Source (All Images) | Aluula Composites

Outdoor labels Arc’teryx (North Vancouver, BC, Canada) and Durston (Kimberley, BC, Canada), have joined forced with Aluula Composites (Victoria) to introduce novel performance-driven, lightweight and recyclable outdoor gear for extreme mountain environments.

Aluula worked on the development of an ultralight Wapta 30 Pack backpack with Durston Gear made with Aluula’s Graflyte V-98 polymer material. The fabric is woven using ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), which in itself is not a new material, but Aluula says it has created a new patented process that doesn’t require adding polyester film to the UHMWPE, as the current market-leading material, “Ultra,” does. The result is a light material with a high strength-to-weight ratio that Aluula claims is eight times stronger than steel.

In 2023, the outdoor equipment sector saw a surge in demand, generating $25 billion in sales. According to the most recent data from Statista, the sector is expected to grow by more than 6% annually through 2028.

Already field tested in harsh marine conditions, Aluula Composites’ materials have also been used in kiteboarding and other wind sports, like foiling. Graflyte, specifically, does not need to be sewn together, the company notes. It can also be heat-bonded to itself, which could be used to create 3D structures with a single piece of fabric. In addition, the material is able to be recycled, and could, in theory, be used for backpack suspension systems or for applications in other industries.