billcoe Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Link Backbacks, with a few exceptions here and there, are made for hiking and Rock climbers adapt, accept and suffer with them: and then just drag them out for Rock Climbing. Cilogear is taking the old Ray Olsen design which has been bandied, massaged and discussed on Supertopo and is reviving and renewing it for us. I suspect that even if Graham totally fuc*ks it up (very doubtful), it will be a better pack than most of the trash thats out there for Rock Climbers right now. Cilogears Alpine packs are renown in our little clik in the alpine world, now Cilogear is targeting the rock climbing world. I'm going to be getting a prototype soon, I need some of you stout smart dudes to jump on this with me, lets stuff it full of shit, haul it out, haul it up, toss it off. Fold Spindle and mutalate it and give Graham some feedback to improve it. Specifically, engineering types like John and smart dudes like Joseph and Bryan. Anyone else want to borrow this when it gets in and load it down like an old whore with pee-stained mattress strapped to her back and haul it out to try it out (you there Ivan?) give me a jingle and I'll fix you up for a go or 2 as long as you give honest feedback. I'll let you know when it gets here, or you'll hear me yodeling out in the woods with joy if it's on my back, but I'll let you know, because feedback is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemp22 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Nice Bill. Nice comment on the blog too. I'll get out and fill it with cams & gear and abuse it with you once you get it. We can compare it to the lighter weight Cilogear worksack that I've been using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Keep me posted...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderfour Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I will be purchasing one of those mofos as soon as they are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Maybe real soon FF. Short version. I met Graham after a last min call for a beer Friday night at Bridgeport. He drug a bunch of packs in. Needless to say, I almost had spontaneous emission when I saw the prototype of the new Big Wally. (any name suggestions, click on Cilogears site and post it on Grahams site here: Grahams Cilogear blog with pack updates until then, I'm going with "Crack Sack"). As all of the other packs were stuffed inside of it, so it was easy to spot! First: my bad - did not have my camera. Sorry. (Another reason to have Joseph there). Graham went over it with me detail by detail and I'll describe the parts I remember. The first thing you notice about the Crack Sack is that the materiel is not just a different color, going from Black to a light tanish, but is different texture (and heavier) as well. Ray Olsen, the packs original designer, said that he had chosen that Cordura as it was heavy duty, but carried better on your back than haul bag material. As Ray had designed the early Chouinard Crag sacks that still sell on E-Bay for over $300 before he went to work for Gregory, he knows this stuff like a teenage boy knows his dick - very intimately. This stuff is heavier than the old cordura Gregory utilized, but definitely not haul bag material. This looks, to me, to be the best of both worlds. In an era of use it, toss it and buy new,: this will likely never be worn out in a persons lifetime unless they are hauling it up lots of walls. Thankfully, the size and construction is faithfully reproduced. Anyone who had a Big Wally will instantly recognize the "Crack Sack". The prototype Crack Sack had a big wall style closure on top. I think I liked the old version better and relayed that to Graham. Nat having stuffed it full, his might be "a better way", I can't say for sure. He had given some thought to the attachment of the shoulder staps. The top appeared very similar, it didn't use the velcro overlay stuff on top, and the lower attachment points were significantly beefer to spread the forces out. The proto didn't have it, but the final version will have a small zippered closer inside for your keys, and a waist belt that is Velcro'd on, but should be as easy or easier to yank before you use it to haul. The top is identical, keeping the single buckle of the original, but the inside strap, utilized for strapping down a rope (or another backpack for me once) was lengthened. The old thermoforged plastic which was riveted on, is replaced with a flexible PTFE that slides into a pocket, it will be hydration bladder compatible, and have a place to slide in and then forget your guidebook ( I did this once and learned to my chagrin 2-1/2 days later on the top of 1/2 Dome that we'd been carrying the %$@X entire new hardcover Yellow Meyers book all the way up @%& !). Once of the more significant changes is the addition of an internal strap which will serve to cinch the load closer to your body and which Graham assures me will change the carrying characteristics, making carrying much better. As he's been making high end alpine packs carried by some of the top alpinists in the world, and certainly knows his way around the world of pack design, I believe