Two days before I departed for another Asian odyssey, Graham handed me a 60L NWD WorkSack at the Salt Lake City Outdoor Retailer Show. After inspection of the strange paper-bag-like material I immediately went out and bought a gallon of seam grip. I have never had good luck with backpack durability and I was sure three months of traveling and climbing in Asia would be the end of this insanely light rucksack.

The first test came when I crammed climbing gear, including the sharp and pointy stuff, into the pack until I reached the measly fifty pounds allotted by the airlines. It is impressive how much the thing can hold and it was scary to think about picking up the contents of the pack as they circled around the baggage claim conveyor belt piece by piece. Should I wrap the thing in duct tape, or cover it in glue?  I could see through the material, would it hold up to the abuse?

Success! Not only did the pack survive the airline baggage handlers, but managed the even greater feat of getting through Chinese customs.  All equipment and climbers now in China, everyone feeling strong, it was time to climb.

Well almost. First our Sino-Kazak porters would have their way with our equipment.  Ten people’s gear, food, and supplies for one month made it onto the backs of fifteen horses. I grimaced when the pack, now loaded to maximum capacity at 70+lbs, was haphazardly tethered with coarse-hewn rope to the back of an overloaded animal. It sat horizontal on the side of the horse with the rope passing directly across the middle of the pack. It looked like two thirty-five pound sausage links full of climbing gear ready to explode. I smiled, “There’s no way.” Since it was the shiniest pack, we put it in the worst spot on the horse. Heck, I got the pack in exchange for some flowers!

Two days later at base camp I ate dinner, completely awestruck by one the most intimidating mountain faces I had ever seen, the north face of Xuelain West. Also amazing was that the pack had survived with only a small hole, which after twenty-three kilometers of abrasion from the rope should have been much worse. I was beginning to believe.

Stay tuned for part II…

Alpinist, Rock & Ice and I’m sure others will offer their opinions.

Here at CiloGear, we just say Bravo, guys. That’s pretty cool.

But seriously, two folks who can actually write are in a blog fight for total world domination:

In the left corner, a dominant collegiate boxer, who won the national title at 132 lbs.

In the right corner, a Brit.

So far, they’re both even. They both have been known to wear glasses, and I’ve even heard that they have been known to stay with each other when traveling the world.

Who will achieve ultimate victory? The philosophical meanderings and stories over at kellycordes.wordpress.com or the terse analytics over at andy-kirkpatrick.com ?

Nice Butt and Better Pack

Of course, here at CiloGear, we always look for the pack pictures, in this case, a well used Dyneema 30L belonging to Doug Shepherd. I just wonder if Doug managed to get it back from the incredibly fit Aaron Mulkey…

Cilo Gear 30L from Josh Gross on Vimeo.

We’ll have quite a few different packs to check out.

Apparently, that’s good weather for some objectives:

Nate Steps Out on the 2nd Pitch

Two local boys went and found some n’ice on Mt Hood’s Illumination Rock and were kind enough to write up their trip report over on Cascade Climbers. Nate Farr is sporting a sexy special Red NWD 45L WorkSack. Truly the Ferrari of Alpine packs…

Well, what can you do? Hot chocolate is good, but let’s face it, the screaming barfies are better. Except right now, you probably won’t get the screaming barfies. Nope, when it’s barely cold enough for ice to stay “laminated” onto rock, you’re more likely to experience that wonderful feeling of your underwear getting tugged into your intestines due to the pure, unadulterated fear that only early season “ice” can bring.

On the other hand, at this time of year, there are rock pictures. Okay, I’ll admit that if I see another butt shot, I’ll go crazy. But there is plenty of room to find some interesting images. Of course, if you’re a guide or other kind of semi homeless itinerant climbing traveler, you’re probably cajoling clients into coming down to Red Rocks, Indian Creek or another similar warm spot. And from the perspective of a potential client, I can bluntly state that I’d pay somebody to drag me up sunny routes I could do in a shirt. You’d have to pay me to get onto that, erm, “lamination” experiment that is early season ice.

So they tell me we make the best packs, and this is the way they like to use them. Note the NWD 60L pack affixed to the side of the horse. Yep, it looks like a rice sack, and it gets shoved onto a pack like a rice sack.

I gather that Jed is back studying, Bruce got away on the horse, and Kyle and Jared are in Pakistan:

Americans, Especially Cilo Guys, are Stinky!

Good luck guys!