More 2004 kit from the Friedrichshafen Outdoor Show. We've already
shown you the new, slimmed down Freeflow Light complete with, erm,
carbon fibre geodesic exo-skeleton - see here
- but that's just the start of it.
The updated Extrem climbing sacs are in the shops now, and the
Berghaus designers have turned their attention to the walking pack
side of things. The most obvious change is that the longstanding Dart
models have been subtly assassinated and replaced by two new sets of
walking sacs.
The GR range aren't climbing packs, but beefed-up, more
technical day sacs which should cope with four-season mountain
walking and easy mountaineering. Fabrics are hard-nosed,
abrasion-resistant cordura, there are ice tool loops, hydration
facilities, expandable side-pockets, water-resistant zips, hip-fin
pockets and a butch new look.
The back system is a slimmed down version of the Cyclops back used
in this year's big packs, but the breathable sandwich of Evabreathe
foam is now more rounded and contoured for improved comfort. A really
neat touch are new, adjustable shoulder straps which can be
extended to cope with different wearer dimensions and put the padding
where it's needed.
They look good too, as you can see from the pics and will come in
three different capacities.
The softer end of the market gets the new Vercors Range of
much more basic packs aimed at lower level walkers. But that's just
the start - Freeflow Plus is a beefed-up Freeflow design using
the original trampolene-style, vented Freeflow back system combined
with the sort of tougher fabric normally seen on climbing sacs.
They're not technical packs, even though they get ice axe loops to
go with new expandable side pockets and those adjustable shoulder
straps again, but Berghaus say they're more suitable for all round
use. We're not sure about that as we've found vented sacs a tad cool in cold weather, but hey, now you have the option. Sizes are 35+8, which should do for weekend packing, and 25+6.
On the street side of things, there's a sac called the
Morph which is an urban day sac with a hard shell back, loads
of pockets, a moulded back system and fold-away hip fins for
streamlined museum trekking...comes in 20, 25 and 30-litre
guises.
Last but not least, there's a new 49zer0 adventure race /
fast movers pack. It's a development of the existing 69zer0 and no
prizes for guess that it weighs in at 490 grammes in stripped down
mode.
It gets a single main back zip opening for easy access, the well
proven Limpet compression system for stability when moving fast and
air-mesh back system and, this is the bit we like, angled mesh stuff
pockets.
The last detail, the angle of the pockets, is apparently because
we were moaning about the impossibility of accessing most mesh
pockets without dislocating your shoulder at last year's Extrem Lite
launch, so it was nice to see someone was actually listening. Can we
have a cut please....
