The North Face Patrol 35 backpack has been selected as Gear of the Year by Outside Magazine in the Packs category. The other winners are:

• ALPINE SKIS: Head Monster 88
• SOFT SHELL: Arc’teryx Hercules Hoody
• SNOWBOARD: Palmer Honeycomb 164
• STORM SHELL: Cloudveil Koven Plus
• BACKCOUNTRY SKIS: Black Diamond Verdict
• SNOWSHOES: Atlas 12 Series
• PACK: The North Face Patrol 35
• TRAIL RUNNER: Solomon SpeedCross 2

The men’s Slider 65 and women’s Arch 65 (above) are new backpacks from Kelty for 2008. The packs are design for longer backcountry trips and can hold 4000 cubic inches (about 65.5 Liters). The fabric in the packs are stretchy to accommodate larger loads and both packs has “AeroBeam suspension” which is fully ventilated suspension system.

The Spire 30 is a new day-pack from Mountainsmith made out of Recycled PET fabric. The backpack that will be available in 2008 weighs 2 lbs. 6 oz (1.09kg). There will be two sizes the smaller one fits 31L and the large fits 34.5l.

CamPack S3 is a new backpack from C.A.M.P. it has been designed for “aggressive” trekking and adventure racing. It weighs 650 gram and it is compatible with hydration systems.

For Spring 2008 Deuter releases a new rewamped version of their Futura backpacks, called Futura Pro. There will be two new Futura Pro packs, the Futura Pro 34SL (above) and the Futura Pro 42. The new backpacks features a ventilated back system and a new pivoting hip belt called VariFlex.

The new Phoenix backpack from Mountainsmith can hold about 69 L of gear and weighs 5 lbs 8 oz. It features a pivoting waist belt and vertical snowboard carry and A-Frame ski carry. The pack is also compatible with hydration systems. The backpack is made out of 85% recycled materials and will be available in Spring 2008.

There are two new Cierzo backpacks from Arc’teryx, the Cierzo 18 and the Cierzo 35 (above). The Cierzo 18 is designed for use while leading rock or ice routes. The larger Cierzo 35 is a lightweight and strippable pack that is designed for summit sprints or as an easily stowable secondary pack on expeditions. The Cierzo 18 weighs 225g and the Cierzo 35 weighs 553g.

The Locus backpacks from Kelty will be available in 2008, in both men’s(orange) and women’s(red) model. It’s a top loaded model weighing 3lb. 5oz with a volume of 2500 cubic inches (about 41 liters).