I like the hip-belt with the dual buckles and I have a feeling many of his packs will eventually have this feature as well.

I like this type of hip-belt design over what is now current with some of the ULA packs. (Catalyst,Circuit, etc)

Although, I think a 1-1/2" wide, single buckled hip-belt is good as well. Simple,quick & easy.

Thanks.

great pics, exactly what I was looking for.

After staring at these pics, I think a great MYOG project would be to make a Artic pack SUL clone for the POE 25L dry bag. I think with a harness with more convential exterior mesh pockets would be awesome.

I really look forward to getting the Artic pack into operation!

By the way, nice balaclava and pipe, you've got a UL hiker meets symbioneese militia look going. I like it!

Actually that was supposed to be the twin brother (seperated at birth) of the leader of S. Mexico's Zapatista movement. Gotta know your "liberation" movements.

Be safe in Iraq!

Oh, I thought it was a Ninja Turtle that hung out with Tommy Chong or Popeye.

Edited by pappekak on 06/17/2007 10:23:47 MDT.

Flattery will get you no where, dude.

That's my BD Binding Buddy I'm smoking. Review to follow. :-)>

"Bushwacker Safe"

I just got back from an overnighter with my new Arctic pack. I had already left before Brian Frankle advised me that the dry bag would be better next to the frame w/ pad rolled and stored on top or in front. I had put my foam pad against the frame out of sheer habit... having used them as a virtual frame for years. Brians suggestion makes perfect sense and I will follow it next time. But that said despite the adjustment shift to this new design, it carried beautifully. Far better than I expected considering that I havnt use a "real" frame pack in so long. I also purposely carried more weight than I needed and overpacked since this was designed for heavier loads than I usually carry- I had about 30lb. give or take ( I just threw a bunch of extra clothes and more insulation and food than I needed in it). I was half dreading hiking with this kind of weight over so many ups and downs but like I said it carried wonderfully. As expected It carried better and better as it got broken in and I made adjustments.
As for its durability, I climbed/ducked/crawled over and under a lot of Spruce blowdowns this weekend and it didnt leave any but one very faint superfical mark on the dry bag.
Very happy with this pack... Thanks Brian Frankle and Ryan

Edited by MAYNARD76 on 06/17/2007 19:57:05 MDT.

Cool!

I was counting on it. Also hope to use this pack for multi-day backcountry skiing
trips. Actually, pretty much anything extended except for alpine climbing.

I discovered as I was playing with my new pack that my sleeping pad fit in the 50 Liter dry bag almost perfectly. It occurred to me to use them to make an inflatable air mattress. So I trimmed my Gossamer Gear NightLight™ Sleeping Pad a little so it fit the dry bag perfectly and inserted it and my Gossamer Gear SitLight™ Sit Pad into the dry bag and then sealed the dry bag and blew it up. It worked perfectly and was much more comfortable than the foam pads themselves! This was just a short term test at home and merits a more realistic test but I was exited by the possibility and couldn't wait to share the idea. The big test will be if the pad will stay inflated all night. I've posted some photos below.

The following picture shows the entire sleeping pad system. It is long enough to accommodate me at 6'4". The beaver tail from the Artic pack is under the pad.


This picture shows the pad in use with my Montbell pillow. The toggles on the pillow fit the slots in the dry bag.


This shows the dry bag with the foam pads that were inside of the bag on top, to show their configuration. My SitLight™ Sit Pad is used on top of the NightLight™ Sleeping Pad for lumbar support and to easy the pressure on the hips when side sleeping.


By sealing the open end of the dry bag with a hot iron you could make a permanent custom air mattress if you wanted to. Maybe this belongs in the "Make Your Own Gear" thread?

Edited by ericnoble on 06/17/2007 22:35:15 MDT.

Something like what you did occurred to me, too----glad you refined it and great pictures, too. Is this a versatile pack or what?

Edited by kdesign on 06/17/2007 22:30:45 MDT.

FYI, the 50 L dry sack holds a fully stuffed ULA Amp pack (2600 ci) very nicely (and the whole thing can be lashed to the bow of an Alpacka raft). For those overnight packraft trips where you don't need the Arctic pack.

Carol, just curious as to how you secure the Arctic's dry bag alone to the raft's bow. In my experience, webbing run through the raft's lash tabs (in opposition/diagonally) tends to slip off the top and bottom of the pack (or bag, in this case) unless that webbing is secured through fixed points on a pack, such as beneath the Arctic's frame's compression panel/side webbing. Is aggressive cinching the trick, or maybe less aggressive waters?

Less aggressive waters - a reservoir. I fed the strap/line through the tabs at the bottom of the dry bag and through/around the roll top for three points of security. The dry bag stayed in place through three practice flips. One end slipped off during the fourth flip.

ericnoble wrote: "By sealing the open end of the dry bag with a hot iron you could make a permanent custom air mattress if you wanted to."

Eric,

Have you actually sealed a WXTex with a hot iron? Has anybody else?

I assume that you would cut off the flap, webbing, and closure buckle, and hot weld a portion of the coated interior of the bag along the cut end. Is this right?

I have a spare 5L WXTex that would make a great air pillow if I could seal the end, but I don't want to ruin it.

Jason, I have not done this myself, but it has been done by others. You assume correctly that the flap and webbing would need to be cut off. You will not need to hot weld or use any other adhesives, based on the experience of others I believe a hot iron will be sufficient. Ryan Faulkner was the one who did this with a WXTex dry bag as I recall. It is my understanding that the fabric used by POE for their dry bags is the same as that used for their air mattresses.

I have received my pack and I think the concept is very good. I have always liked big hipbelt pockets and these are good ones. The frame appears reasonably padded and supportive. I do have my concerns:

If the hole at the bottom of the POE Dry Bag ever rips out you won't be able to use the pack. There is not an alternate way to attach the shoulder strap to the pack. Additionally, if you ever wanted to use it to haul a load of wood (without dry bag) or use it with an alternate dry bag or several smaller dry bags you can't attach the shoulder straps. I'd like a way to attach the shoulder straps to the pack itself. Any ideas? I'm considering sewing a strap on the bottom that would feed through the plastic ring at the bottom of the strap or cutting a hole in the pack or a sewn on strap for the plastic ring to feed through to make the pack more versatile and "redundant" (fixable if the dry bag hole rips out). I'd like to hear any other ideas.

I looked at trying to figure out a fix IF the hole in the dry bag breaks. What I came up with is taking off the buckle of the lower side compression straps sewn to the back pad frame. Then threading this webbing through the shoulder strap's buckle at the end that fits in the dry bag holes. Then reattaching the buckle on the compression strap and going back to normal operation. For me this worked well and was not a problem.

I did not realize the shoulder straps attached to the drybag! That strengthens my conviction that a GearSkin might be a good alternative for that type of pack. It doesn't come with drybags but I bet it'd work well with them if/when you needed to live outdoors in always wet conditions. And you get a custom made pack to boot!

Edited by jcolten on 06/20/2007 12:05:47 MDT.

Gearskin? Apples and Oranges---it's not a framed pack. The Drysack material is tougher than you think, anyway.

Great fallback solution, David, if one were needed---good for peace of mind.

Hi Ryan, looking at your comments about the shoulder straps forming a loop under the pack when not using the dry bag slots, and this giving a dynamic suspension. Is this similar to the Arn system? I really like Arns suspension, and this would be a great feature for me.