Tom Gathman was solo camping in the high mountains just west of the Grand Teton National Park听boundary last summer when he woke suddenly at 2 a.m. With the intensity of a man caught in a house fire, he scrambled听for his phone and dialed听鈥檚听lead backpack designer, Cody Durham. The call went straight to voice mail.

鈥淚鈥檝e had a terrible dream,鈥澨齭aid听Gathman. 鈥淚 was hiking the last leg of the Colorado Trail, reaching for something in my pack听but to no avail. It went on for miles. Bad conflict鈥攕topping would cost me the record. I awoke trembling, cold with sweat. The meaning is obvious: the Zerk needs more quick-access pockets!鈥�

Then听he fell back asleep. The heavily bearded Gathman, who is known as , was fresh off a 100-day thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail and had been training for an attempt at the Colorado Trail鈥檚 unsupported speed record. He鈥檇听spent the previous听seven months working with Durham and Mountainsmith to create what he calls听鈥渢he Rolls Royce of ultralight backpacks.鈥�

The 1.5-pound听听is the result of more than 1,000 miles of personal on-trail testing, hundreds of text messages, dozens of late-night calls, seven major iterations, and innumerable听beer-fueled meetings at Mountainsmith鈥檚 headquarters in Golden, Colorado. The pack was released in January听via an ongoing Indiegogo campaign and will be available at select retailers this spring. 听

鈥淚 make a living designing boutique outdoor gear, and many of my friends do the same,鈥� says Durham. 鈥淎nd I can tell you with 100 percent surety: this thing with the Viking was the most out-of-the-box, intensively hands-on design project I鈥檝e ever heard of.鈥�

Gathman jokes that the project was, by and large, self-serving.听He鈥檚 lived almost entirely on trail since 2013听and logged around 20,000 miles. A听veteran of the American Triple Crown and a , among others, Gathman听averages anywhere from 30 to 50 miles a day. Sustained for months on end through some of the toughest conditions and terrain in the world, the pace is hell on gear.

鈥淚鈥檝e been sponsored by lots of great companies and worn tons of different packs,鈥� Gathman says. But nothing was ever quite right. Though weight was a primary concern, he was wary of ultralight models鈥攖heir minimalism sacrificed too much durability and function. 鈥淚 started making a wish list of features for [a modified ultralight] about halfway through my first AT hike,鈥� he continues. 鈥淥ver the years, that list got stupid long. Something would go wrong, and I鈥檇 get pissed off and say, 鈥業f I could design my own damn pack, I wouldn鈥檛 have these problems.鈥欌��

The opportunity presented itself in January 2018. Mountainsmith project manager听Torie Palffy phoned to ask about teaming up for a signature pack. As a brand ambassador, Gathman was familiar with the company鈥檚 40-year history and had been carrying its听camera bags since 2014. He reasoned that听Mountainsmith was big enough to fund a high-end project听yet small enough to embrace a perfectionistic vision.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I let her finish the sentence,鈥� Gathman recalls with a laugh. His response was an emphatic yes. 鈥淚 thought, Ye gods, here鈥檚 my chance!听Forget commercial success, I wanted that idea out of my mind and into my hands.鈥�

A meeting was scheduled for later in the month. There, Gathman made quite an impression.

鈥淗e came in and basically just took over,鈥� says Palffy. The Viking鈥檚 presentation began with an open letter outlining their听鈥渕ission objective.鈥澨鼳 PowerPoint presentation followed, where he listed nearly 100 desired features鈥攊ncluding pro-con analyses and photographic examples for each. 鈥淗is enthusiasm and depth of thought was incredible. It was a matter of tweaking an extremely specified vision to yield a cost-effective but uncompromising design,鈥� Palffy says.听 听

Studying the suggestions, Durham identified a theme. The Viking wasn鈥檛 after the world鈥檚 lightest pack. As a long-distance fastpacker, his goal was efficiency. He aimed to combine the benefits of ultralight technology with features that enabled him to carry more gear and keep it within reach.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e trying to put in 50-mile days, stopping is your worst enemy,鈥� says Gathman. Pausing to grab a camera can snowball into a 20-minute break. 鈥淵ou lose your concentration and realize how tired and hungry and miserable you are, which听in turn听makes it harder to get going again.鈥� Spread those losses across 2,000 miles and they add up quickly.

Within six weeks, Durham had crafted a prototype. He says the design focused on 鈥渁n ideal combination of weight, durability, comfort, and accessibility.鈥� Gathman field-tested the unit and its subsequent iterations while hiking the PCT, Wind River High Route, Tetons, and Colorado Trail throughout 2018. Communication between Gathman and Durham was constant throughout.

鈥淭he Viking would text with nitpicky details听like, 鈥楻aise the front strap loops by five听millimeters,鈥欌�� says Durham. Cataloging the suggestions, he divided them into categories like shoulder straps, weight distribution, storage, and so on. From there听he鈥檇 head to the drawing board, figure out what was possible, and incorporate solutions into the next design. 鈥淭he devotion to getting it right was uncanny, fanatical even,鈥� he says. 鈥淎s a designer, it was an ideal scenario. I could make changes, have them overnighted to him, and get feedback really fast. That streamlined our progress and enabled us to scrutinize every last nuance and detail.鈥�

After nearly a year of testing, they arrived at the Zerk (short for berserk). Palffy听accurately describes the result as a hybrid 鈥渦nlike anything else on the market.鈥�

Inspired by ultrarunning rigs, its shoulder straps are wide and feature dual mesh pockets with elastic drawstrings and lashing points. Similarly, the sides and back are outfitted with multiple layers of XXL pockets. Roll-top webbing allows for added storage atop the bag, with center lashing points that increase carrying capacity. To cut weight, the hipbelt is removable and there is no standard frame, frame sheet, or aluminum stays. Instead, support is provided by听EVA and Atilon听foam paneling encased in breathable mesh. Maximizing durability鈥攁nd trimming additional weight鈥攁re Spectra fibers;听woven into the fabric, they are 15 times stronger than steel but light enough to float.

Durham hopes the pack, which will retail at around $225, will serve as Mountainsmith鈥檚 inroad听to the thru-hiking community. Gathman agrees, but with a slight caveat.

鈥淵es, I want other hikers to love it, but I鈥檇 be lying if I said that was my primary motivation,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is literally my dream pack. The idea was gestating in my head for five freakin鈥� years. And now that it鈥檚 here in my hands? I feel like we鈥檝e given birth to a miracle.鈥�

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