A recipient of Backpacker Magazine Editor’s Choice Award, Pivotal Suspension™ moves, conforms, and adjusts to the user’s anatomy and body movement, contributing to comfortable load-bearing over the long haul. It does so by following the body’s natural movement, whether it is an extended hip flex or a slight forward bend on a steep uphill, even simultaneously. Through balance, comfort, and an intuitive fit, Pivotal Suspension™ lets the explorer move freely and truly enjoy the journey.
Carbon Composite Flex Arms Create Freedom of Movement:
The world is not flat. As you move across uneven ground, your body moves instinctively into a wide variety of positions - balancing, absorbing shock, and moving forward. Pivotal Suspension™ system's carbon composite flex arms adjust with each step you take, making sure that the load of the pack is transferred evenly from the pack to your body no matter what position you're in. So whether you are hiking, skiing, climbing, or just leaning against a rock, the load transfer to your pelvis remains perfectly even.
The flex arms work as an independent suspension system to distribute your pack's load evenly to the center of your hips. With equal weight and pressure on your left and right sides, you can move naturally and you are more efficient, so you don't get tired as quickly as you might with a traditional fixed suspension system.
Load Equalizing Balance Beam Creates Balance:
The load equalizing balance beam pivots the load of your pack in the same direction that you move. You can see the inner workings of this system through a window in the back panel, but you'll feel it working the minute you try it on.
Working with the flex arms, the load equalizing balance beam let's your pack's center of gravity move with yours so that it doesn't shift from side to side like a fixed suspension pack does. This means that your hips can pivot and tilt in any direction because your Pivotal Suspension™ pack provides a complete transfer of your pack load to the sides of your hips. The design works with your movements to creating a truly dynamic system between the pack and your body.
Lumbar Strut Creates Comfort and Efficiency:
Conventional pack design typically features a static hipbelt anchored to the pack body. These hipbelts often fail to fall back into the correct spot as you move, resulting in uncomfortable chafing to the hipbones and midsection.
With the Pivotal Suspension™, the dynamic nature of the lumbar strut mimics your body's adjustments, allowing the suspension to lengthen and serve as a stabilizing, shock-absorbing system. This not only eliminates side-to-side flopping, but also eliminates hipbelt motion. The Lumbar Strut ensures that the load remains balanced from side to side as you walk, run, ski, climb, or jump. Your pack remains close to and centered on your back, allowing for forward and backward movement over any type of terrain.
Center of Gravity Matches the Body's for an Intuitive Fit:
The Pivotal Suspension™’s center of gravity matches your own. Integrated with the flex arms, the load equalizing balance beam enables the pack to move with your center of gravity rather than shifting from side to side like a conventional fixed suspension pack. The hips can now pivot and tilt in any direction while the pack completely transfers its weight to the sides of your hips. This multi-component design constantly works with your body movements and stays in sync with your walk, allowing for natural movement, reducing overall fatigue and increasing your comfort.
Anatomical Design:
The human body has the perfect independent suspension, constantly adapting to your body's different movements and positions. The Pivotal Suspension™ is the first multi-day suspension to address the dynamic relationship between you and your pack. By actively transferring weight from your pack to your hips and providing balanced load distribution regardless of your body's position, the Pivotal Suspension™ pack works with your body to allow your natural balance to work properly. This anatomical design gives you greater balance, more comfort, and freedom of movement no matter what you're doing.
