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__Hot swappable backpacks, solar cookstoves, flex-leather boots - summer gear gets back to nature and nerdture. __
"Backpacking gear is bogged down in our postfunctional civilization," says Mike Scherer, a tent and pack designer for Kelty in Boulder, Colorado. "We have overdesigned ballpoint pens, fancy pickup trucks, and camping equipment with bells and whistles. Function has become secondary."
Scherer isn't the only one lamenting the excess of straps, zippers, and pockets - as well as the proliferation of frilly sunburn alarms and miniature coffee presses - cluttering even the most Thoreauvian of outdoor endeavors. A core group of camping gear designers is staging an uprising, demanding that function rank ahead of form.
In order to create more straightforward equipment, the top developers are not only stripping away the excess doodads, but looking for intelligent ways to incorporate new materials and construction. Innovations like stronger, lighter aluminum tent poles and stretchable sleeping bags, for example, make camping more comfortable and trouble-free. In the near future, we'll see seamless jackets employing tubular weaves or thermal bonding for improved durability, and hiking boots built of light, stiff composites. "I bet we'll have bioengineered down insulation," says Damien Huang, a product director at the North Face in San Leandro, California. "Creative design can be simple. We're working hard to avoid adding weight and complexity while building gear that's more livable."
Another designer who's helping campers tread happily thanks to simple, smarter tech is Dana Gleason of Belgrade, Montana. A longtime outdoorsman with a passing resemblance to Grizzly Adams, Gleason has reengineered the backpack into a state-of-the-art load-hauling machine. His new company, The Works @ Mystery Ranch, recently introduced a sack that takes the burden right off your vertebrae.
Until now, there have been two kinds of backpacks: the external-frame, which uses a jumble of exposed aluminum tubes to support a nylon pack-bag and feels more like a ladder strapped to your shoulders; and the internal-frame, which puts aluminum or plastic support stays inside the pack-bag to hug the body and improve range of motion. But while the internal pack is the overwhelming favorite among hardcore enthusiasts, its frame will distort if you cram too much inside. "Think of wearing a sausage with a belt," says Gleason.
Mystery Ranch packs are a hybrid of internal and external systems, keeping the pack-bag and frame separate, but closely connected by a fiberglass rod. The external frame easily bears heavy loads while fitting with internal-frame closeness. The result allows you to carry a week's rations in comfort.
Gleason has successfully reinterpreted the backpack before. In 1985, as a college dropout already armed with more than a decade of industry experience, he started Dana Design in Bozeman, Montana, and created an internal-frame pack that supplements the aluminum stays with a wide sheet of plastic for improved fit and support. Gleason sold the company to an outdoor-gear conglomerate in 1995. He remained onboard, but started to feel that the commercial success of his original design was keeping him from trying new recipes. He left in 1998, took the winter off, and spent 70 days skiing.
Gleason has also spent time with hikers on the Appalachian Trail, where he discovered that most of them don't properly adjust their tensioning and countertensioning straps - there were too many, he concluded, even on his Dana Design backpack. "Most packs speak in crude machine language: 'For something to happen you must pull on this or that,'" he explains. "I wanted my device to do more work."
Mystery Ranch's solution is a rigid plastic wing sewn onto either side of the frame at its lowest point. Pull the backpack belt tight and the wings cinch onto your hips, drawing the pack-bag toward the lumbar region and forcing the entire frame to wrap around your back. "There's no kelp bed of tension straps necessary to bring the load close," Gleason says. "We got the frame - instead of the bag - to hug you." The designer also crafted stays made of 2024-T4, an exotic aerospace aluminum that's five times the price of the metal used in traditional packs and supremely stiff. Even if the 2024-T4 slightly deforms under a 60-pound load, it will spring back to its ergonomic, body-hugging shape when the pack is unloaded.
Finally, Gleason had to devise a way to keep the pack-bag from sagging on the frame and feeling sloppy as you walk - so he gave it a spine. A fiberglass rod runs down the middle of the frame and slides into points at the top and bottom of the bag. The effect is like threading a tent pole through a tent's nylon sleeves: Something formless suddenly takes shape. The fiberglass gives the pack-bag integrity and creates desirable tension between frame and load. "The rod acts as a dynamic spring," Gleason says. "Because the bag doesn't hang all over you, the backpack offers more freedom of motion."
The designer conceptualized the first Mystery Ranch backpack in just four months and spent the next eight running through nine generations and 200 prototypes. But he saved the most unique innovation for last. Having worked diligently to keep the pack-bag separate from its frame, he realized he'd inadvertently designed components that could easily be mixed and matched.
The $119 frame attaches to any of Mystery Ranch's six pack-bag models, but Gleason predicts that makers of camera bags, laptop holders, and child carriers will want to build Mystery Ranch-compatible products. Then anyone with stuff to tote will find that the future lies in simple designs.
