The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Halka 55 is a sturdy mountaineering and winter mountain climbing backpack made with Dyneema Composite Materials. It’s outfitted as a gear hauler able to hauling cumbersome winter and mountaineering gear that’s too cumbersome to retailer inside a backpack comparable to ice axes and crampons, foam sleeping pads and snowshoes. In contrast to Hyperlite’s three season rolltop backpacks, the Halka has a floating prime lid with a prime lid pocket, a necessity for winter sports activities when quick entry to additional gloves, hats, and navigation aids is crucial.
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- Weight: 45 oz
- Gender: Unisex
- Dimension Examined: Giant
- Kind: Framed (two body stays)
- Entry: High (Floating Lid Pocket)
- Pockets: 1 (simply the lid, there are none inside)
- Waterproof: Sure
- Seam-taped: Sure
- Hydration-ready: No
- Supplies: Woven Dyneema, DCH150, 210d Nylon
- MSRP: $425
Design and Building
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Halka 55 (a 70L model can also be accessible) was first launched on the finish of 2024. It was developed along with Nepalese guides and is purpose-built for prime elevation summit makes an attempt however is well tailored to winter backpacking and mountaineering.
Supplies
The Halka is made with a mix of Dyneema materials for enhanced sturdiness and lightweight weight. The bottom is made with woven Dyneema which is additional powerful for resisting floor abrasion and punctures. remainder of the pack physique and lid are made with DCH150 which is a burly ultralight laminate made with Dyneema fibers, glue, and polyester, whereas the hipbelt, shoulder straps, and crampon holders are made with heavy-duty 210 nylon gridstop. Whereas the inside of the pack is totally seam taped and the fabric is waterproof, I nonetheless advocate utilizing it with a pack liner, if solely since you’ll have some place to place moist and frozen gear as a substitute of blending it together with your dry clothes and sleep system.
Backpack Body
The Halka 55 has two pre-bent aluminum framestays which give it a most really useful load of 40-50 lbs. Nevertheless, the pack doesn’t have load lifters, a trait shared by Hyperlite’s different backpacks. The corporate has taken loads of flack about this through the years, a lot of which is warranted. Load lifters change into more and more necessary as pack quantity will increase and may help carry a heavy pack nearer to your torso and hips for a extra environment friendly carry.
The again of the Halka 55 is evenly padded, a trait of Hyperlite’s larger quantity packs. The pack has a detachable hipbelt with a gear loop on the fitting for racking carabiners/climbing gear and a big zippered pocket on the left. The hipbelt will also be changed with one which has two pockets or two gear loops relying in your preferences and wishes.
I’ve discovered that the pack carries exceptionally effectively with all kinds of masses, however Hyperlite’s packs have at all times match me marvelously effectively by way of torso size. All of Hyperlite’s packs have mounted size torsos so that may not be the case for you. if you happen to discover that you just’re torso size is on the boundary between two sizes, my recommendation can be to dimension up. For instance, I’ve a 18.5″ torso and at all times dimension as much as their 19-21″ torso size (dimension massive).
Compression Straps/Facet Daisy Chains
There are two tiers of aspect compression straps on the Halka 55 which might be lengthy sufficient to strap snowshoes or a foam pad to the perimeters of the pack, in addition to 4 daisy chains working its size alongside its sides. I choose carrying snowshoes alongside the aspect of my pack, nearer to my torso, and these compression straps work effectively for that objective.
Crampon/Ice Instrument Holder
The Halka has a crampon holder, ice decide sleeves, buckles, and shaft holders to hold a pair of ice instruments or axes. Crampons are secured utilizing a bungie wire which is completely hooked up to the pack and fairly tough to make use of with naked arms, not to mention when carrying gloves. I feel the Halka can be higher if Hyperlite had used an open crampon pocket right here, which is a characteristic discovered on different mountaineering packs just like the Black Diamond Mission, Chilly Chilly World Chaos, and Cilogear Worksack. The benefit of a crampon pocket is that it may be used when carrying gloves and might retailer different gear, comparable to microspikes. I’ve even stuffed a tent physique in a single to avoid wasting inside area inside my winter backpack!
Extension Collar
The Halka additionally has a floating prime lid pocket which sits on prime of typical drawstring extension collar. The extension collar is cinches tight on prime and round its circumference with wire locks, which sadly are incorrectly sized and slide open when the pack is overstuffed. They’re simply changed although. A Y-strap runs over the extension collar and can be utilized to carry a rope, pad, or bear canister if you happen to use the pack throughout hotter months. One finish is sewn to the entrance of the pack whereas the opposite two ends are hooked up to the pack bag simply above the shoulder straps. It makes the highest of the pack a bit busy, however will be helpful.
Floating Lid
The floating lid/prime pocket is a bit bit extra problematic. First off the pocket is de facto fairly small and it’s tough to get greater than an additional pair of thick fleece gloves and a hat into it. The pocket is anchored to the entrance of the pack with webbing straps that may be repositioned up and down the pack’s daisy chains. However the different aspect is anchored to the daisy chains on the highest if the shoulder straps, which is a weird place to anchor a floating lid as a result of it interferes with the match of the shoulder straps, pulling them off the shoulders if you tighten the lid. The traditional place to anchor a floating lid is on the pack bag above or to the perimeters of the shoulder straps, not on them.
The straps that connect the floating lid to the pack are detachable. Sadly, they will additionally fall off and get misplaced, which I’ve already skilled. Fortunately the buckles are pretty normal, so you’ll be able to change them with webbing you might have mendacity round pretty simply, however shedding one of many straps on a visit the place you don’t have entry to a spare would actually suck. I feel stitching the straps to the pack and making them longer would most likely have been a greater design alternative.
Winter Backpacks Comparability Desk
Advice
The Hyperlite Mountain Hear Halka 55 is a water-proof mountaineering and winter backpack made with Dyneema Composite Materials with a floating prime lid. It has a number of quirks which might be necessary to learn about if you happen to plan on carrying crampons otherwise you’re susceptible to shedding straps, however on the entire it’s a reliable gear hauler with a number of exterior attachment factors for hauling cumbersome winter tools. Most of those are simple workarounds which you can MacGyver round with a bit ingenuity, additional buckles and cordlocks. Nonetheless, the Halka 55 may use one other iteration of refinements to debug these points and make it extra of a contender in comparison with the opposite tried and true winter packs that it competes with.
Likes:
- Daisy chains on pack and shoulder straps
- A number of waist belt choices
- Stiff carry w/ good load switch to hips
- Waterproof materials and seam-taped
Dislikes:
- Crampon holder is awkward to make use of
- Cordlocks slip on extension collar
- Floating lid straps are simple to lose
Disclosure: HMG donated a pack for assessment
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