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Mountain Hardwear Trad 35-39 Litre Backpacker
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The top loading four season wonder: trekking, hiking, climbing and skiing. The CoolWave Plus suspension keeps you cool and comfortable and the spacer mesh hipbelt delivers a comfortable carry. Daisy chain and full wrap compression straps for strapping on gear. Extra-beefy 630D Cordura® Ballistic Nylon bottom and tough 420D HD Nylon front panel resists damage from rocks, ice and tools.
"Timeless, tried, and true. Simple, light, perfect for any day at the crag, an overnight ascent, or a picnic on a favorite summit at sunset. Mountain Hardwear’s design team gets nod of thanks for ‘not fixing things that are not broken.’ A classic that can do everything you want it to."
– Mike Libecki, Big Wall Climber/Soloist
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A properly distributed load feels lighter on the body, keeps weight balanced and combats trail fatigue.
How Do We do It? The Coolwave Suspension System.
- Hip belts designed to spread the pack weight evenly onto the whole hip area
- Framesheets designed to stay flat and strong, stabilizing and distributing the load up the back panel
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US Backpacker Magazine review:
Dense, heavy climbing gear can easily overwhelm a pack’s suspension—but the top-loading Trad made even a 40-pound load feel stable and secure. “Its uncluttered, low-profile shape makes it great for scrambly approaches and leading ice on New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch,” says our tester, who deemed the Trad his favorite not just for rock and ice climbing, but also for backcountry skiing, mountaineering, and general backpacking (up to three days).
The proprietary HardWave framesheet (with horizontal ridges that let it bend vertically, to conform to your back, but remain torsionally rigid for outstanding load support), paired with an aluminum stay in the center, keeps heavy loads from sagging or rounding out the backpanel. Wide ski straps made of ballistic nylon on the sides secure skis and stand up to sharp edges. Nice: The top can be opened and closed with one hand thanks to a smartly integrated cordlock that’s sewn to the pack, not the drawcord. “That let me keep my gloves on during frigid weather on Mt. Washington’s summit,” says our tester.
Our Verdict
At this capacity the Trad is a bit on the heavy side, but what you get at this weight is a well made robust pack that is stacked with features, a huge number of pockets to keep your gear organised, an aluminium stay married to a corrugated framesheet and zoned padding on the backpanel, resulting in a compfortable stable carry.
It can also be stripped down to save some weight, the removable lid weighs 152g and the aluminium stay weighs 42g. We shied away from taking the corrugated backpanel out because it looks tricky to get back in - but these things weigh about 130g each. Without the removable bits you have a padded backed rolltop pack weighing in around the 1kg mark that still has a range of pockets, compartments and attachments to make life on the trail a lot easier.
The hip pockets are one mesh and the other fabric, both have zip access.
35 - 39 litres is still big enough for short backpacking trips or longer trips where there are food resupply opportunities every couple of days, but its also a pretty good size for climbing approach or winter days out. I suppose the compression system can be used to reduce the capacity to daypack size - if so this falls into the category of 'good allrounder' if you just want to buy one pack to do everything this might be a good one to go for.
Features
- Padded air mesh backpanel is cool and comfortable
- Contoured, dual density shoulder straps
- Fixed, padded waistbelt with two zippered pockets
- Top loading with fold top design allows use with lid pocket removed
- Tuck-away full-wrap compression system is makes it easy to lash on a very wide range of gear
- Side zip on left side for additional access to upper pack
- Hydration sleeve with external access for easy refilling
- Upper flap pocket for smaller items
- Two pockets in removable top lid
- Full front daisy chain and fixed heavy webbing ski loops
- Center 7075 high strength alloy stay for load support
- Zippered mesh security pocket behind front panel, which also provides easy access to compression system
- Hard wearing 840D HT Ballistic Nylon bottom resists damage from rocks
- HardWave framesheet resists round-out and preserves flexibility while providing good load support
Specification
- Capacity - Regular: 35Litres; Large: 39Litres
- Full Weight - Regular: 1355g / 3lbs; Large: 1430g / 3lbs 2.5oz
- Regular is for Torso Length 16"-19" / 41cm - 48cm
- Large is for Torso Length 18.5" + / 47cm +
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