PARBAT 110L COMPOSITE EXPEDITION PACK
WE TEAMED UP WITH PARBAT ABOUT A YEAR AGO, AROUND THE SAME TIME WE BECAME AWARE OF ALUULA COMPOSITES, AND TO FINALLY SEE THE CONVERGENCE OF THE TWO IS EXCITING STUFF, CHANGING – AGAIN – THE WAY WE RUN EXPEDITIONS. IF WE CAN CARRY MORE STUFF FURTHER, MORE SECURELY, WITH MORE WEIGHT EFFICIENCY THEN WE CAN CLIMB MORE REMOTE STUFF WITH LESS RELIANCE. THIS IS THE PRIME DIRECTIVE THAT DRIVES ALL ALPINISM, AND ANYTHING THAT ENHANCES THAT WE WORK WITH.
ALREADY WE HAVE TAKEN PARBAT PACKS ACROSS TIBET FOR WINTER AND DEEP INTO THE GOBI DESERT, YOMPING 1/3 OF OUR BODY WEIGHTS, STRAPPING THEM TO HORSES, DRAGGING THEM OVER GRANITE, HURLING THEM INTO TRUCKS, BURYING THEM UNDER SNOW, AND PUTTING OVER 100 DAYS OF EXPEDITION USE ON THEM IN A VERY SHORT TIME. WE FOUND A FEW BUGS, AND PARBAT IRONED THEM OUT INSANELY FAST, USUALLY IN REAL TIME FROM THE OTHERSIDE OF THE GLOBE. WE EXPECT TO BREAK STUFF, AND WE PAY TO GET SPECIAL DESIGNS, AND THE COMPANIES WE RUN WITH WE CHOOSE BECAUSE THEY RESOLVE ALL THIS AS RAPIDLY AS NEEDED.
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ALUULA ENTERED THE SCENARIO QUIETLY, ANOTHER GROUP FROM THE MARINE SPORTS/AERONAUTICAL SCENE THAT INJECTED POTENTIAL INTO CLIMBING. AFTER A DISCHORDANT START THEY SETTLED ON PARBAT TO LEAD THEM INTO THE EXPEDITION WORLD, AND WHAT WE HAVE NOW ARE PACKS THAT COULD EXIST BY NO OTHER MEANS.
WE DABBLE WITH COMPOSITES IN OTHER WAYS AND ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO THE POSSIBILITIES, SO WHEN PARBAT GOT THE GREEN LIGHT WE COULD SEE WHERE THINGS MIGHT GO. THEIR EXISTING PACKS ALREADY WERE BEST IN CLASS FOR THE STUFF WE DO, AND WHAT WE KNEW OF ALUULA* THE SYNCRETIZATION WOULD BE LIKE NOTHING THAT HAD COME BEFORE.
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THE 110L PACK
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A 110L EXPEDITION PACK THAT WEIGHS 650g, WHICH EVEN BY PARBATS STANDARDS IS INSANE. PREVIOUS PACKS FROM THEM WERE ALREADY PERFORMING WELL IN TIBET AND WE KNEW WOULD TAKE SOME BEATING, AS THE COMPETITION NOW ISN’T ABOUT WEIGHT IT IS ABOUT FUNCTION AND FORM.
ALUULA, AS A COMPOSITE, FUSES SEVERAL VARIANTS OF UHMWPE, WHERE BEFORE THEY WERE LAMINATES WHICH HAVE OTHER PROPERTIES. ALUULAS PROPERTIES COVER A HUGE SPECTRUM OF RIGIDITY, CONSTRUCTION METHODS AND TEXTURES, PLUS THE STRENGTH ASSOCIATED WITH UHMWPE AND THINGS LIKE HYDROPHOBIA AND AIR PERMEABILITY.
THIS TRANSLATES TO REAL PERFORMANCE IN PACKS, AS MOST OF WHAT MAKES A PACK FAIL IS DURABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION ISSUES. DUMP 30kg OF LUMPY ALPINE GEAR INTO ANYTHING AND STRAP IT TO A CAMEL FOR A WEEK AND THINGS LIKE SEAMS AND GEAR LOOPS BECOME TIMEBOMBS, BECAUSE THE MIX OF MATERIALS MOST PACKS ARE MADE FROM DON’T ALWAYS INTERFACE WELL. COMPOSITES CIRCUMVENT THIS BY HAVING A COMMON BASE MATERIAL, WHICH CAN BE SWIZZLED INTO DIFFERENT FORMATIONS AND KEEP A TRUELY SEAMLESS CONTINUITY.
IN TANGIBLE FORM THIS RESULTS IN PACKS THAT CAN EXPLOIT RADICAL DESIGNS, BEING PUT TOGETHER IN WAYS THAT DISPARATE MATERIALS DON’T LIKE. THERE’S NO DIFFERENTIALS IN MATERIAL PROPERTIES LIKE ABSORBANCY, STRETCH, WARP AND WEAVE, WHICH ARE EXACTLY THE THINGS THAT BLOW OTHER PACKS INTO PIECES.
