Gear Reviews

Hanchor Marble Backpack Review

This Hanchor Marble backpack review addresses how well Hanchor succeeded at rethinking several key components of a traditional backpack.

Roll Top, Obvious Water Trap, Hanchor Marble Pack Frame Review Roger Caffin

By Roger Caffin

November 4, 2016

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Background

Hanchor Pack, Hanchor Marble Pack Frame Review Roger Caffin — The Hanchor Marble pack.

This Hanchor Marble Backpack review highlights a pack from a new company in Taiwan: Hanchor. The company, founded in 2012, seems to consist of a group of climbers, all young. There appear to be as many female climbers as male climbers in the enterprise. Their mission is “to design innovative, simple, and high-quality bags to hold your stuff for all your adventures.”

Formal Specifications (per Hanchor)

The Hanchor “MARBLE (backpack) is a 65 Liter (2198 fl oz.) ultralight hiking backpack using high-end material XPAC VX07. MARBLE is suitable for all kind of hiking trips with a roll top closure design and a two-track back frame system, providing comfortable carrying experience.”

Constructed mainly from XPAC VX07 fabrics, YKK waterproof zipper, roll top closure
Bottom seam bound with thick webbing, helping the pack to stand and increasing the ability to resist abrasion
Two-track back frame system, adequately ventilated
Removable hip belt and Sternum Strap (with whistle device)
Sides and top compression straps
Daisy chains design at front for gear carrying
Large front zipper pocket and two side pockets for quick access
Two small zipper pockets on hip belt for small stuff
Shipped with bungee cords which help you attach gear
Bag top circumference: 39 in. (99.1 cm)/Bottom circumference: 41 in (10.41 cm)/Height Fully Unrolled: 36.25 in. (92.1 cm)
Torsos size- Regular (R): 17 ~ 19 in. (43.2 cm – 48.3 cm)/ Large (L): 19 ~ 21 in. (48. 3 cm – 53.3 cm)
Removable Hip Belt Small (S): 26 ~ 32 in. (66.0 cm – 81.3 cm)/ Medium (M): 32 ~ 38 in. (81.3 cm – 96.5 cm)/ Large (L): 38 ~ 44 in. (96.5 cm – 111.8 cm)
Backpack (includes hip belt and sternum strap): 33 oz. (928 g)
Removable 2 vertical aluminum stays: 4 oz. (114 g)/ lateral aluminum stay: 1 oz. (31 g)
Suggested limit of comfortable carrying capacity: 44 lbs. (20 kg)
Other accessories: Long bungee cord*1/ Short bungee cord*2/ String Loop*2
Price: 8490 NT (Taiwan), ~US $260

Hanchor Marble Backpack Review Assessment of Pack and Specifications

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By Roger Caffin

Research Scientist. Been walking all my life, mainly off-track - we don't have 'trails' here, and I always go with my wife. Summer and winter, lowland and highland, Australia and Europe. Forced into UL gear by heavy packs and increasing age. :-)

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Discussion

This topic has 10 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by Roger Caffin.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

Author

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Nov 4, 2016 at 11:40 pm #3434239

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Companion forum thread to: Hanchor Marble Backpack Review

This Hanchor Marble backpack review addresses how well Hanchor succeeded at rethinking several key components of a traditional backpack.

Nov 5, 2016 at 4:51 am #3434247

Simon Kenton
BPL Member

@simonbutler

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the review. Always done well and nice to read about an unknown (to me) manufacturer.

VX-07 is a 70D nylon with a .25 mil PET sandwiched between a 50D polyester backing, correct?

How do you think this pack will handle abrasion by granite and standard bushwhacking?

Nov 5, 2016 at 8:08 am #3434258

Sam C
BPL Member

@crucial-geek
Locale: Mid-Atlantic

The horizontal bar may be novel to ultralight packs, but it is certainly not a new idea.

Nov 5, 2016 at 8:49 am #3434264

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

https://www.hanchor.com/products/Outdoor%20Series/MARBLE_Hiking_Backpack?locale=en

Nov 5, 2016 at 8:56 am #3434265

Link .
BPL Member

@annapurna

.JANG-TIAN SHIEH one of the founding members has been a BPL member for over 7 years

Nov 5, 2016 at 2:56 pm #3434318

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Hi Simon

The X-Pac fabrics are multi-layer as described. I have used them, including the VX-07, for the packs I make for myself, and they have lasted for many, many years through the Australian bush and around Europe – without holes.
Mind you, sharp granite can wreck anything, and so can sharp burnt sticks in the bush, so a little common sense is always required.
My own opinion – it’s very good fabric, much better than ‘pack cloth’.

Cheers

Nov 16, 2016 at 8:11 pm #3435956

Eric Blumensaadt
BPL Member

@danepacker
Locale: Mojave Desert

I detect a teensy design flaw. Namely lack of the ability for the load to be supported by the frame stays.

