From Burden to Fashion – Why Is Salomon's New Backpack Garnering Such Strong Support?

The opportunity to see a backpack completely different from conventional 'carry on' ones, a 'wearable' type akin to a vest, in the wilderness has increased. On the other hand, when looking for an item suitable for compactly carrying a tablet and valuables, without carrying many documents around town, the lightweight, compact 'wearable' backpack originally made for trail running becomes an option.
 
So now, we picked up Salomon's backpack 'ADV SKIN CROSS SEASON 15' which is so popular it sells out at the Salomon Store in Tokyo Shibuya, tried wearing it, and talked to the advisory staff, Kazumi Sugaya.

According to Sugaya, the vest-type backpack first became known to the world at the 100-mile (160km) UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc) trail running competition when Kilian Jornet, a Salomon athlete at the time, used it and raised it with his hand at the finish line in 2009.
 
"The moment Kilian held aloft the 'ADV SKIN' prototype, which was made at Kilian's own request, and crossed the finish line, has been reported all over the world. It attracted attention as a completely new backpack that no one had ever seen before. In the beginning, it was known by the nickname 'Kilian Zack' used by Kilian rather than by the name 'ADV SKIN.'"
 
A novel approach that was not a miniaturized version of a climbing backpack but was developed from scratch for trail running is handed down to the current model. Without distinctions such as shoulder harnesses and hip belts, the entire unit fits to the body, allowing equipment to be transported efficiently. From the impressions of wearing it, I would think that it would be easy to run with because you can move your core freely.
 
"In response to the feedback, the 'ADV SKIN 5', which has the same 5L capacity as the 'Kilian Zack', was released in 2011. The following year, 2012, the 12L 'ADV SKIN 12' was released, and at the UTMF (Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji) which was held for the first time that year, the vast majority of competitors were actually using the 'ADV SKIN 12'. More than 10 years have passed since then, and this type of backpack has evolved significantly."