The LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK evolved steadily to reach its current design. Comparing the prototype pack and the commercial pack side by side, and looking at the early designs, I see that they have come a long way. The initial design was drawn up to suit the needs of Mateusz Szultk, the owner of LAUFBURSCHE, one of the early adopters of ultralight backpacking in Germany. As usual in UL circles, after using commercial lightweight packs but wanting to decrease his load further, Mateusz sat down to design and sew his own pack. He posted the original design on the BPL MYOG forum and the German Trekking Ultraleicht forum, and soon received a number of requests for his packs.
At that point Mateusz, an architect by education, decided to design the pack further and offer them in a limited series to interested people. The design went through four major evolution steps, which each had a dozen sub-steps, resulting in about fifty prototype packs until the final design was deemed good enough for retail. Every pack design was tested by friends and UL aficionados to gather feedback and further improve the design. The innovative lid of the pack, which makes water leaking in through the lid nearly impossible and is the characteristic feature of the pack, was developed during the third major step. It was hailed by those who used it as a breakthrough in pack design, and the interest in the packs started to further climb. At this point, Mateusz decided to make LAUFBURSCHE his main business - alas, establishing a cottage business is very difficult in the bureaucratic environment of Germany, so it took a while until his business was ready to hang its shingle.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- Description
- Features
- Field Testing
- Comparison
- Assessment
- Specifications
- What's Good
- What's Not So Good
- Improvements
# WORDS: 2510
# PHOTOS: 10
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LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK Review
A thorough review, Hendrik. I'm a little surprised at the "tentative recommended" rating ultimately awarded, but hey, it's just a rating. One person's awesome is another person's average. I've been very pleased with mine. It's roomy, and extraordinarily comfortable.
Re the burrito packing with a CCF pad, I also have a Multimat, but I found it a little tricky to fit the rolled pad in and then try to get it to expand and fit the bag. The foam material locked against itself, leaving me with quite a bit less room in the pack. Since then I've just carried it outside. PArt of the reason my be that my pad is a Long, and hence more awkward to unroll in a pack.
I was also a little worried at first that the shock cord back panel system wouldn't keep a Z-Lite in place, but it did, very well. I always use this now – you never know when a 4 panel Z-Lite will come in handy.
Lastly, although the side pockets are good, I find my 1L Platy has a habit of falling out the pockets when I bend over. I have to try and create a little tensioning cord over it sometime. Losing the water bottle would be a pain. Losing my puukko would be a major disappointment.
I really hope Mateusz gets the online store up and running though. After all his work he deserves to do well.
Interesting review, Hendrik. Thanks for that. Never thought of using my huckePACK without an improvised frame (I prefer the burrito style).
You wrote that the pack volume (Main body only) is between 42-53 liters.
But in the comparison chart it's listed with 38 liters?
Good point by the way with the prices one have to pay for different packs in the US and in Europe. E.g. the GG Murmur (a rather cheap pack in the US) is sold in Germany for 100ā¬, the G4 for 150ā¬! That makes (at the moment) 144$ for the Murmur and 216$ for the G4 due to exchange rates, shipping, VAT, etc. (The Mariposa Plus is sold for 189ā¬ / 272 $!!!)
I'm missing one of my favorite features of the huckePACK in the review! The unique possibility to wrap the hip belt around the pack when not needed, WITHOUT affecting the shoulder straps! Something I really like when carrying lighter loads, or when going by plane or bus services.
But all in all a worth to read review on one of my most favorite packs! (And the dyneema version does indeed look sexy!)
Very good review, Hendrik! I mostly agree with you although I am still a little bit ambivalent with mine.
I bought one of the silnylon pre-series packs in S-M (even mixed sizes are possible!), 330g – using it since more than a year for 2 longer hikes of 400 and 350 km, some week-enders, and 24h's.
Same problem as Mark mentioned I am not able to pack it burrito style without loosing much of available space. 1 liter platypus is falling out of the diagonal side pocket, but _only_ when hunkering down.
The craftsmanship is OUTSTANDING! My Whisper is already disintegrating with loose seams, threads and stitches and has not even seen the half of trails my huckePACK has.
