"Your ultralight companion for fast & light adventures"
Embrace freedom and speed on your next trek with the Summit Seeker, your ideal companion for day hikes, weekend adventures, and even week-long journeys (with ultralight gear and a base weight under 4 kg). Whether you're climbing mountains, scrambling ridges, or wandering through forests, the Summit Seeker lets you move freely and efficiently, maximizing your joy on any path you choose.
In 2023, my desire to hike further, faster, and with less weight fueled the inspiration for the Summit Seeker. I wanted to be able to hike all day without stopping, with essentials readily accessible without taking the backpack off my back. Designing comfortable, functional vest-style straps became a mission. Through several prototypes and refinements, I achieved the right balance of comfort and utility.
The Summit Seeker will be my personal choice for most weekend hikes and extended adventures in 2024 (unless I need more space for winter gear). It comfortably carries my tent, sleep system, cookset, rain gear, spare clothes, and up to 5 days of food. Check out my 2023 gearlist here for specifics!
This design builds upon the popular 25L Hiker, optimized for even faster and lighter adventures. It's slightly smaller with improved patterning and a scooped bottom for free movement in technical and rocky terrain. One trade-off: it doesn't stand upright as well as the Hiker, but you won't take it off anyway. Additionally, the Summit Seeker has two key upgrades:
- the top strap being a part of the front stretch pocket: Securely store items like snacks, water, or a headlamp in the top strap pocket, accessible without pack removal.
- vest-style shoulder straps: Enjoy comfort, excellent load distribution, and convenient storage with dual pockets on each strap.
The 25L Hiker remains available for those who prefer its classic S-shaped shoulder straps and more boxy shape for easier packing.
* Made to order. Current lead time is 6-8 weeks.
FEATURES
Running vest-inspired shoulder straps: enhanced comfort, load distribution, and storage for on-the-go essentials like water, phone, snacks, or a headlamp. The straps feature 4mm EVA padding, are 7.5cm wide at the top, and widen to 10cm across the chest.
Integrated pockets: Pre-stretched top pockets hold 500ml soft flasks with bungee cord to prevent any bouncing. Over that pocket, there's a secure, zippered pocket on the left shoulder for a headlamp or other things you don't want to lose, and a spacious, cinch top pocket on the right shoulder, which works great for a phone and/or snacks. Also there's a loop with bungee cord on each shoulder for securing a hat, gloves or similar items.
Ultrastretch front pocket: Stash wet gear, extra layers, or quick-access items in this pocket, secured by a removable bungee cord for additional storage or cinching the front of the pack.
Elastic side pockets for water bottles (up to 1L bottles) or trekking poles in these dedicated pockets. A single bungee cord above secures taller items like trekking poles.
Removable sternum straps: Fine-tune fit and comfort with two adjustable sternum straps.
Rolltop closure with magnets for quick and easy manipulation.
Note on the shoulder bottle pockets: the pocket works the best with a 500 ml softflask. It was tested with a Hydrapak Softflask and Ultraflask (the Ultraflask is the best option), as well as taller and narrower Salomon soft flasks. It will work with a hard bottle as well, but soft flask is more comfortable. I may be able to source the softflasks for you if interested and I plan to have them as a standard add-on in the future.
CUSTOMIZATION
Make the Summit Seeker your own! You can customize it to fit your exact requirements, needs and your hiking style.
Back panel: Frameless (lighter) or with a removable 6mm EVA foam pad (more structure). Opt for padded if you value day trip comfort and versatility, or frameless for serious weight savings.
Features: Add pockets, attachment points, or modify existing features to create your dream pack. Contact me to discuss your vision!
FABRIC SPECIFICATION
Explore various fabrics in the fabric guide and inquire about custom requests or fabric combinations. The standard padding sleeve and shoulder strap fabric is Ultragrid Black with a white grid, but you can request a different color.
Water Resistance
Fully taped seams in frameless versions and partially taped seams in padded versions enhance water resistance (not fully waterproof). This only applies to Ultra, UltraX and X33 fabrics, other fabrics cannot be taped
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- Capacity: 25 liters (expands to 30 liters including pockets)
- Height: 66 cm (fully unrolled)
- Bottom circumference: 75 cm
- Top circumference: 84 cm
- Weight: 450g (EPX200 with padding), 320g (Ultra100X frameless)
- Recommended base weight: under 3.5 kg (8 lbs)
- Recommended max load: 7 kg (15 lbs)
- Shape: slightly conical for better load distribution and packing
Care instructions: Hand wash only.