 following on from another thread i though it may be an idea to start to catalogue "danger" packs or fabrics. pack straps that will badly pill/abrade/do other nasty things to your tops and also "danger" stuff to wear beneath your shell that does nasty things to the inside/lining of your shell like pilling, snagging etc. pack reviews never mention whether the straps are benign nor trews/underlayers mention wether they do the same from the inside out when compressed and rubbed against pack straps/belts. so, anytime you get problems with a fabric, what else were you wearing and what pack were you using. may be able to slowly build up a useful database of "rogue" packs. this will give people a fighting chance not to mix and match incompatible gear e.g. use paramo? don't use osprey packs because of possible water being forced through issues.
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 Hi Parky, I have used a few Lowe Alpine packs without problem and like them a lot. However, sorry to say a couple of years ago I had issues with Pure Air Zone Walkabout 35 - damaged a couple of sweatshirts on the back / sides seemingly due to abrasive fabric with little wear.This included a Mountain Pull On which I know is very hard wearing (absolutely no issue with the Mountain Pull On). I posted on this about 18 months ago and someone else posted something similiar last year with no knowledge of my post. Don't know if they have changed the fabric since last year though. When the shop I bought it from contacted Lowe they said they had had not other problems reported so I don't know if the two of us were just unlucky or not.
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| Edited: 16/02/10 21:06 |
the nylon belts that trews come with may fluff up the inside of a top - noticed a bit of pilling inside a paramo jacket. it hasn't got any worse since i changed to a leather belt. probably the only people who complained pgj.
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 Velcro! Catches on some fabrics (wicking tops) and leaves them looking awful 
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| Edited: 16/02/10 22:37 |
 Regatta and lower priced Karrimor sack harnesses are extremely abrasive on waterproofs and powershield tops. Ya gets what ya pays for.
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| Edited: 16/02/10 23:09 |
 Slightly off topic but barbed wire - ripped by waterproof trousers on Sunday. Anyway I don't know why they use barbed wire in the first place.
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 I had to cut off the 'stow-on-the-go' pole-holder toggle on the strap of my Exos 46 because it was causing serious abrasion to the inner arm of my shirt (Haglofs Azer). I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem, so maybe it's just the way I move my arms when walking...
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.jpg) I've had the inside of a waist belt buckle on a Lowe Alpine Walkabout 25 damage a baselayer. It was the raised writing (patent notice I think) that rubbed on the shirt and caused piling. Only ever happened with the baselayer, not with more durable layers.
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 tryfan !!!!
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 this will give people a fighting chance not to mix and match incompatible gear e.g. use paramo? don't use osprey packs because of possible water being forced through issues.
The problem with this thread is that one persons experience is often totally different to anothers. I use Paramo and an Osprey pack (Atmos 35) and have never experienced this problem even in persistant heavy rain. I would therefore be inclined to recommend the combination if anybody asked me about it.
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I had to cut off the 'stow-on-the-go' pole-holder toggle on the strap of my Exos 46 because it was causing serious abrasion to the inner arm of my shirt (Haglofs Azer).
I should perhaps add to this that I always use Osprey packs (Exos and Talons), and their performance regarding clothing wear and tear from strap/waist belt abrasion is oustanding. My last long walk was 11 days, wore the same shirt each day, and there is not even a hint of bobbling. In fact, the shirt looks as though I was not carrying a pack at all!
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 Roads tend to abrade ME fleece tights pretty badly when you get thrown along them. Tip to avoid this problem: don't do that! Pete.
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the black diamond cam lock poles we have have sort of sandpaper just below the handles. They wear through expensive new gloves very quickly. The sandpaper is now covered in elephant tape
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Not sure it its exactly the thread to say this but the rubber backing on Montane dynamo's velcro wrist closure has come away from the velcro tape. Most annoying. thought I would let people know as there are a few manufacturers out there who seem to thing the velcro on jacket sleeves need to be glued onto rubber or rubberised strips to aid their use. I guess they think we can't grip fabric well enough.
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Someone mentioned paramo and straps. I have found that the DWR on my old Montane Superfly jacket got worn off very quickly due to the straps and I have never managed to get any of the two main brands out there to work for long. The worst IME was Nikwax TX10i stuff. It lasted one very wet walk before the movement of the straps had rubbed it off. That is despite following the instructions to the letter. If anyone has any solutions to the DWR replacement and how to make it last longer than a few wet walks before it completely wets out on the shoulders. Please let me know. In the meantime I will continue with Grangers 2 in 1 as it has the best results IME.
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i would agree with you andybr but some get very upset when you suggest they're talking blx  it is nice to report that some have experienced this though as no other explanation carries any credance. just as reporting that looking at clouds can force water through the fabric too without rational explanation. but that's just my opinion. ttg. an interesting phenomenon and my alternative take on it is. the straps are dirty/greasy (from your hands - you wipe your dirty, greasy hands on them everytime you put the pack on or off) and this is readily transferred onto the fabric which then wets out quickly rather than the dwr being worn off. also, give the jackets a damn good detergent wash to ensure you've got rid of all the muck on them first. give your pack straps a thorough clean and see if it still happens as quickly. i thought similarly too until i noticed that the dwr "rubbing of" wasn't consistent across the jacket and looked just like the areas around the pockets and cuffs which get a lot of handling. llywelyn - it's the little things like that can make good design - i find my arms rub the belt pockets on my gregory z55 but they've been slightly redesigned on the z45 so they don't.i guess the point of this thread, as well as providing some handy pointers re some gear is also that often the things we moan about are often resolved by a bit of sideways thought by considering everything rather than just the bit we think it is. and resolution may often mean obtaining new gear to see if the new stuff cures the problem...(wanders off whistling)
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I have found that the waist cord on a jacket rubs against a pack belt and wears through the jacket's outer covering. Remedy - remove waist cord. I removed the waist cord from my ME Denali jacket many years ago and the jacket is still fine.
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 Velcro! Catches on some fabrics (wicking tops) and leaves them looking awful
Yup that's a bad one... but not universally. I've not had that problem when using Subzero Factor 1 - which is one of my stock baselayers. But just this week I got caught out reaching into my Crux AK30 (roll top closure with long velcro strip along the opening) wearing a HH LIFA baselayer which is much the worse for wear. I like LIFA - especially when I expect it to be wet all day or in boats - but this is one of it's major drawbacks.
On the Crux front, I also had problems with a waistbelt getting bobbled by the velcro of my Lowe camera case which had never happened before (on my Karrimor or Macpac packs). Velcro is a hazardous material IMO...
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 There are certainly softer grades of Velcro around. Unfortunately, not on my Montane Extreme; it's like a wire brush it's so fierce. And placed so that it would be pretty difficult to replace...
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