New From Lowe Alpine - Packs And Warm Zone

Think of Portishead permeating into an entire universe. Anyway, apart from the new alloy Load Locker and Web Catcher buckles, which are an elegant looking solution to fastening straps on packs, there were two other major developments on the stand.

Lowe's Warm Zone top has just won the 'Best Winter Shirt' category in US magazine Backpacker's annual awards. Warm Zone, if you've not seen it, features variable insulation panels so the warm bits are just where you need them.

Next year the Warm Zone rangegets tweaked with perhaps the most interesting new arrival having an old name. It's a new version of the old fave Ninja Hoody Powerstretch top which uses the Warm Zone technology for a mid-layer insulation jacket with hood.

The Warm Zone should minimise weight and bulk and the garment is designed to be slim-fitting with hood, flat-locked seams and, erm, 'sueded monkey palms' it says here. Should be an interesting new take on an old favourite.

One more interesting snippet - if you've looked at Warm Zone's raised areas and thought that they work better next to the skin rather than facing out, you're right... There's also a reversible Warm Zone Top that's some 25 per-cent warmer worn with the raised bits against the skin. Trouble is that it looks more technical the other way round with the zoned areas showing. Still, come January 2004, you'll have the option.

Also making waves at Lowe Alpine were a new set of technical packs. According to marketing supremo Clive Allen, the company's taken a long, hard look at their climbing sacs and stripped away the unnecessary bits and bobs to get back to basics.

Apart from the neat new Load Locker buckles, there are some other nice touches for the new Mountain Attack range which compements the existing Alp Attack sacs. Maybe most distinctive is a new pack aimed squarely at multi-pitch climbers.

The Alpine Attack 20 is designed to expand to 22 litres for the approach, then zips down to a mere 14 litres for climbing with just enough space for shoes, windproof, energy bars and a hydration pack. There are straps designed to allow you to loop a rope over the top of the pack as well.

In a common theme for next year - Haglofs and Macpac have also gone that way - the pack sits higher than normal for maximum freedom of movement on the route, there's a removable hip-belt and a stretchy, ventilated 'Wrap Around' back system means the pack hugs your body.

Sponsored climber, Pat Littlejohn, is quoted as saying he 'forgot he was wearing it halfway up a route...' Nice.

We've had the Load Locker buckle on the front page of the site all this week, but if you've missed it, it's Lowe Alpine's alternative to plastic buckles.

It's a devilishly simple idea made from alloy and claimed to be 18 per-cent lighter than plastic - it's even drilled to save weight - but considerably stronger. They're made from T6 alloy, which is the stuff that goes into carabiners and were developed with the guys over at DMM in Llanberis.

They worked great on the stand, you simply hook the hook bit through the loop for closure then, to lock off, slide the strap into the additional upper slot. Simple and elegant.