I love the fall and the anticipation to winter! I'm looking to buy a climbing specific alpine pack for ice and I think I've narrowed it down to two (possibly three). I want something lightweight and designed more for climbing than approach comfort. The two I'm currently looking at are:
A close third would be the Patagonia Ascensionist series.
I've owned CiloGear and their strap system & wait times aren't for me. Nothing against Cold Cold World, but I feel some of their technology/fabrics are a little antiquated. I can't afford Alpine Luddites, even though a custom rig would be dope! I gave the Osprey Mutant 38 a hard look, however, I hate the fact that it has an attached hip belt. There's a thousand reviews of the Alpha series packs, however, the Tupilak Packs are new this season. Their limited release last winter got phenomenal reviews and a few people on MP appear to have one and love them. I want something that can hold a days worth of gear, however, pack down small enough for the actual climb ... I know - Holy Grail!
The Alpha FL 45, according to Arc'teryx, is 33L with the extension expanding to 45L. I love the thought of that capacity range as I feel if I don't use the extension sleeve while climbing, the pack *should*be reasonably smaller at only 33L. What I don't like about the Alpha FL 45 is it doesn't come with compression straps & I've heard durability issues with the bungee, etc. For $259, I feel like they dropped the ball with that. The Alpha FL 45 doesn't come with hip belt fins like the Tupilak 37+ does. Not that it probably makes a huge difference, but ...
I use a larger, down belay jacket for winter climbing, so a little bigger of a climbing pack is always welcomed. I'm thinking the 30-35L range, which includes the Tupilak 37 as, according to Mountain Equipment, is very easy to string when needed.
What I like about the Tupilak 37+ is EVERYTHING is removable, including any straps, pads, frame sheets, tool attachments, etc. The tool attachments appear to be a little burlier and the front daisy chain gives more options than what the Alpha FL 45 offers. The Tupilak 37+ also offers a couple more storage pockets for organization.
For anyone who owns or who has owned both, would you prefer one of another? Thanks!
Take a hard look at the BD Speed 30 as well. It's been my go-to pack for several years on ice and rock. Mine has worn like iron, is super comfortable, and can be stripped down for the climb. It's comparable in size to the FL45...30L when packed in standard fashion and 40+ Liters expanded. It's also worth noting you could buy the Speed 30 and Speed 22 for the price of the FL45.
I have the older generation FL 30 before they updated the strap foam. It's honestly pretty uncomfortable with a heavy load. The tupilac looks like the hipbelt pieces are removable so you could carry a heavy load to camp or the base and then streamline for climbing. Let us know how it is if you get it!
I used a Tupilak 37+ this year pretty extensively guiding in the Cascades. I haven't owned an alpha FL but a number of my partners have used them. I do think the fabric on the ME pack is quite durable. The ice axe keepers were a little snug for petzl nomic heads but after the shock loosened up a little not a problem.
The size has been great too. I did a two night trip with the 37+ in the the twin sisters range and it carried well. The hip pods do shift around a bit but nothing too bad.
All in all it's been a solid pack. Oh and I like the pocket design with twin access points.
I’m one of the dorks who has used the FL30, FL45, the Tupilak 37, and the newer Ascensionist 30.
The FL is overrated on durability. Wore lots of holes in mine with two days per week of use for a year. But it’s really light and carries pretty well for not really having hip straps. For what it’s worth I once filled my FL45 liter by liter, and it could be closed at 36 liters without the extension collar. At 37, some water spilled out when I closed it.
The old Ascensionist packs sucked, but the newer ones are pretty nice. Pretty durable and carry pretty well. I don’t like the closure on them though. Also don’t like strapping a rope to the top very much.
The Tupilak is my favorite pack of them. Seems to be the most durable of the 3. Pocket inside is kind of funny. Hip pads work really well for such a light pack. Still wasn’t hip supportive enough for my wife. She prefers the beefy hip straps of HMG packs. The Tupilak comes with shock cord that I wasn’t smart enough to know how to thread without emailing ME (the ends come apart)
Any of them is great. Want better hip support? Go with Tupilak. Want lighter rolltop? Go Arc. Want lighter sort of more traditional top? Go Ascensionist
MP
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Oct 6, 2018
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Unknown Hometown
· Joined Sep 2013
· Points: 2
consider the blue ice packs too... they are now easy to purchase in the US.
Brian Abram wrote: I’m one of the dorks who has used the FL30, FL45, the Tupilak 37, and the newer Ascensionist 30.
The FL is overrated on durability. Wore lots of holes in mine with two days of use for a year. But it’s really light and carries pretty well for not really having hip straps. For what it’s worth I once filled my FL45 liter by liter, and it could be closed at 36 liters without the extension collar. At 37, some water spilled out when I closed it.
The old Ascensionist packs sucked, but the newer ones are pretty nice. Pretty durable and carry pretty well. I don’t like the closure on them though. Also don’t like strapping a rope to the top very much.
