New for this spring, ME has totally revised its pack range bringing it into the 21st century with a bang. The Dru is their smallest alpine sac, so what's it like?
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ME Dru 35L Pack - First
Look
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Price: £60.00
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Weight: 1290 grammes
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Features: 420 and
1000D Nylon denier fabrics, triple-stitched with nylon
thread, low bulk laminated shoulder straps, space mesh back,
under lid pocket, lid pocket, internal hydration pocket with
weatherproof tube outlet, double axe / pole loops, two sets
of side compression straps, accessory patch with shock cord
fastener, haul loop, lifetime guarantee.
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The Concept New this spring, Mountain Equipment's pack range
has undergone major surgery under the knife of sponsored climber John
Dunne. We bumped into John last year in the middle of a frenzied
design process that had him flying back and forth to the far east to
sort out detailed design features with the factory.
There was nothing majorly wrong with ME's old packs, but they were
starting to look dated next to the slick new designs from the likes
of Arc'teryx. The new range is intended to drag them into the 21st
Century with a neater, cleaner cut and better thought-out features
for climbers, scramblers and walkers.
The Dru 35 is touted as ME's smallest alpine pack, but it's just
as at home walking or scrambling in British hills.
Features You only have to look at the Dru's neat look and
smooth lines to see where the design influence has come from, but as
always with ME, the features are there to do the job rather than just
look nice. That means you get thinner, laminated straps and hip belt
for a better combination of support and comfort allied to a simple
light, but wicking space mesh back system built on a stuff
polypropolene sheet combined with a dense foam pad for
cushioning.
Everything you'd expect from a modern mountain pack is present and
correct from neat die cut Hypalon ice tool straps to a hydrdation
pocket, snow lock, rope strap and so on. There's nothing extraneous
or fussy - gear loops on the hip-belt that hardly anyone ever uses
for example - but what there is has been carefully thought out.
In Action Pick up the Dru and you're immediately struck by how
light it feels empty. Not stupidly light and not fragile, but
definitely pared down and sleek. Sleek's the way it's cut too. Those
far eastern factories have learned a lot about pack design and just
the way the lid sits over the body of the pack for example, or the
neck drawcord is off set to miss the rope loop are quietly
satisfying.
It's neat. The neatness extends to the way it sits on your back.
With a walking load it's almost unnoticecable. For a simple back
system it works really well, as do the contoured and moulded
laminated harness and hip-belt. We like the dual strap tensioning at
the main belt buckle too. Up the load for climbing and while it's not
up to framed standards of comfort, the body-hugging fit is more than
adequate to cope with a rope of two and a rack. The space foam seems
to breathe well too.
The cut isn't all cosmetic either, the contoured base, for
example, makes the pack less likely to catch on ledges when
descending facing outwards. There are loads of nice detail touches we
like too. When unclipped the hip belt sits back away from your body
giving easy access to your harness for example. Nice too that the
upper side compression strap has a snap buckle for ease of stowage.
The neat, narrow cut and body-hugging stability are idea for climbing
as well, with no jamming projections or swaying around.
They've even thought about the hydration system with an
elasticated webbing loop sitting on the right sholder strap to anchor
the hydration tube neatly in place at the most opportune point. Right
now, just about the only minor criticisms we can come up with are
that there's just one haul loop, which might disappoint the small
number of users who actually use it to haul their packs rather than
as a convenient carrying handle and there's a small possibility that
the back system mesh might trap snow - we don't know, because we
haven't had a chance to try it in those conditions and the OM
snow-cannon is in for repair...
Simple but beautifully cut, designed and put together, the Dru's an
effective, minimalist technical mountain sac that does everything you
need with no silly gimmicks. Comfortable, tough and effective, it
feels absolutely spot on. So far we like it a lot and it's effective as a technical walking days sac as well. One minor thought,
the Dru is only available in one size, so if you're smaller or bigger
than average, try carefully before buying.
Know more or want to?
If you'd like to add your own experiences of this product check
out our user review system and post your opinions to the world. If
you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear
forum.