Cocoon A zipper can weigh as much as 4 ounces, so the Sierra Designs Moonlight doesn't have one. At well under 2 pounds, the goose-down-filled sleeping bag is about half the weight of its competition. The Moonlight's practically unnoticeable in a backpack, and yet it keeps you warm even in frigid mountain air. It's easy to wiggle into the bag, thanks to wide bands of elastic sewn into the soft nylon cylinder - you get 6 inches of stretch, so you can sleep with your knees up or assume the fetal position. Moonlight: $275-299. Sierra Designs: (800) 635 0461, www.sierradesigns.com.
Walking Tall Leki Ultralite walking poles let your arms do some of the legwork. Each 9-ounce, aluminum-titanium pole has a telescoping, triple-shaft design that adjusts for backpackers both short and tall. The handle is canted forward 15 degrees to reduce wrist stress during pole-plants. At the Ultralite's other end, a carbide tip is good for many trailblazing miles. Ultralite Ti PA: $129.95. Leki USA: (800) 255 9982, www.leki.com.
Light Bright A camp lantern with a low profile, the 14-ounce Coleman Peak 1 Xcursion is about as big as a tall-boy beer can, yet it pumps out five and a half hours of 10-candlepower brightness. Filling up takes just 20 seconds: Simply push the plastic shields off the glass globe and load the lantern's gas tank from a Coleman butane fuel cartridge ($3.49-3.99). The single push-on mantle is easy to swap out, since it literally works with no strings attached - just slip on the light hood, fire up, and you're ready to bask in the glow. Peak 1 Xcursion Lantern: $39.99. The Coleman Company: (800) 835 3278, www.coleman.com.
Multiple Personality Here it is - the internal/external-frame backpack that resulted from Dana Gleason's R&D. The biggest pack in the line, the Alpacka, boasts a 5,600-cubic-inch capacity. But if you don't need such Everest-ready storage, exchange the Alpacka for one of five other Mystery Ranch pack-bags ($159-249), all of which mount to the same frame. Alpacka backpack: $349. Frame: $119. The Works Mystery Ranch: +1 (406) 388 4550, www.mysteryranch.com.
The Next Step Under the Calgary Bio-Flex's waterproof leather skin, Tecnica has added plastic fingers to ensure the boot never loosens its grip. Between the thin plastic strips - which reach around as far as the tongue on either side of your foot - swatches of unreinforced leather allow the boot to remain plenty flexible. The stout upper is matched stride for stride with polyurethane cushioning and a deep-lug tread. You can even slip the sole into a toothy crampon. Calgary Bio-Flex: $220. Tecnica: +1 (603) 298 8032, www.tecnicausa.com.
Personal Security Like a stainless steel hairnet for your expedition-size backpack, the Pacsafe Travel Plus keeps your gear out of harm's way. The tough mesh can cover a large 7,300-cubic-inch pack and thwarts knife-wielding, gash-and-dash suspects in remote railway stations as well as airline baggage handlers; the steel drawcord locks securely to seatposts on the Paris Metro or a Punjabi train. Pacsafe Travel Plus: $69.95. Outpac Designs: (800) 873 9415, www.pac-safe.com.
Spotlight No dog should leave the tent without a Ruff Wear Tail Light. Despite the name, this 2-inch, blinking red LED hangs on your pup's collar and lets you spot Spot half a mile from the campfire. Waterproof to 300 feet, the Tail Light gives you 130 hours of run time before it needs a new battery, and is guaranteed for life. Call it man's next-best friend. Tail Light Mini Flasher: $9.95. Ruff Wear: (888) 783 3932, www.ruffwear.com.
Coverup The Arc'teryx Beta AR Jacket is a sign of threads to come. Each of the 22.1-ounce jacket's five zippers is laminated to the shell, leaving no place for rain to enter. The waterproof tape covering the jacket's seams is narrower (which means lighter) than the competition's, and the threadless, hook-and-loop wrist closures won't peel apart when you batten down the cuffs. Beta AR Jacket: $375. Arc'teryx Equipment: (800) 985 6681, www.arcteryx.com.
Landscape Navigator The 8.9-ounce Multi-Navigator from Brunton has a GPS receiver as well as a pressure sensor for altitude readings accurate within 3 feet. The powerful receiver updates your location every second, and a separate magnetic-electrical compass saves the unit's precious battery power for times when you really need to send those "Where am I?" inquiries into the atmosphere. Multi-Navigator System: $399.99. Brunton: (800) 443 4871, +1 (307) 856 6559, www.brunton.com.
Bag It Designed for hikes around campsites as well as between them, the classic Alpine Attack stuff-sack converts into a highly capable daypack. This 19-ounce upgrade sports padded shoulder straps, a feature you'll appreciate after you stuff the new, stronger micro-ripstop nylon bag's 1,800-cubic-inch cargo hold with a climbing rack, your fleece, and some gorp. When it's time to take five, the Summit's closed-cell foam back pad can be removed and used as a seat. Attack Summit 30: $49. Lowe Alpine: +1 (303) 465 2072, www.lowealpine.com.
