Lowe Alpine packs?

Anyone have any experience with Lowe Alpine packs? I'm tossing up between an Arc'teryx Alpha FL 45 and a Lowe Alpine Ascent 40:50, can't find much about the latter though.

Lowe’s are the best packs I have.  Used one for a school book bag, another for climbing and overnighters, a third dedicated to Ice climbing 

My GF owns a hiking daypack by Lowe Alpine and she seems very happy with it. 

Myself, I only have experience with their military rucks but they are some of the burliest and indestructible packs out there, so I can't imagine their climbing/alpine packs to be anything else if you pick the right one for its job.

I used to own a Lowe Alpine Attack 40, indestructible and comfy yes but super heavy (even more by today's standards)

If its for alpine I say go with the fossil bird instead or, even better, an Exped Black Ice 45

My experience was very different - many points of failure in a short time, and poor warranty support. I had a Gregory before and an osprey subsequently, both held up much longer than the Lowe.  I had it for a couple of years, happy when I tossed it in a dumpster.  Sound like my experience is unusual, though.

I find it really interesting that the OP and first 3/4 of folks that have replied are from outside of North America. For years LAS packs were found many shops in the USA. They were as noted indestructible and comfortable but heavy. I took one up the Cassin Ridge 20 years ago. Sold it soon afterwards because of the weight. For some reason their major market is outside the USA now.

As for the particular packs in question, Arc'teryx has no top lid which is a deal breaker for me and the little pocket seems unfunctional when the pack is full. Top pockets are are quite useful for small items that one wants quick access to.

I have a Lowe Alpine Alpine Ascent 40:50 - fucking great pack. Even wrote a review of it for the CLIMBER (NZAC magazine) in 2017ish.  PM me if you want a copy of the review. Yes, Allen - Lowe is much more popular in Europe/outside of NA since the early 2000's.   I remember working at EMS in 2001 and all of our best packs were Lowe Alpine.  Good stuff.

Pretty sure the alpine ascent has been discontinued in favour of the Halcyon.  The ascent is a better pack, though, I think.

Allen Sanderson wrote: I find it really interesting that the OP and first 3/4 of folks that have replied are from outside of North America. For years LAS packs were found many shops in the USA. They were as noted indestructible and comfortable but heavy. I took one up the Cassin Ridge 20 years ago. Sold it soon afterwards because of the weight. For some reason their major market is outside the USA now.

As for the particular packs in question, Arc'teryx has no top lid which is a deal breaker for me and the little pocket seems unfunctional when the pack is full. Top pockets are are quite used for small items that one wants quick access to.

I agree that LA packs biggest market seems to be outside the States now, but my experience with one was maybe 20 years ago, I don't know their situation now. 

As for the "no top lid issue" I get it in an hiking situation but I don't get it for climbing/mountaineering.
I mean, I always have everything I need on me, clipped on my harness, what else should I need so urgently?
I have tons of pockets on my clothes and I only carry a lipe balm and my phone in there.
The only other item I really need regularly is water and when you re climbing getting water is a good excuse to take a 2 minutes break :)

I've been using the Lowe Alpine Ascent Superlight 30 Pack for the past couple of years for ice climbing and mountaineering. After two years the bartacking on the webbing is starting to pull out a bit, some of this has been caused by over packing. The small zip pocket on the top of the pack has worked well for small easy access items with out the need for a lid.

Fabien M wrote: As for the "no top lid issue" I get it in an hiking situation but I don't get it for climbing/mountaineering.
I mean, I always have everything I need on me, clipped on my harness, what else should I need so urgently?
I have tons of pockets on my clothes and I only carry a lipe balm and my phone in there.
The only other item I really need regularly is water and when you re climbing getting water is a good excuse to take a 2 minutes break :)

I often have extra gloves in the pocket or a hat. Not to mention some food. Nothing that I might need immediately but stuff that I do not want to rummage around for inside my pack and are too bulky for jacket/pant pockets.

HMG's new Prism Pack appears to be the best way to spend your Trump check.

This is probably based on prejudice but I would be very wary to use a Dyneema pack on rock. Or is that old school thinking and has it made leaps and bounds in terms of abrasion resistance?

It looks great though. 

