telling me I can’t buy anything.

Obviously, they don’t owe me squat as a prospective buyer, but it’s honestly given me a bit of pause about giving them my money, especially for a “pre-order.” More importantly, it makes me a little nervous about the level of engagement I’d get if there was a problem with my order/pack. In fairness, it seems at least anecdotally that people who have had issues with the packs appear to have had them addressed promptly.

I do really hope that they succeed into making themselves into a more regularly-functioning company, since the Simple Pack really does seem to be a very thoughtfully-designed product, one which is really nicely-tailored to the way I like to hike (especially the bottom pocket, which I’d have LOVED on the PCT this year). That said, it’s not like the really unique features of the Simple Pack are all that hard to replicate (GG has the stretch strap pockets on the new Kumo and SWD is offering the strap pockets and the bottoms as a custom order), and I think they have a real risk of being undercut in the market once companies with a more defined manufacturing process start adding in those features. I’ve actually been really curious to see if/when another company’s going to have the guts to put a bottom pocket on as a standard feature.

I really hope that the above doesn’t come off as whiny/bratty, since I really like their design mindset and would like to see their products become more readily available. While their early success and market visibility are obviously a boon for them, I don’t envy them in trying to effectively navigate these spikes in demand for what’s obviously always going to be a somewhat niche product. Having a way to scale up production to the point where you can meet demand while also not overcommitting themselves is going to be a difficult proposition, one which might actually be harder due to the company’s/John Z’s visibility. (Smart design or no, I can’t think of any other company that’s had a small handful of product runs that gets this much attention.)

Bringing one in Feb. Rex?

That pack’s on my “when I win the lottery” list, except I don’t play the lottery :-)

— Rex