Three Points of the Compass was driving to Scotland to tackle the Skye Trail. An ideal opportunity to stop by the Atom Packs workshop deep in the Cumbrian fells, both to see what was going on, and get measured up for a custom pack.

I had been considering buying an Atom Pack for a couple of years. While I have been more than happy with my two usual packs- the Gossamer Gear Mariposa, with internal frame, and the frameless G4-20, I had long considered using something a little more bespoke and want to support a UK business. I am a big guy and had previously been dissuaded ordering from Atom Packs due to the lack of hipbelt options then available. However I had recently noted they had increased the range of hip belt sizes. It was only when I actually spoke to them on site that I learned they had long been providing larger belt sizes on request.

Atom Packs is a UK based company, making packs and accessories, in the Lake District. Their factory is based in an industrial unit situated on a small working farm at Braithwaite, a few miles down the A66 from Keswick. Their packs are only sold direct to customers and you won’t find their products in your favourite outdoors gear supplier. I had emailed them a couple of weeks earlier requesting a bespoke fitting and we had agreed a time and date for this. If I was paying a large amount of money for a bespoke pack I wanted to ensure it was going to be a good fit. Custom packs cannot be returned and it is therefore necessary to be very careful when ordering. My drive north was a leisurely two-day affair, and the Youth Hostel in Keswick made for both an ideal cheaper overnight halt, and put me close to the Atom Packs workshop for my scheduled visit.

Atom Packs have a very good website that shows and explains pack options well, including guidance on how addition or removal of custom mods will affect both cost and pack weight. They have made their name by producing not only very carefully designed packs, but also offering a wealth of options. This is something a larger manufacturer will struggle to do and offers an opportunity to not only tweak pack size and features to an individual’s preference, but also specify materials, fabric colours, fastenings, pockets, straps and cords.

They have a fairly small portfolio comprising their Naru, Atom, Atom+, Notch and Mo packs*. The Atom, Atom+ and Mo can be customised. I had already settled on the Mo, partly because I wanted load lifters and the Atom doesn’t have them, but also because of the greater load carrying capacity that can occasionally be required with heavier water and food carries. The Mo is designed to comfortably carry loads of up to 19kg, which is over 10kg more than I require most of the time but put in an extra five days of food and three or four litres of water and the carried weight increases alarmingly.

I had done a great deal of preliminary work online determining the features I wanted. My onsite visit gave opportunity to be expertly measured up for torso length and hip belt and ask questions about the feature options. I also took in my Mariposa pack, already packed for my Skye Trail hike beginning the following day, to specifically load up a Mo, in different sizes, to see how it would feel on my back. The Mo is available in 40, 50 and 60 litre sizes. I had originally thought a 50lt pack would be sufficient, but I prefer at least three folds of a roll top pack closure and the 60lt size provided additional capacity to accept a larger food carry at times in the future. 95% of the difference between 50lt and 60lt size packs is in the extra length of the roll top. I can accept the resultant 21g increase in weight!

I won’t go in to every feature I added or declined, that can be seen in the screenshot of my order, below. But to mention just a few. There are some wild and mixed up packs being ordered by some users. A wide range of fabric colours are offered and you can have almost every panel, pocket and strap a different colour if you want. I have had to dump my pack amongst dozens of others outside establishments in the past, and a less generic colouration goes a long way to being able to easily locate it later. By popular demand, Atom were about to further increase colour options though a roll of flamingo pink material below one of the work benches was not one I was interested in. I kept my pack colour options quite muted. I frequently wildcamp, it is frequently illegal to do so and keeping my presence discreet is advisable so a more brightly coloured pack would perhaps be inadvisable. Brick Red might seem an odd choice for a discreetly coloured pack however it is often almost invisible to the eye at a distance. Alongside this, I have Wolf Grey side panels and black Robic side pockets.

I chose a dyneema stretch front pocket instead of bullet net as I don’t require the additional five litre capacity the latter provides and prefer contents here to be hidden from view. One feature that Atom Packs provide on their packs seems to get everyone raving yet I fail to understand why. This is the option of a stretchy pocket on the underside of the pack. People usually use this for putting snacks and rubbish in, possibly gloves, hat and neck gaiter as the day warms up. I am less sure on this and worry that items of gear or rubbish could fall from the pack unnoticed. However I went with it and have included one and am prepared to be convinced. I excluded a hydration port as I don’t use an internal bladder in my pack, but added stretchy pockets to each shoulder strap for either two half litre bottles, or one bottle and my phone.

I would have liked a taller, or longer, side pocket on one side. Similar to that provided on the Gossamer Gear Mariposa. But they cannot provide this. A shame, as I appreciate the extra length when packing my shelter in here.

It was helpful to actually see fabric swatches, tabs and cords as these can sometimes not be accurately represented on screen. This gave an opportunity to see how they might work together. I included a front elastic on my pack but this will be removed on delivery. All I wanted was the addition of the tabs that this cord passes through. These provide additional fastening options and may be used for positioning of a solar panel on some sunnier trails though I tend to carry one of these on top of a pack.

Having been measured up, tried different packs and hip belts of various sizes and made my selection. I checked through colour options and made notes on what to order. Afterward Dexter showed me round the two floors of the workshop where I could see various parts being cut, sewn and constructed. I chatted with those who could spare a few minutes from their labours. It was a fascinating visit and gave real insight into how my pack will be made and by whom. Twelve people work for Atom Packs and as many as eight of them will work on the various parts of my pack.

Those wanting a bespoke fitting for a pack have to prebook their visit to Atom Packs. This ensures that someone is available to assist with this. There is a short online questionnaire to complete prior to arrival, this asks for a little detail on requirements and backpacking experience and ensures that the correct products can be advised on. I found everyone I met at Atom Packs extremely helpful, friendly and content to answer any questions I had. It seemed a very happy workforce, as evidenced by the length of time that some had worked there. You don’t have to visit to get advice as they are quick to reply to emails.

A custom Atom Pack is not a cheap option. I saved for this pack for quite some time and was prepared for the 12 week lead time that my bespoke product required. Atom Packs don’t permit ‘queue jumping’ on bespoke orders and make packs strictly to order dates. Lead times do vary through the year according to demand and are shown at the top of their webpage. Around fifty packs are made each week and at peak times there can be in excess of 200 people waiting for their bespoke order. Stock ‘off the shelf’ packs and accessories are also sometimes available which speeds up a purchase considerably if you are less fussy about what you want. These can often be shipped within three days, but can have a lead time of up to two weeks at times, and are far cheaper than custom products. By way of example, as I write this, there is a standard Mo available for £265 while my custom Mo cost me £410, plus £7.95 shipping.

It is an exciting time for Atom Packs. Their products continue to gather plaudits across the globe and are used on all the big trails. It will be interesting to see how they develop their product line to fit the ever increasing demand for their packs. In the meantime, I eagerly await the delivery of my order. I have great plans for it!

• August 2024 update: Other than the fact that my lovely new pack was delivered two weeks early (huzzah!), I note that Atom Packs have changed the name of a couple of their packs. The Mo is now called the Prospector (resurrecting the name of an older pack that Atom made that was itself a forerunner of the Mo). This was a name change forced on the company as a result of legal issues. The Atom+ was effectively an Atom pack with added lightweight frame and hipbelt. The two packs are very different creatures and the Atom+ deserves it’s own unique designation, so is now called the Pulse. And for those interested, my new pack weighed 1072g prior to my removing the unrequired front elastic, with that removed, it is now 1059g.