If the “cross bar” is not at the top of the stays and attached to them and the stays are removable how on earth does the bag hang from the frame?? IF the tops of the vertical bars are in pockets I fear small fabric pockets at the top of the vertical stays will wear through fairly rapidly if the entire weight of the bag hangs from them, as it should in order to transfer pack weight to the waist belt.

I ask this because I’ve converted two frameless hunting packs to internal stay packs with 1″ wide contoured aluminum stays. The cross bar I installed bolts on the top of the vertical stays and through the reinforced pack fabric and the original wimpy “frame sheet”. The crossbar was installed inside the top layers of pack fabric so the fabric hangs off the crossbar. I’ve got many miles on both packs, especially the larger 3,500 cu. in. Camelback hunting pack. So far no wear or tear on the stays and crossbar.

Anyway, nice to see American concepts of pack design make it halfway around the world to a bunch of enthusiasts. I bet they have other ideas for packs that we’ll see soon.

Nov 18, 2016 at 9:08 pm #3436332

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

If the “cross bar” is not at the top of the stays and attached to them and the stays are removable how on earth does the bag hang from the frame??

I think the main problem here is the whole idea of having to have a ‘frame’ as you describe. Judging by the Hanchor Marble, this requirement may not be so. The cross bar is attached or sleeved with about 1000 denier nylon fabric, and the shoulder straps attach to this sleeve. The rest of the pack indeed hangs off this horizontal sleeve. That is sufficient.

The vertical stays can not support the bag. Physics just does not work that way. What the vertical stays do is the keep the back of the pack straight. Without these verticals the bottom of the pack would turn up at the bottom, where the bottom ends of the shoulder straps attach. With the verticals in place, and again sleeved in heavy nylon fabric, the torso length of the pack is maintained. The pack keeps its shape.

To make the design work you do have to really design the sleeving and the straps. Hanchor seem to have done this. My complaint is that there is no padding between my back (a delicate thing) and the hard objects inside the bag. A good hard foam sheet seems to be needed there – as many packs actually have.

Cheers

Nov 18, 2016 at 11:38 pm #3436348
Rex Sanders
BPL Member

@rex
Roger,

Thanks for the quick review. A few thoughts:
- Don’t see big advantages of the Hanchor pack versus similar packs from e.g. HMG. And the Hanchor pack is heavier, too. Six ounces over spec is almost unforgivable.
- OTOH, looks like Hanchor has the same bone-headed HMG “feature” of routing the lower compression strap over the side pocket.
- Waterproof zippers are an abomination on backpacks. Hard to use, fragile, and when they (inevitably) fail, you don’t even have a little rain flap as backup in most designs.
- Roll-top bags (which should more properly be “fold top,” a different discussion), don’t have much trouble with pooling water in my experience. Maybe the constant motion of backpacking spills the water, preventing soak through.
- I would rather have a firmly anchored, well designed hip belt that was a little too long, than the “option” of getting exactly the right size that doesn’t transfer weight or fit well. Can’t tell from this review how the Hanchor hip belt performs in those areas.
Some interesting design ideas (stays, bottom seams), but overall, I’ll pass.

— Rex
Dec 2, 2016 at 2:19 pm #3438335

Dan @ Durston Gear
BPL Member

@dandydan
Locale: Canadian Rockies

FWIW, I posted a review of the Marble last year which I think adds another perspective to what’s mentioned here:

https://intocascadia.com/2016/01/09/review-hanchor-marble-67l-pack/

Regarding the weight, I think this is just a misunderstanding. Hanchor appears to list the weight of the pack and stays separately, I supposed based on the idea that some may choose to remove them. When you add those weights together you get 37.8oz, which about what mine weighs (38.5oz).

Re. Hanchor vs. HMG, I haven’t measured the volume of my Marble but it’s really big. Subjectively it’s pretty close to a 4400 Windrider, which is almost as heavy (35oz). Comparatively, the Marble is more fully featured, with the larger, zippered rear pocket, large hipbelt pockets, horizontal frame stay etc.

The Marble is too big for most LW/UL backpacking. Hanchor’s Marl pack appears closer to the ideal size, and also more closely resembles the HMG packs in terms of features (e.g. mesh rear pocket):

https://www.hanchor.com/products/Outdoor%20Series/MARL_Hiking_Backpack?locale=en

Dec 2, 2016 at 2:54 pm #3438344

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

If only Hanchor had included a solid backsheet – even stiff foam, to keep the sharp lumpy bits in the pack from sticking into my back.
I guess adding such a backsheet would not be too hard.

Size? If the pack is too small you end up with things hanging on the outside. That is a serious no-no for me: stuff gets lost in the scrub. If the pack is ‘too big’ (within limits of course) – pack gear like quilts more loosely, and cinch the pack down.

Cheers
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