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NSS NEWS, January 2005
The SWAYGO Push Pack
by Michael Fraley
"I
remember back at my first grotto when a fellow caver was
preparing for a long wet journey into the underground. There was
no standard cave pack on the list of equipment, but a dry bag
instead. I’ve seen the dry bag since then and it’s patched and
beaten by many a cave. I had been interested in buying a dry bag
at the time, but never wanted to try to use something that could
die after a single cave trip, or something that I would have to
pack inside my cave pack to keep it safe. In the intervening
period I’ve taken to protecting my gear when I know it is going
to get wet. I triple bag my medical supplies and food; I protect
my cheap camera as best I can. It was not practical to try to
keep the all the contents of my pack dry, the best I could do is
find a pack with a good drain hole. At least, so I thought. The
cavers at SWAYGO Gear may have the answer to dry equipment in
wet caves.
The
SWAYGO Push Pack has a fascinating and simple design. I had seen
pictures of it on SWAYGO Gear’s website (www.swaygogear.com),
noting its rounded design. I had heard about its low profile,
but when I first pulled the pack out of its box I wasn’t quite
prepared for what was in front of me. When I opened the package
out fell out was what looked like a completely flat piece of
rubber. The pack’s closure was at the bottom of the pack, and in
essence, you pack the bag upside down. It wasn’t long before I
had the pack open and my caving gear inside. When completely
packed, the rounded design gives it a flattened torpedo shape,
making it perfect for dragging through tight spaces. The
shoulder straps attach along the side by means of two key
chain-type carabiners (however, the holes by which they attach
are large enough for climbing carabiners). Both the shoulder
straps and the pack have various points of attachment to adjust
the height of the pack on your back. The most interesting
feature of the pack is dragability (to coin a term). Your
shoulder straps are made from a single piece of webbing that
feeds though a grommet at the top of the pack held in place by a
third carabiner. In most cases, straps are the problem in tight
passages. With SWAYGO packs the straps are the solution. If you
need to remove the pack, pull on the top carabiner and the Quick
Straps slide through the grommet to become a lanyard. The third
carabiner makes it easy to attach the lanyard to your leg and
drag it through the small passage.
Three
major design goals are instantly apparent in the pack:
simplicity, waterproofing, and durability. In recent years more
features and options usually add to a pack’s usefulness. In this
case, it seems any whistle or bell would only have detracted
from its usefulness. External pockets would make the pack catch
while being dragged, and internal compartments would complicate,
rather than simplify packing.
Waterproofing, another design goal, looks easy at a first
glance. Several caving bags have been made of water resistant
material, and most dry bags are made with PVC. Unfortunately,
PVC has a relatively short lifespan when subjected to cave after
brutal cave. So, the team at SWAYGO Gear tried using nylon
coated and impregnated with polyurethane. The polyurethane will
not flake or crack, has considerable durability, and is suppler
at lower temperatures. The SWAYGO pack also features extremely
strong seams. It is impossible to use stitching and have a 100%
leak-proof pack. But who needs stitching when you have RF
welding? The SWAYGO Push Pack’s seams have been bonded using
high frequency radio waves to heat the material and create a
bond at the molecular level. Not only does this affix the two
pieces together, but it creates an airtight seal that is often
stronger than the two original pieces of material. These design
features create a fairly strong, abrasion resistant, puncture
resistant pack. Note that nothing is puncture proof. If you just
so happen to leave your rigger’s knife open in the bottom of the
pack, it will puncture. If you have any items with sharp corners
or edges, it is highly advisable that you wrap or pad the edges
to protect your pack. Nothing you take into a cave will last
forever, but if you take care of this one, you can make it last
a really long time. Furthermore, should your pack develop any
damage because of a manufacturing error, SWAYGO gear has a
lifetime warranty and will repair or replace the pack (after
they have inspected it).
