As with all things Hyperlite Mountain Gear, the Duffel Bag was born of necessity. “I wanted something to carry my gear around for big trips, trade shows and events,” says CEO Mike St. Pierre. “But I didn’t want to carry the standard, heavy, overbuilt Hypalon or polyurethane bag. So I found the lightest, most durable material on the market and built my own duffel.”
Hyperlite Mountain Gear’s new 140-liter duffel is made out of a woven Dyneema®/non-woven Cuben Fiber. The bag is the lightest on the market for its size, weighing just 2 lbs, 9.8 oz (including the .31-lb shoulder strap).
“It seems that companies stopped paying attention to weight when designing duffel bags,” St. Pierre explains. “Our ethos is to develop high performance gear that is fully functional yet minimal in design. We apply this to everything we do. If we’re traveling, we want to carry a minimalist bag on the airplane. Why count every ounce of your climbing or packrafting equipment, but forget about what you use to haul that gear around?”
According to Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ambassador and accomplished alpinist, Seth Timpano, the duffel is perfect for big expeditions and guiding mountains. “It fits nicely into a Paris Expedition Sled, which is the standard for trips like Denali, Antarctica and Greenland,” Timpano explains. He has used a prototype Dyneema® Duffel on four Denali Expeditions, three trips to Antarctica and as a travel bag for several other adventures.
“The idea was to have it a bit longer and narrower than typical duffels made by big brands,” St. Pierre says. “This is very important on mountains such as Denali because you need your sled to have a low center of gravity so that it doesn’t constantly flip over. According the athletes who tested our duffel, other duffels don’t nest into the sled quite right. Plus, because it’s made of Dyneema®, this bag is great for dragging around the airport or throwing in and out of a truck.”
Other important features include the length—it should be long enough to fit a bunch of gear but also not take up the entire length of the sled. This is because guides typically want to leave about 12-inches to carry a CMC (a.k.a. shitcan) or a couple gallons of fuel. Plus, the durability, waterproofness and light weight of the Dyneema® also makes this bag ideal.
“There are always times that the sled does roll and you simply drag it upside down and this thing is awesome for that,” Timpano explains. “Guides, NPS Rangers and Clients are always asking about my white duffel bag.”
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