Just had this backpack shipped by the fine gentlemen at ULA and I'm pretty damn excited. The pack body fabric is the same Zpacks uses for their Exo backpack—1.43 oz/sqyd cuben fiber with a protective layer of 50D polyester on the outside. This is lighter than the fabric used in HMG backpacks, but not by much (2.92 oz/sqyd vs 3.3 oz/sqyd). I'm planning to tape the inner seams with cuben tape to complete the rainproofing.

I want one. I just ordered an Arc Blast an hour ago though. Looks very cool. What's the weight of that bad boy?

whoa.. is that custom or coming soon from them?

@Kevin: it's 4.5 ounces lighter than a typical Circuit. In size large, it's 36oz with every option. I'll be removing everything except the aluminum stay and one water bottle shoulder strap, so it should be right around two pounds.

@Jason: Custom. I also had them add a second side compression strap because I'll be carrying Altai Hok skis on the pack through the winter.

Kevin,
I just got my Arc Blast a couple of weeks ago. Sweet pack. Very comfy. I think you'll like it.
-Mark

Did anyone else initially think the pack has a bit of the Holy Glow like something you witness for the first time and can't help but hearing a church choir in the background going "ooooooOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!"? I honestly thought it was photoshopped for a whole second to reinforce the cuben fiber arc of the covenant angle, for a whole second. Made me laugh.

That is a sexy pack.

Well, I got it and it's a beautiful beast. I ordered some 1" cuben tape from Zpacks to tape the interior seams. It's never going to be as waterproof as an HMG bag just by virtue of the features and how it's constructed, but it'll be waterproof enough to eliminate a pack cover here in Oregon.





Now to wait for the rain to switch to snow in the higher elevations so I can do some snowcamping!

That's a really awesome pack. I've been very impressed with ULA packs and this water proof fabric was all that's missing. I hope they're doing this on a regular basis.

That is one sweet lookin pack. I want to get one but I'm concerned about the white color used on these. I can't imagine that stays white very long.

Anyone have experience with these White cuben bags from Zpacks, Hyperlight Mountain Gear, etc....Does the white fade over time to tan, brown...?

Can't find any pics from a somewhat worn bag in this material.

Thanks

Scroll down a bit here, and you can see what Luc Mehl's HMG Porter looked like after the AMWC this summer.

Nice HMG Windrider.

J/K

Michael, the white picks up dirt but a little Oxy and the dirt stains are gone.

@David Ure: Windrider with a better frame, a better hip belt, better side pockets, and load lifters?

Better frame? How so?

For me, load lifters wouldn't make up for the 10 oz weight differential. I would want something lighter than 36 oz that was cuben otherwise what is the benefit?

The bag is 34oz with the features I don't use removed. That's less than 6 ounces heavier than a Windrider. I say it has a better frame because of the hip belt, the carbon hoop and stay, and the load lifters. At the minimum, everyone would agree load lifters are better than not at the loads these packs are designed for.

Edit: not to mention the torso length adjustment of plus or minus 1.5 inches that ULA packs afford.

Edited by kylemeyer on 12/02/2012 18:30:03 MST.

Nice looking pack and based on the photo of yourself, it fits pretty well. You got just what you wanted and the few negative posts must be cuben-hybrid pack envy for sure.

My Mchale does not have load lifters and has only two stays. So I guess not everyone agrees that load lifters are necessary at heavier weights.

The hip belt on the Windrider is 4" wide and just as long ( padded portion) as the Circuit. The Large belt is longer than the Medium, etc. you can have HMG swap out a larger or smaller size for you.

Not adjustable torso; just 4 different torso sizes.

"You got just what you wanted and the few negative posts must be cuben-hybrid pack envy for sure."

Dam funny

Edited by FamilyGuy on 12/02/2012 18:42:06 MST.

Looks like an awesome pack, Kyle! I've always enjoyed the fit of the ULA packs, so this looks pretty great. You'll have to report back and let us know how it fares on the trail!