Annual ice trip

Figure Four took our annual ice trip last week.  This year we explored Hyalite Canyon, letting our good buddy DF be our ice guide.  The ice was great, the hospitality and friendliness of the locals was incredible, and we lucked out with beautiful weather, including during our multi-pitch climb of The Dribbles, where we had the chance to continually test the Delta Pack.  Aside from the shoulder strap gear loops, I had totally forgotten that I wore a pack on the climb, making the climb a very pleasant experience.

Thanks to all for such a great trip.

Gorge Ice??

After too, too many days remodeling a bathroom, I was itching to get out for a pre-Thanksgiving climb, which led to scratching up some "Gorge Ice" in pseudo-desperate conditions.  But hey, not all good ideas can be fun, and in this case, not all fun ideas can be good (but still worth it).  Props to my buddy for pushing the impossible idea of November Portland ice; it was a blast!

Photo Contest

Do you want to win our brand new Delta Pack?

If so, enter our very first Photo Contest on Saturday, Nov 20, 2010 that lasts till Dec 20, 2010 where any US resident 18 years of age and older can enter one photo.  The winner will be decided by votes from visitors to the website where they can vote a maximum of 3 times.  The winner will be announced no later than Dec 30, 2010.

You can find more information on our Photo Contest Info page.

Good luck!!

Figure Four's Delta Pack

Our large δ (Delta) Packs are now available on our website.  The alpine designed pack incorporates anatomically cut panels for a mobile, technical fit.  It blends a light alpine pack with just the right amount of useful features. 

Check it out.

Do you feel lucky??

A pre-release of the Figure Four's δ (Delta) Pack will be raffled at Smith Rock Detour 2010, held at Smith Rock State Park on September 18th-19th.  It should be a great time with climbing clinics, a kid's bouldering competition, the REEL ROCK Film Tour, and who can forget Smith Rock's wonderful setting. 

Whether you feel lucky or not, head out to the Detour and support some great causes, including Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up (an organization designed to help African children with AIDS), the Access Fund, and Smith Rock State Park. 

Delta Pack design finalized

After the long and arduous process of designing, collaborating with our testers, and redesigning and redesigning and redesigning... we have finalized the design of our δ (Delta Pack).  The design blends comfort, functionality, and a minimalist design to produce a light (2lbs 7oz NOT stripped down) and effective alpine "assault" pack to get the job done, allowing the user to be unencumbered by the gear they carry. 

The pack should be available for purchase soon.

For more info about the features, check out the Delta Pack web page.

Crampon Armour?

We're in the final process of tweaking and finishing our Crampon Armour, a twist on the classic crampon bag/pouch.  A removable thin HDPE sheet is placed inside on the bottom and one of the small sides to provide the user and the user's gear protection from the crampons' sharp points.  The HDPE sheets allow for a lighter fabric to be used than a classic crampon bag/pouch, yet still have significant puncture resistance.  And if you don't need crampons, the HDPE sheets can be removed and the Crampon Armour can be used as an additional outer pocket.  The Crampon Armour attaches with the straps seen below to any of our packs, where even when the quick-release buckles are detached, the Crampon Armour is still securely attached to the pack.

HDPE Sheets are the visible whitish layers

Final tweaks will be made in the next month.

Delta Pack field test 1

Field testing is rough, manual-labor, but you do what you have to do, and you try to convince whoever is willing to tag-along.  After a bit of "convincing", my climbing buddy DC and I headed for a Tuesday climb of Beacon Rock's Young Warriors with the Delta Pack full of extra clothing, food, water, and approach shoes.  Climbing with a pack is always a little awkward, but the δ (Delta) Pack carried, climbed, and moved extremely well over the varied basalt terrain of 5.9 cracks, slabs, face moves, and minor overhangs.  Though we're still working to make it the best pack possible, the δ Pack is well on its way into the Figure Four pack arsenal.

Prototype - Alpha Pack

Currently we're designing the α (Alpha) Pack.  This is an all-around pack for the person that wants a light pack with a frame structure capable of transferring a significant amount of the load to the user's hips.  It has a climbing harness capable hip belt (patent pending) like it's Ω (Omega) Pack counterpart, but does not contain the removable shoulder harness necessary to convert the lid to a mini-summit pack like the Omega Pack.  This is the pack for the comfort conscious climber that rarely needs a mini-summit pack.

Currently the features include:

• Harness compatible hip belt (patent pending)
• Gear loops on hip belt
• Gear loop compatible shoulder straps
• Hybrid Ice Axe loops similar to the Omega Pack (individually secured)
• Crampon attachment system capable of attaching our Crampon Pouch or a simple strap system
• Hydration compatible (internal hydration sleeve)
• Removable bivi-pad
• Removable 7075-T6 aluminum frame
• Picket Pockets
• Reinforced handle and daisy chain can be used for hauling
• User replaceable compression straps
• Dual entry lid

The prototype shown below weighs in at 3 lbs 12 oz (3.8 lbs), including the lid, compression system, and frame.  The main compartment's volume is 2500 cu. in (~40 L), not including the volume of the lid.

Prototype - Delta Pack

We're in the process of developing a stream-line alpine pack aimed for the person that's willing to sacrifice features for a lighter, yet very durable and reliable, pack.  This pack, the δ (Delta) Pack, blends a few key features that add little weight with a rucksack.  Features found on this pack are:

• Gear loop compatible shoulder straps similar to our Omega Pack
• Hybrid Ice Axe loops similar to our Omega Pack, but are secured individually (not shown in below photos)
• Crampon attachment system capable of attaching our Crampon Pouch or a simple strap system
• Hydration compatible (internal hydration sleeve)
• Removable bivy-pad
• 1.5" webbing hip belt
• Dual entry lid
• Picket pockets
• Reinforced handle and daisy chain can be used for hauling
• User replaceable compression straps

The prototype, shown below weighs in at ~2 lbs 9 oz (2.55 lbs), including the lid, bivy-pad and compression straps; the main compartment's volume is ~2250 cu. in (~35 L), not including the lid.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting Figure Four's blog.  We'll be posting all things related to Figure Four, including general updates, updates to product development, locations to find Figure Four products, and all other things Figure Four related (and a few things not directly related). 

For ease of use, blogs are categorized on the left.  Enjoy!