We told you a little about Mountain Equipment's new 2004 pack
range a couple of months back, but we had a proper close-up browse of
them at last week's show and they look great.
The packs have been developed by ME's sponsored climber John Dunne
and, says ME, offer the same sort of features as the likes of
Arc'teryx and Osprey, but at a very competitive price. The old ME
packs were looking a bit dated, the new ones drag them into the 21st
Century with a vengeance.
So what do you get? First, they look great, both the alpine-style
top-loaders and the smaller Breeze packs which access via a side zip.
Fabrics are designed as a compromise beteen lightness and durability
with 420 denier Nylon on the body and a tougher 2000 denier fabric on
the base of the sacks.
The back system looks thoroughly modern with ergo-shaped straps,
laminated breathable foam padding, a removable waist belt with
webbing back up option for stability and a neat hip-belt fastening
system that borrows from Osprey for maximum comfort. Support comes
from a polyethylene sheet backed up with an alloy T-shaped malleable
strut, while you also get two wand pockets, an easy clip shockcord
accessory cradle, removable lid with pocket and water-resistant zip
and a hydration pocket.
The
detailing is nice too, with Hypalon, Velcro-fastened ice tool straps
and a Hypalon reinforced exit hole for a hydration tube too. The
bottom line is that they look great with simple, clean lines, feel
very light for fully specced sacs and if they work as well as they
look, should be serious contenders.
The 55-litre version will retail for around £100 when it hits
the shops early next year, so not cheap, but hardly overpriced
either.
More Mountain Equipment information from their web
site.
