11/18/22 – Hill People Gear releases latest iteration in the Aston House series.

Hill People Gear has earned a reputation for building some of the most comfortable packs available for carrying heavier loads. Today they’re releasing the Aston 3, which replaces the discontinued Aston House and Aston House Backcountry packs. With the A3, HPG has taken lessons learned from the previous versions to create a single streamlined version which will be useful for a wide range of needs.

The A3 is a mid-sized panel loader with some helpful organizational features. The interior suspension side is lined with MOLLE cut Velcro laminate so it will accept both Velcro backed and PALS backed pouches. This area can easily be accessed via a generously sized top zipper access. It is ideal for mounting heavy items such as laptops, tools, water bladders, and radio packs. The dual zipper pulls on this access allow for an extended antenna or bladder hose to protrude from the top of the pack. In addition to this access, there is a more traditional 2/3rd height panel access on the non-suspension side of the pack for accessing whatever items are packed behind the organizational panel. There are also two external quick access zippered pockets and oversized wand pockets that have their own compression systems. All zippers are heavy #10 ykk and the fabric is 500d cordura for longevity.

Suspension on the A3 consists of HPG’s adjustable torso height shoulder harness with load lifters, full HDPE framesheet, dual 7075 aluminum stays, and mounting location for optional belt. With the belt mounted, the Aston 3 has a chassis capacity of 150lbs. There are both top and bottom compression straps as well as dual full circumference straps. Unlike its Aston House predecessors, the A3 is designed to accept any of Hill People Gear’s pack pockets. This makes it possible to plus up the capacity of the A3 for light overnight and assault pack use. On the other hand, all of the straps are removable and the compression on the wand pockets will “over compress” the bottom 1/3rd of the pack for everyday carry uses. With the configurability and compressibility, the Aston 3 allows for a wide range of uses in a single pack.

Hill People Gear bags and packs are manufactured in the USA out of US materials by FirstSpear. This manufacturing partnership goes back to the start of both companies in 2010.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 18th, 2022 at 18:00 and is filed under Packs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.