What is the Alpha AR 35 Backpack?Ideally suited to technical mountainous excursions and alpine climbing trips, the Alpha AR 35 is both incredibly simple and feature-packed. The fit is second to none and the bombproof design offers durability in the most severe conditions.
What is the Alpha AR made from?One of the most impressive features of the Alpha AR is the face fabric. The pack is constructed using N315r-LCP, a high tenacity nylon with a Liquid Crystal Polymer ripstop grid that Arcteryx helped develop. You may be familiar with Arcteryx's AC² fabric which is used in the Bora and Alpha FL packs, well this fabric is a new breed and is a staggering 6-7x more abrasion resistant than AC². Basically, this gives you a face fabric that will not only shrug of most of the weather but is also tough enough to handle long scrambles and being hauled up jagged rock faces.
Which backsystem does it use?
The back system is another area where this pack excels. The frame sheet of the back panel is removable, allowing you to strip the pack right back to just the bare essentials. This not only reduces the overall weight but allows you to roll the pack up when not in use. The Alpha AR 35 also has an additional framesheet that adds shape and stability to the pack, but can also be removed with the back panel if needs be. The back panel is also pretty effective at protecting your back from all the jabby bits you usually get in a climbing/trekking pack.
Moving down to the hipbelt, it fits more like a climbing harness and encompasses almost all of your lower back. If you were to look at where the take-off point for the hipbelt sits, it starts near the centre of the back panel, rather than on the side of the pack like most other bags. This gives you a feeling of complete stability and comfort, yet also suits a wide range of waist sizes. The shoulder straps feature a moisture-wicking material on the outside to keep you comfortable during spring/summer outings and a light amount of padding underneath to mould around your upper back/shoulders.
What are the features?The Alpha AR is a more stripped-down pack than some of the others in our range. The main compartment is a super simple space that is tailored towards hauling vast amounts of climbing kit. The compartment is easy to get into, even with gloves on — it's a simple pull to open/pull to close drawcord with a weather protection top flap to help further seal out any bad weather you may incur. Your full trad rack, a helmet, your shoes and a variety of mountain snacks will easily fit in. If your rope doesn't fit into the main compartment then fear not! There is a ladder lock hook top strap that can be configured to hold ropes securely. The Alpha 35 also features a removable lid with an additional pocket for quick access storage. There is also an additional zipped security pocket on the inside of the lid with a key clip to safely stash all your valuables. External storage consists of ice axe loops that have been designed to fit a wide range of axes and custom webbing daisy chains for additional external storage. The pack also has side compression straps to cinch down the pack when it isn't full to capacity - this adds to the stability and stops the bag from sloshing around.
- Incredibly abrasion resistant
- Pull to open/ Pull to close drawcord main compartment
- Ladder lock hook top strap can be configured to hold ropes securely
- Custom webbing daisy chains for external storage
- Ice axe loops
- Removable framesheet and back panel
- Removable lid with zippered pocket
- Security pocket under lid with key clip
- Moisture-wicking shoulder straps