Victor Machtel wrote: This is probably based on prejudice but I would be very wary to use a Dyneema pack on rock. Or is that old school thinking and has it made leaps and bounds in terms of abrasion resistance?

It looks great though. 

Then I have the same prejudice as you, even if technicaly there should be more robust than Ripstop nylon. 

Plus, for the price I will be pissed when the get puncture and this white material will make it look like a dirty trash bag after 2 outings.
Finally, when you look a the weight saving its less than 10% so all in all I never understood the appeal of Dyneema/cuben fibre. 

Most packs before had been made using a non woven dyneema which was layers of non woven dyneema layered at 60° angles laminated between thin polyester films, this lead to shit puncture and abrasion resistance but excellent tensile strength and tear resistance, terrible for an alpine pack but very good for ul backpacking. It would appear though the hyperlight mountain gear pack in question is actually made out of a woven dyneema the best fabric you could have a pack made out of, and yes it really is that much more durable than nylon. 

Allen Sanderson wrote: I find it really interesting that the OP and first 3/4 of folks that have replied are from outside of North America. For years LAS packs were found many shops in the USA. They were as noted indestructible and comfortable but heavy. I took one up the Cassin Ridge 20 years ago. Sold it soon afterwards because of the weight. For some reason their major market is outside the USA now.

As for the particular packs in question, Arc'teryx has no top lid which is a deal breaker for me and the little pocket seems unfunctional when the pack is full. Top pockets are are quite useful for small items that one wants quick access to.

Aha for what it's worth I found them on a US site, and was considering ordering them via the States (I'm an expat).

I'm more worried about longevity/durability than features or weight. On paper the weights are pretty similar anyway, the Lowe is a bit heavier but that' before the frame and lid are stripped.

I've had a lowe alpine pack for the last 6 years and it's been really durable, stripped off the lid and metal frame it's a very respectable weight, that being said these days I'd probably be buying an alpha fl 45 or making my own. I miss the days ueli steck mountain hardwear packs. 

This is a good review assessing most of the packs the modern alpinist should be considering now (minus the FL 45, and the Prism) and it evaluates a smaller version of the Lowe pack that you are considering:

https://www.thealpinestart.com/2020/05/24/comparison-35l-alpine-packs/

Raf rates the Lowe one position higher than the Mutant 38, which means it must be worthy, because Mutants are awesome.

The Blue Ice Warthog 45 is also worth considering, but I find myself using the Mutant a lot more than the Warthog - probably because I usually value load carrying comfort over lightweight. What would be the love child of a Mutant and a Warthog? Something to ponder...

that guy named seb wrote: I've had a lowe alpine pack for the last 6 years and it's been really durable, stripped off the lid and metal frame it's a very respectable weight, that being said these days I'd probably be buying an alpha fl 45 or making my own. I miss the days ueli steck mountain hardwear packs. 

Why the FL 45 over the Lowe?

Ryan Mac wrote:

Why the FL 45 over the Lowe?

The roll top, taped seams and weight make it allot more attractive to me, I've used an fl45 and overall it's just a bit better than the lowe pack for usability and the front pocket is nice to have over a giant brain. An issue I do see happening with the arcteryx pack will be the bottom wearing out, but it's such an easy patch I wouldn't be concerned about long term durability of the bottom.

It should be noted I'm comparing it with a 6 year old pack, and lowe alpine now have a pack similar to the fl 45.

  lowealpine.com/uk/uprise-40…

This may help, too: thealpinestart.com/2020/05/…;

I had an older Alpine Attack 35:45 for about 7 years and loved it. I recently bought the newer version of the same pack. The hip belt is my favorite feature. I love the ability to have a padded hip belt for longer approaches and descents while being able to peel it back to just webbing to fit around my harness. As noted, it can also be stripped down quite a bit. I did not like the ice tool/axe setup on the older models, but this seems to have been improved on the newer version.

I used my first pack for cragging (ice and rock) along with longer trips in the mountains. I put it through hell, and it still works fine. The hip padding started to wear through, so I replaced it in preparation for longer days this summer. I still plan on using the old pack for cragging.

I tried the Warthog as an alternative, but the hip padding did not hit in the right places.