45 & 65 Liter Wallpinist Haul Bag

Came on here to make a small amendment to my initial review but looks like it was either never posted or taken down.

I want to be clear that I payed $500 for the 65L haulbag (during a 20% off sale) and I am not sponsored or given any additional discounts by Kyle.

Overall, I think the bag is great but I was expecting a bit more from it. First of all, this is a haulbag, not a backpack and not a haul-pack hybrid. All this to say, it will not carry weight as comfortably as a traditional backpack. Even with a an eggshell foam bivy pad folded in half to stiffen up the back, it was not anywhere near as comfortably as my hyperlite 70L with the same-weight load. Really difficult for me to get the weight off my shoulders but I do have a very slim waist. It seems like some people are hiking into objectives with a traditional, more comfortable backpack, then switching their gear to this for hauling which I guess makes sense in some scenarios but speaks to other people also having issues with carrying heavy loads and shows a lack of versatility.

Craftsmanship was good but not perfect. For a product that retails for $600, I would definitely expect "perfect". I chose to spend the extra money on this bag for a few reasons with a big one being more attachment points than a tradional haulbag for attaching to my paraglider. The first thing I noticed is that the tabs for attaching ice tool attachments and the compression straps are not placed symmetrically on the bag which means that the included compression straps only really work on one side and that if I use the tabs to hang my haulbag from the risers on my paraglider the weight is not distributed evenly. The super long cross straps that go over the top of the bag are also not perfectly square with the shoulder straps which isn't a huge issue, but definitely a little annoying for a $600 product. (I learned this was intentional)
Also not really sold on why these are needed and seem like they should at least be removable or have a way to tuck the excess webbing back into the inside of the back. I also think this back would benefit from a wait to insert some sort of removable metal back stiffener to give the option to help with a more comfortable carry.

Removing the shoulder straps requires threading a doubled-back piece of webbing through a rather small buckle which ended up being pretty finnicky "in the field" especially with cold fingers. It took me about 10 minutes to get the webbing removed which may not seem like much but adds up if doing multiple transitions and overall, I just thought it could be smoother. - This is another part that I would like to amend. There is a right way and wrong way to thread the straps through the buckles. If the doubled back part of the strap is facing toward the buckle (like one of the shoulder straps was one I received the pack) it can be very finnicky to unthread. The correct orientation is the strap on the right in the photo I'm including. I also would have liked to see a second row of stitching in this high-use area.

Finally, I had the waist strap buckle break on me. Granted, I did toss the haulbag down about 150 feet of snowy 4th class without removing the waisstrap first (lesson learned). This would have been devastating for the 4 hour hike from of my adventure but I was able to rig it up in a way that worked for the hike out. Kyle was quick to respond and send me a replacement.

Durability seemed great overall after hauling 600 feet of vertical granite and tossing the bag down some 4th class. (minus the broken waist strap). The ice tool/ compression strap tabs did get fuzzy though and show some wear.

My first encounter with this bag was in the wild stretches of Sandigonia aka Red Rocks, and my friend Sam Boyce brought it along to save weight because we were carrying multiple pounds of Salami. The climb was the first ascent of Salami Wand Kenobi on Mt. Wilson, and I was immediately attracted to the ease with which it would haul. With a softer upper lip, it does not get caught as frequently on edges and small protrusions when compared to a BD or Metolius Haul Bag. We hauled his bag up 2000' of chimneys and rough terrain, and the bag held up great and performed much better than the BD bag that we had along on our journey as well. After our climb together, I debated long and hard on whether or not to spend the 600 dollars for this bag, but I pulled the trigger, and I am happy that I did. I've brought this bag on numerous big days of development, and it has held up well despite being nailed by large rockfall and hauling hundreds of bolts up low-angle terrain, which I don't recommend because it did cause some slight damage to the bag. Overall, I couldn't be happier with this Wall Bag, and I truly appreciate the hard work and dedication that was both put into the design and build of this bag. Thank you, Kyle!

I took this bag to the Kichatna spires in AK and was thoroughly impressed at how balanced it was in versatility and durability, all while maintaining a low weight. The terrain demanded a combination of big wall and alpine style tactics, where the wallpinist bag lended itself well to both, with a smooth transition between the two. The rock was exceptionally sharp and gritty, but by the end of the trip no holes could be found in the bag, and scuffing was minimal (except on the logo patch on the outside, looks bad a$$ though). I plan to use this bag for winter alpine and ice cragging as well, as it has all the typical features and fit, but with added durability compared to other bags I've used (eg. Mountain hardwear alpine light 50). The price point is high, but after running this bag on an expedition I expect a lot use out of it in the coming years.

I packed it with a really heavy load two hours up to a big wall and hauled the wallpinist up four pitches. I couldn’t believe how much stuff it fit inside and how comfortable it was to carry. For the weight, durability, and size it’s just an unbelievable value and I’ll never go back to a heavy haul bag again!