‘Less is more’ will dominate new backpack designs
02/09/2014
“Over the years, in an effort to reach the masses and sell more product, some of the big companies have gotten away from building kick-ass gear,” Mike St. Pierre, founder of backpack and tent brand Hyperlight Mountain Gear (HMG), tells sportstexiles.com.
“While there are certainly some great packs out there, the fact that most packs are made from the same materials by the same Asian factories, many of the big entrenched brands have had to rely on additional zips, pockets and straps to competitively differentiate their products. I can see how and why this happened, but at the end of the day, pack design has drifted away from efficiency thereby giving users more than they really need.”
The company uses a technical non-woven, Cuben fibre, for its products, which adds strength without adding to the weight.
Rawmin Ehyai from US-based Mindshift Gear, whose rotating design was commended at the OutDoor trade show, is seeing backpacks becoming lower in quality as brands search for lower price points and higher sales. “Companies are getting good at creating beautiful and complex designs at a relatively low cost due to overseas manufacturing,” he comments. “However, I have a lot of respect for the few brands who keep their quality high.”
See WSA September/October, available online now or in print at the end of the week, for a closer look at pack design.
Image: HMG brand ambassador Tom Turiano with 4400 Porter
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