The lid is a real pleasure every time I open and close the pack – brilliant solution. The access to the side pockets during walking is very easy because it opens also sideways.
Contrary to Hendrik my comfort zone with the pack ends unfortunately around 7-8kg – the shoulder straps and the hip belt isn't really comfortable and snuggling to my body. The edges of the straps are way to hard for me and I have bruises on collarbones and hips after a few hours. But then – there are variations in anatomy …
And – I wouldn't rely on the water-proofness, at least not with silnylon!
Overall I really like it and I am sure I will find a solution with Mateusz for the strap edges.
Great review Hendrik. Too bad this pack isn't available in the US!
A simple solution is to place your foam mat inside your pacliner. Let it unroll to the diameter you need, then place it inside your pack. Much easier.
Great review, Hendrik.
Thank you for the detailed analysis and photos. I especially like the lid on this pack and the clean lines. Perhaps another trip to Germany is in order :)
Many thanks for the comments!
David & a gould, it is available in the US and one doesn’t need to travel to Germany to get one! There are a few huckePACKs already in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Norway – just send Mateusz an Email to the here mentioned address, and you will receive an answer with an Excel-based configurator (yes, works fine on a Mac and Linux with Open Office) which lets you put together your dream huckePACK.
Mike, a good idea for those who use packliners (I don’t). It is right that depending on the mat used it can be difficult to unroll it further and space might be “lost”, though I usually just use that lost space for items like my bivy and other soft items to fill it up, which works fine.
Sabine, I put the Platypus in the big pocket for that reason. If one uses the included dyneema cord to create a side compression system, it also can help with that – just tug the platy under a cord and it should be fine! Comfort zone is indeed a personal matter & anatomy. I hope you manage to work out something with Mateusz regarding the shoulder straps!
Basti, maybe a little mix-up with the volumes. I will look into it and have it corrected if needed. Regarding the “unique feature” – well, imo it ain’t unique, I can do that with the majority of packs hanging on my wall =) Though you are correct, it is a nice feature!
Mark, a webshop would make the live of potential customers a lot easier, for sure. I went over to carry my puukko in a pant (cargo) pocket, which allows it to be quick to grab in most situations. Losing my puukko is not an option for me, hence in the past I also have carried it in the front mesh pocket and secured it with a simple knot from the lid/ compression line.
Thanks for the review. I think I want one just because I like saying "LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK".
Cheers,
M
Great review of what looks to be a great product, particularly for those of us in UK / Europe. I've emailed Mateusz for the configurator and eagerly await its arrival…. Fingers crossed this could be my next UL pack….
deleted – configurator has dimensions.
Well, having played around with the configurator I've since contacted Mateusz who not only quickly contacted me but also suggested that as my size was between L and XL, that he could make me a custom size order to be certain of a good fit…. now that's what I call service – he also answered my query regarding bear-can compatibility too….can't wait to receive the finished article and I really hope that the Laufbursche 'brand' does well – it certainly deserves to :)
LAUFBURSCHE just announced that they plan to open their long-expected webshop by the end of February!
Exciting! That should mean it should soon be very easy to order a huckePACK or huckePĆCKchen (or a Cuben Laavu, or a Tanzpalast… =)
These packs look and sound amazing! I am planning a long bike tour in Europe and also want to bring a backpack with me for backpacking trips into the mountains. How small can this pack get? Thanks!!!
My German is terrible. What's the latest?
Ken, Deutsch ist sehr einfach!
Last info I have is mid March. They're busy with filling the storage so that there's no waiting times for packs, shelters and gear.
The pack can get fairly small. Check some of the photos above to see it!
And the webshop is open! Head over to laufbursche-gear.de to get your choice of huckePACK or huckePĆCKchen!
What is the exchange rate?
-Frank
LMGTFY
.766 cents to one Euro. So it seems like it is 25% too much. Thanks mighty dollar.
A few trips down the line with my trusty Huckepack and I can't be more impressed with this pack. Even on a recent bothy trip carrying coal on top of all gear it was a superbly comfortable carry at c. 17kg. The capacity is more than enough for multi-day trips with food, even in winter. I've now sold the larger ULA Catalyst as this is all the pack I need. Can't recommend highly enough :)
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