Waterproof is a word that gets
used frequently around caving gear. It is also a word that I
usually take as a personal challenge. There is no container or
light on Earth that is perfectly waterproof. If you put a
20-pound lead weight in it, and throw it into the deepest chasm
of the ocean, it is going to leak. The question is how
water-resistant are the SWAYGO packs? After my first attempt to
get water in the pack, I walked away disgruntled. I packed it
full of my gear and threw it in the bathtub. The pack just
floated happily at the surface. It seemed illogical to me to
wait around to see if water would get inside seeing how the
closure was hardly ever submerged. Forcing the pack underwater
was not a fair test for two reasons. First, pushing on the pack
would squeeze the air out and increase the possibility of
leaking. Second, few cavers will be sitting on their packs
deliberately scooting them underwater through the cave. After
putting 25 pounds of bricks in the pack and submerging it I
noticed that some air bubbles would periodically trickle out of
the pack over the period of an hour. However, after opening the
pack I only found a few drops of water near the opening. That
water could easily have made its way in during opening. I’m
willing to call this pack “waterproof to all practical purposes”
when the pack is closed properly.
Getting
your gear into the pack requires a bit of adjustment. SWAYGO
packs are unlike your traditional packs, and so they have to be
packed somewhat differently. You will pack your bag most
effectively by utilizing stuff sacks and placing them at the
bottom of the bag. You should pack larger objects and water
containers near the opening. If you try to use your normal
containers for batteries, food, and medical supplies you will
find that there is a bit of a learning curve with the pack. But,
one of the pack’s creators has even been able to pack the Push
pack with survey or vertical gear after becoming intimately
familiar with the pack.
The
public response to this cave pack has been overwhelmingly
positive. The pack is as comfortable it is versatile. The Push
pack has been in many wet, muddy, and difficult caves. The
SWAYGO Push pack has survived pushes, crawls, floats, and
crushes. Cavers have been very satisfied with their dry gear
through the wettest and sloppiest caves. The most risk of
getting water in the pack appears to be when opening, and when
putting wet hands inside. Unlike with other packs, cavers prefer
to wear SWAYGO packs on their backs rather than trying to
arrange it as a side-slung bag. The low profile of the pack
makes caving easy and more comfortable than with other packs.
When riding in the small of the back, the profile is low enough
to slide easily through cracks and crevices where other cavers
have to remove their packs.
The only
repeated negative comment about the Push pack is about the size.
Though the Push pack is fine for small cave trips, it takes
quite a bit of thought and practice to cram in vertical or
survey gear. However, for my weekend trips, the pack is more
than sufficient for carrying all of my lights, food, water,
batteries, medical pack, marking tape, and 20 feet of
three-fourths inch tubular webbing (flat folded). But, if space
is what you need, then SWAYGO is now producing two more packs,
the Pit and the Sink. The Pit and Sink are packs of the exact
same design, and are the medium and large versions of the Push
pack.
The
website boasts that the pack has a number of other uses. Because
the pack is more or less waterproof, the pack can be used as a
floatation device, or just as easily used as an inflatable
pillow (make sure you wash off the guano beforehand). The pack
is flat when empty, and just rigid enough that it could be
rolled into a soft splint. The webbing that comprises the strap
is not only fairly long, but is also rated to 6000 pounds (note
that though the webbing is rated, the stitching is not). You can
easily use the strap as a foot loop in a frog system (should
something tragic happen your original), or you could possibly
use it as a hand line. The possibilities are countless for
someone who is willing to think creatively with his or her
caving gear. However, I have not yet heard of a consumer taking
advantage of these possibilities.
At this
stage of technology in caving, developing gear is more or less a
matter of building a better mousetrap. With the SWAYGO Push
pack, you can consider the trap set and the cheese waiting. With
an ingenious design and an outstanding consumer response, this
pack is attracting quite a bit of attention. The Push pack
carries a price tag of $69.00, the Pit Pack (the medium size)
runs at $79.00, and the Sink (the large) costs $89.00. A simple
design combined with rugged materials makes this pack a prime
choice especially for those who need to keep their gear mud free
and dry.
Pros:
-
Waterproof to all practical
purposes
-
Extremely rugged
-
Highly comfortable
-
Low profile for easy movement
through the cave
-
Quick-Strap system for easy
dragging
-
Lifetime limited warranty
Cons:
This article has been
reproduced with the permission from the author. |