Flame On The refillable Brunton Helios Stormproof Lighter will give your Bic an inferiority complex. Unlatch the watertight flip-top, press a button, and a 2,000-degree Fahrenheit flame roars to life. The 1.7-ounce, butane-fueled lighter works at 15,000 feet in arctic weather and even in 80-mph breezes, and its electronic ignition is good for 30,000 starts. Helios Stormproof Lighter: $59.99. Brunton: (800) 443 4871, +1 (307) 856 6559, www.brunton.com.
Cutting Edge A Swiss Army knife with a dashboard: Embedded in the knife's translucent-ruby handle is a miniature screen displaying altitude (-300 feet to 15,000 feet) and temperature (0 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit). When you're checking the temperature, don't forget that the thermometer takes climate readings from wherever you've put the knife, including your shorts pocket. Meanwhile, the blades, bottle-opener, and toothpick remain utterly dependable. Victorinox Altimeter: $97. Swiss Army Brands: (800) 442 2706, www.swissarmy.com.
Height Cuisine The central processor in the Ascent Hanging System is the SuperFly stove, a 5.1-ounce burner that boils a liter of water in just three minutes. Should your camping trip follow a vertical path, attach the included suspendible titanium support, aluminum heat reflector, and heat exchanger (together adding 4.4 ounces), which collectively make cooking on El Cap a breeze. Ascent Hanging System: $89.95. Mountain Safety Research: (800) 877 9677, www.msrcorp.com.
Beam Me Up Petzl's 4.9-ounce, waterproof Saxo Aqua lamp is the logical all-conditions upgrade when you tire of the flashlight-in-a-Ziploc system. Its ergonomic handle sits behind a 6-volt bulb powerful enough to find a campsite 100 feet away. Should you need to pitch a tent in the rain, the elastic strap allows you to convert the Saxo Aqua into a stable headlamp. The light won't fail, even if your canoe tips over - the plastic case is waterproof to 230 feet. Unfortunately, you may have to dive after it: The Saxo Aqua sinks. Saxo Aqua: $29.95. Petzl America: +1 (801) 327 3805, www.petzl.com.
Campfire of the Sun The 11.4-ounce Soltac CookSack stove eliminates the backcountry fuel crisis. Fill the 1.35-quart aluminum pot with water, place it inside the inflatable polyester film bag, and let Mr. Sun do the work: The rays pass through the 30-inch top dome and focus on the pot via a synthetic, reflective bottom panel. In 90 blue-sky minutes - enough time to set up camp and bust out the mac-and-cheese mix - the water will heat to a near-boiling 190 degrees Fahrenheit. CookSack: $79.95. Soltac: +1 (707) 433 3906, www.soltac.com.
Crawl Space The North Face Trek Bivy takes its name from "bivouac" but its spirit from a more expansive definition of shelter. Two arching, lightweight aluminum poles support a three-layer Gore-Tex skin. The roof is raised high enough to let a solo camper turn over in his or her sleeping bag or, luxury of bivy luxuries, read in bed. There's even space for a pair of hiking boots at the entrance of this 2-pound, 7-ounce hideaway. Trek Bivy: $299. The North Face: (800) 719 6678, www.thenorthface.com.
Liquid Asset Bid adieu to the three-handed water-filter operation. Open the GravityFilter's rolltop, let the bag swallow a gallon of river water, close it up, and hang the plastic sack on a tree branch. The water runs down through two filters that eliminate protozoa and bacteria, and into your bottle at a stream rate of 1 liter per 90 seconds. The 9-ounce GravityFilter is manufactured with a silver-based compound called HealthShield (used in artificial heart valves to kill germs) that emits silver ions to ward off another microscopic nasty: mildew. GravityFilter: $69. SafeWater Anywhere: (800) 675 4401, www.safewateranywhere.com.
Weather Master Kelty's 8-pound, 2-ounce Riverbend 3 has everything save a thermostat to keep you comfortable. With mesh in its ceiling, door, and windows, the tent feels airy. And the floor seams arch away from the ground to prevent leaks. Toss the fly on, and its two photochromatic windows will repel the intensity of bright sun - the green, plastic portals turn a UV-resistant dark blue to cut down the hot star's wattage by 95 percent. Plus, the windows hold in warmth to keep the night chill at bay. Riverbend 3: $235. Kelty: (800) 423 2320, www.kelty.com.
Over the Top Inspired by antimicrobial surgical stitching, Pearl Izumi's stinkproof shirt will help you live with yourself over the long haul. The X-Sensor is made with a special nylon yarn coated with pure silver, which releases ions that neutralize odor-causing bacteria, ammonia, and denatured proteins. The sheeny fibers are also excellent thermal conductors: Your body heat escapes throughout the entire shirt's surface. Available in August. X-Sensor Zip Top: $69.99. Pearl Izumi: (800) 328 8488, www.pearlizumi.com.