him. From what I can see, on a point by point basis, he has improved this pack from it's great original design. All that remains is if, when one stuffs too much heavy shit in it, it carry's well. Next time (if there is one) I hope I can hear from Graham early enough to call a pub club and then you all can show up. I really wanted Joseph there, but didn't have any time. Graham called and said " Hi- I'm in town, can you meet?" Bam! I immediately squirreled out of work and we were tossing down pints just that fast. Anyone still awake after all those words is going to get the real interesting news now. Cilogear will be making 3 sizes of rockclimbing packs! A small crag sac, and a 30-40L sac as well. Hopefully, the focus on a mid range size would be to make a size that is exactly the max that will fit on an airplane carryon for those dudes and dudettes jumping on a plane to get a Yos or Red Rocks pump, but want to carry on their gear so it doesn't get lost or ganked by the airlines. I don't think that niche has been exactly addressed yet, and the market is there for sure. Anyway, good morning to all, I was too busy this weekend to get this up on the site, showing up at the house dead tired in the evenings both days. I got some good climbs in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsroll Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 IS FF still have cilogear packs in stock? Headed up to Seattle for the 4th and my alpine pack is on its last legs. A crag sack would be great to have. Save the wear and tear on the alpine pack. Was looking at haul bags but since I am no were near doing walls this looks like a great alternative. Also the 40l version is a great size. I can't seem to pack any smaller when I head out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackers Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 FF has a shipment of alpine packs on the way to them. They do have some of the previous editions of the packs in the hands of their excellent staff, and they can special order anything you might like to have. It will be a few weeks till we get these packs out for selling. We've got to get the first edition out into the hands of some abuser -- i mean gear testers and then give it a few weeks to see if any obvious flaws crop up. We're working on pricing them right now, so if nothing adverse happens during the testing period, you can expect to order them from us or from FF around the end of July. We will be doing pre-orders on them starting July 14th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackers Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Short version. I met Graham after a last min call for a beer Friday night at Bridgeport. He drug a bunch of packs in. Needless to say, I almost had spontaneous emission when I saw the prototype of the new Big Wally. (any name suggestions, click on Cilogears site and post it on Grahams site here: Grahams Cilogear blog with pack updates until then, I'm going with "Crack Sack"). Next time (if there is one) I hope I can hear from Graham early enough to call a pub club and then you all can show up. I really wanted Joseph there, but didn't have any time. Graham called and said " Hi- I'm in town, can you meet?" Bam! I immediately squirreled out of work and we were tossing down pints just that fast. Anyone still awake after all those words is going to get the real interesting news now. Cilogear will be making 3 sizes of rockclimbing packs! A small crag sac, and a 30-40L sac as well. Hopefully, the focus on a mid range size would be to make a size that is exactly the max that will fit on an airplane ... I'm sorry about the short notice, but I really really needed a bit of a vacation from packs and even from climbers. In any event, it was a pleasure to meet Bill and show him the packs really quick. A few points: Bill made a compelling case for the regular, old skool closure. Consider it done. We're making them, at least initially, in both the new super durable coated material and in what is more or less the same 1050 Ballistics Cordura as the original was made from...we'll see which sell better, and go with that material for the at least a little while. I was really surprised by how big the wally was. I thought it would be good to make one that was more of a cragging size than of a route-building size. At the same time, we've been testing a leader's pack made from the same material, and so we decided to do three or four more sizes: a 20L, a 30L with a zipper, and a 40L or so for cragging. Right now, I'm trying to figure out if we should make the 20L with a zipper or just leave it as a top loader...any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 LInk to Cilogear site The next step has been taken and pre-production models look ready, willing and able. Graham says he'll give a free one to the person who can name it. I'd get on it immediately, it looks like my name of "Crack Sack" isn't gonna fly: so it's wide open if you got any creativity, lay it down on the blog. The link is quite extensive on what this pack is ....check it out! Inside zipper flap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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