Perhaps it had been too long since I’d studied the features of backpacks. Perhaps I hadn’t ever taken backpacks seriously enough. But I was a bit taken aback when I read what Klymit’s Motion 35 backpack can do.
Klymit’s Motion 35 backpack.
A backpack that can dampen vibrations, mitigate shaking, use gravity, use the air, and conform to the shape of our moving back? Sounded like magic to me, and since I gave up believing in magic by the time I was 12 years old, I was incredulous.
Then I headed off to snowshoe a few times in the Grand Tetons with the ultra-light 1.5-pound Motion 35 on my back. I noticed a big difference right away.
The Motion 35 is comfortable. I detected no pressure points on my body. I sensed how the overall weight in the pack centered in my body in a way that really stabilized the pack’s load.
Have to admit that I still don’t entirely understand how the pack works. My mind swims a bit when I read about the ripstop nylon, hip and shoulder foam, extra bar tacking, 360-degree compression, and frame sheet suspension.
But all this hi-tech innovation makes a difference – and it’s a difference that you can feel every step of your snowshoe jaunt. The Motion 35 works. The Motion 35 performs.
The hip belt works great. The pockets are very accessible. The pack was actually designed to carry bear spray, something we need to have on us at all times in my neck of the woods. And the bounce in the pack is reduced – probably by the full 50 percent to 80 percent that Klymit claims.
Snowshoeing in the Tetons with the Motion 35 backpack by Klymit. (Photo by Brad Christensen.)
The Motion 35 was clearly designed by geniuses. The pack is constructed in a durable way. It flexes as you change the content in it. It conforms its shape to your back, so no matter how strenuous your motions as you walk along on your snowshoes, you continue to move smoothly through all of your changing body positions and maneuvers. Oftentimes you forget that the backpack is even there.
Throughout my time snowshoeing with Klymit’s Motion 35 on my back, I fully enjoyed the freedom of movement. Klymit’s pack suspension may very well be the best in the world.
Arthur C. Clarke said it best: “A sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For the first time since I was 12, I believe in magic. And I am ready to crown Klymit’s designers some of the most advanced wizards of our time.
The Motion 35 backpack by Klymit is currently selling for $149.99:
http://www.klymit.com/index.php/products-1/backpacks/motion-35-581.html
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