If you went back in time 150 years and told people that in the future they will carry everything they need to live for a week on their backs, you’d get run out of town. Carrying gear is the job of horses and mules, not people! Fast forward to the present, though, and here we are, schlepping into the backcountry with the essentials on our back. Progress!
The good news is that today everything you need to live for a week weighs considerably less than it did 150 years ago. The ultralight backpacking movement, born from obsessive thru-hikers and eventually widely adopted by weekend warriors, has driven innovation in the outdoor gear industry for more than 20 years. Every iteration of backpacks, tents, and sleeping bags has been lighter, stronger, and warmer.
But just when you think they couldn’t possibly get any better, those backpacks are getting lighter and more rugged. Today, Dyneema launches a new fabric composite called (surprise) Dyneema Woven Composite that is being used in updated backpacks by cult classic Hyperlite Mountain Gear, which is a long-time collaborator.
Light as a Feather
Courtesy of Dyneema
Dyneema’s namesake fabric has long been noted for being not just strong, durable, and waterproof, but featherweight as well. Its new fabric, Dyneema Woven Composites, is made for the ultralight backpacking community. It melds a fully woven Dyneema face fabric to Dyneema’s pre-existing composite fabric.
Dyneema Woven Composites was created in conjunction with Hyperlite Mountain Gear, and for now is available exclusively in the company’s core ultralight backpacks, including the Southwest, Junction, and Windrider models.
Mike St. Pierre founded Hyperlite in 2009 and was one of the first manufacturers to embrace Dyneema (then known as cuben fiber). As crinkly as it was, that ultralight fabric endeared Hyperlite to backpackers. The company’s minimalist, stripped-down designs and unwavering commitment to quality—my 2019 Junction pack, with hundreds of miles on it, looks like it did the day I bought it—made the company a natural fit for this collaboration.
Strong as a Board
Courtesy of Dyneema
Thanks to that outer layer of Dyneema, the new Woven Composite has 10 times the abrasion resistance and five times the tear resistance of the older fabric. The former statistic is particularly good news for anyone hiking in places like the desert Southwest, where brushing your pack against hard rock tends to destroy your gear quickly.