Hyperlite Mountain Gear crafts minimalist packs, somehow shedding weight while innovating, too. They maintain a nice balancing act…and the act is about to get better.
First, though, I wanted to post a bit about maintaining and repairing HMG packs, or any item made of Cuben–the lightweight, durable, waterproof material from which HMG packs are made. On the HMG website, under the “Accessories” tab you’ll find a $10 repair kit. It contains two round patches and a long strip, backed with a bomber adhesive. The adhesive is pressure sensitive, so you’ll need to apply it carefully to get optimal results.
I’ve reviewed the HMG “Summit” and “Ice” packs (here and here) and in hammering them I’ve managed to put two small matchhead punctures in them. Repair kit in the mail, no sweat. If you haven’t messed with HMG packs yet, drop by Neptune Mountaineering and give them a look. Light, tough, waterproof, and comfortable.
To get the low-down on repairs, I phoned HMG owner/founder, Mike St. Pierre.
“There’s a repair kit on the site, but if you need more than that, just send it back and we’ll fix it,” he said. We got to chatting about the biz and he had some good news.
“We just closed a significant round of funding,” he explained. “We’ve been working on it for a year-and-a-half.” The cash infusion will allow HMG to get back to serious R&D.
“The company has been doing so well, we had to put all our resources into production,” says St. Pierre. That means all his sewing machines were churning out orders, rather than creating prototypes from his own ideas and user feedback. Over the coming weeks, HMG will acquire more sewing machines and not only continue to fulfill orders, but begin tinkering again. Look for inserts and bug-netting for HMG’s shelter program and a ski pack is in the works headed towards winter.
If HMG nails a skimo pack in the same way they’ve dialed their Ice Pack, it will be the tool of choice when I’m not rocking a balloon pack. Stay tuned.