The Tupilak is my favorite pack of them. Seems to be the most durable of the 3. Pocket inside is kind of funny. Hip pads work really well for such a light pack. Still wasn’t hip supportive enough for my wife. She prefers the beefy hip straps of HMG packs. The Tupilak comes with shock cord that I wasn’t smart enough to know how to thread without emailing ME (the ends come apart)
Any of them is great. Want better hip support? Go with Tupilak. Want lighter rolltop? Go Arc. Want lighter sort of more traditional top? Go Ascensionist
Brian, what color Tupilak do you own - black or magma? If you have the magma color, is it more red or more orange? Some of the photos online make it look red.
Brian, what color Tupilak do you own - black or magma? If you have the magma color, is it more red or more orange? Some of the photos online make it look red.
Cool, thanks. Black it is! I was hoping it was more orange. Did you ever notice not having compression straps with any of your Alpha FL packs? I get Arc'teryx's is trying to save weight & keep it streamline, but why not give us the option to just take them if we don't end up using them? It's troubling paying $260 retail for a pack without options. Maybe it's just me ...
Honestly I never noticed any problems with the FL not being compressed. The shock cord pulled it together ok. And the 45 does have tabs on the side to add your own straps. Get some Titan/Dyneema cord and weave it through each side as compression straps and emergency anchor cord
My Tupilak was on sale at campsaver at one point for 20% off plus they had a coupon for an additional 20 off, so deals do happen occasionally
I have the FL30, and added two compression straps, and two waist belt gear loops. I feel that the top of the pack is poorly designed. With rolltop closed and drawstring cinched, there is a pocket formed on top that will fill up with rainwater or snowmelt. stupid design. I also greatly prefer a traditional top that is easily accessed in precarious places, like narrow ridges. I don't like digging through my pack for small items. I got it free, so was willing to do a little custom work on it for fun.
my biggest beef with the FL series is that the tool carrying system sags with a heavier technical tool (Nomics) Agreed that it isn't the most durable either.
I'm not a fan of thin shock cords in general. I replaced the shock cord on my FL with Dyneema cord. Even though I wanted to know how to thread the shock cord on the Tupilak, I wound up not installing it. The Tupilak has both dongles and sleeves for the heads of tools.
The Tupilak 37 specs at 780g with all components and 570g stripped. In reality, the Tupilak 37 is 825g with everything except the shock cord, and it's significantly more than 570g fully stripped.
Brian Abram wrote: I’m one of the dorks who has used the FL30, FL45, the Tupilak 37, and the newer Ascensionist 30.
The FL is overrated on durability. Wore lots of holes in mine with two days of use for a year. But it’s really light and carries pretty well for not really having hip straps. For what it’s worth I once filled my FL45 liter by liter, and it could be closed at 36 liters without the extension collar. At 37, some water spilled out when I closed it.
The old Ascensionist packs sucked, but the newer ones are pretty nice. Pretty durable and carry pretty well. I don’t like the closure on them though. Also don’t like strapping a rope to the top very much.
The Tupilak is my favorite pack of them. Seems to be the most durable of the 3. Pocket inside is kind of funny. Hip pads work really well for such a light pack. Still wasn’t hip supportive enough for my wife. She prefers the beefy hip straps of HMG packs. The Tupilak comes with shock cord that I wasn’t smart enough to know how to thread without emailing ME (the ends come apart)
Any of them is great. Want better hip support? Go with Tupilak. Want lighter rolltop? Go Arc. Want lighter sort of more traditional top? Go Ascensionist
Brian, do you think that the 40 liter version of the Ascensionist would be a good contender against the Tupilak 37? The ME pack looks great but holy cow is it spendy!
Brian, do you think that the 40 liter version of the Ascensionist would be a good contender against the Tupilak 37? The ME pack looks great but holy cow is it spendy!
I’d say sure. Not really fond of the closure at the top of the Patagonia packs, but it’s otherwise great.
One novelty you can do with the tupilak pack is that the extension sleeve can be inverted and pushed down toward the bottom, and it’s long enough that you can then close it down there sorta segregating a belay jacket or something at the bottom of the pack from the rest of the pack to keep it dry
Ryan Marsters wrote: Is the Tupilak's rope carry similar to the Ascentionist's absolutely awful system?
No, the Ascensionist rope carry does suck. I've been most successful by moving the main front strap bottom catch to the top little loop and then pulling the strap over the top of the "brain" of the pack and a rope and just ghetto hooking it to the haul loop. It never feels super secure.
The main front strap of the Tupilak has a unique buckle they call the Grappler that easily latches onto a folded piece of webbing on that pack's "brain" to hold it down. There is a second attachment point for the buckle to grab under the Tupilak's haul loop, and the strap is long enough to use it for a rope. Here it is in both orientations:
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