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IN THE HAND AN ON THE BACK THESE PACKS ARE NOTICEABLY UNUSUAL IN THE COMBINATION OF RIGIDITY THEY HAVE. BIG LOADS IS NOT ABOUT YARDS OF PLUSH FOAM AND A MILLION STRAPS, IT IS ADDRESSED BY STABILITY, FORM, STRUCTURE AND INTEGRITY. BAMBOO BASKETS ARE GOOD FOR HUGE LOADS BECAUSE THEY PUT THE WEIGHT WHERE YOU WANT IT, BUT THE OBVIOUS BULK OF THE THING MAKE IT IMPRACTICAL FOR LIGHTWEIGHT TRIPS TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. THIS PRINCIPLE THOUGH CAN BE ADAPTED, TO AVOID THE OTHER END OF THE PROBLEM, WHICH ARE PACKS TOO FLOPPY AND INSUBSTANTIAL TO PRECISELY LOCATE A LOAD WHERE IT IS BEST CARRIED.
MANY SMALLER PACKS GET THIS, WITH SEMI-RIGID MATERIALS, BUT THE DISINTEREST IN BIG PACKS MEANS IT HAS NEVER BEEN WELL DEVELOPED WHERE IT’S NEEDED MOST. ALONG COMES ALUULA, FROM AN INDUSTRY THAT CENTERS AROUND THE PROPERTIES OF RIGIDITY, PRESSURE AND FORCE, AND APPLIED TO PACKS BY PARBAT WHO HAVE THE MOTIVATION, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION DYNAMISM TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
THE 110L PUTS MORE RIGID MATERIALS WHERE THEY CAN CONTAIN AND SPREAD THE WEIGHT, THEN SOFTER MATERIALS WHERE THINGS NEED TO CINCH, CLOSE AND INTERFACE THE BODY. THIS ALL HAPPENS WITH NO LOSS OF MATERIAL INTEGRITY, WHICH KEEPS THINGS LIGHT BECAUSE THERE’S NO NEED TO ADD MATERIAL JUST FOR THE SAKE OF CONSTRUCTION. THESE COMPOSITES CAN BE HEAT SEAMED RATHER THAN SEWN AND SO NO WEAKNESS OF JOINTS, NOR THE LIMITATIONS OF SEWING WHICH DETERMINES WHAT MOST OTHER PACKS LOOK LIKE.
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THESE MATERIALS HAVE A STRANGE, ALIEN FEEL, THAT CAN CRUSH AND CRUMPLE LIKE SILK OR BE SO SLICK THAT WATER GLIDES OFF. HIGH ABRAISON AREAS GET A MATERIAL THAT IS HEFTY YET SHINY, THAT FEELS LIKE A TEFLON PAN BUT FLEXS LIKE WAX PAPER. EVEN THE HEAVIER STUFF CAN STILL BE TRANSLUCENT AND IN A NON-WOVEN FORM, WHICH IS SOMEWHAT BIZARRE AND NOT LIKE ANYTHING ELSE.
TO CARRY THEY FEEL MUCH LIKE PARBATS OTHER LARGE PACKS AS THEY SHARE SIMILAR GEOMETRY – AND +25kg AIN’T MUCH FUN HOWEVER YOU DO IT. THE RIGID MATERIALS CLEARLY LOAD ANY WEIGHT WITHOUT SAGGING AND DISTORTING, SO A BIG LOAD FEELS VERY STABLE WITH ALMOST NO MATERIAL CREEP. COMPRESSION STRAPS HELP BY HARNESSING LITERALLY THE FRONT OF THE PACK TO THE BACK, NOT SAUSAGING INTO LUMPS.
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BIG PICTURE-WISE, WHERE THIS GETS MOST INTERESTING IS IN WHAT LAYS AHEAD, AND HOW THESE MATERIALS CAN BE USED TO ADVANCE CLIMBING FROM THE FRONT. THESE PACKS ALREADY HAVE BECOME A CENTRAL PART TO TRIPS INTO THE REMOTE NORTHERN KARAKORUM, JUST LIKE OUR DOWN GEAR FROM MALACHOWSKI, TENTS FROM SAMAYA, TOOLS FROM ELITECLIMB AND CONCEPT DESIGN FROM CHHOGORI.
AS WE HAVE SEEN WITH OTHER MATERIALS THEY CYBERNETICALLY TAKE USERS FURTHER AND INTO MORE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS, WITH LOAD CARRIAGE AT THE CENTER OF THAT. THAT THIS IS WHERE THESE MATERIALS ENTER THE GAME IS A HUGE STEP IN EVOLVING WHAT CAN BE CARRIED AND THEREFORE CLIMBED, GETTING US FURTHER EVERY DAY FROM WHAT HIGH ALTITUDE CLIMBING HAS DEVOLVED INTO ELSEWHERE.
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*IF YOU DETECTED A VAGUENESS AND AVOIDANCE OF SOME DETAILS THEN YOU ARE CORRECT, AS MUCH OF ALL THIS IS PROPRIETRY STUFF WE OURSELVES DO NOT KNOW. WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT AND HOW TO JUDGE IF IT’S UP TO THE TASK, BUT THE FINER POINTS OF COMPOSITE INNOVATION WE EITHER WEREN’T TOLD, DIDN’T UNDERSTAND OR HAVE AGREED NOT TO DISCLOSE.