ULA Equipment Backpacks
ULA Equipment has 10 backpacks on PackRanker, priced from $200 to $399.99. Compare the full lineup below.
A Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike on which Brian Frankle cut his base weight from 25 lbs to 12 lbs led, two years later in 2001, to Ultralight Adventure Equipment, started in his Logan, Utah garage. Chris and Sally McMaster bought the company in 2009 and ran it until Peter Longobardi took over in 2020. Every pack is still designed, cut and sewn in Logan, now in a 9,000 sq ft shop, and sold direct with a lead time ULA quotes at one to two weeks plus shipping.
The lineup splits by frame. The frameless packs are the 40 L UltraGrid Nexus and the 50 L CDT, both rated to 25 lbs, and the CDT at $200 is the cheapest way into the brand. Among the framed packs, the UltraGrid Ohm is the light one at 55 L and 30 lbs. The Circuit SV at 48 L and the Circuit at 68 L share a carbon-fiber and Delrin hoop, dense foam and one aluminum stay, rated to 35 lbs, and the Catalyst at 75 L adds a second stay for a 40 lb rating. Circuit, Circuit SV and Catalyst each come in an Ultra version, built in waterproof Ultra 400X and 200X instead of Robic nylon, for about $80 more. The Camino is the outlier, a 54 L panel-loader designed as a carry-on first.
The load ratings on the Circuit, Ultra Circuit and Catalyst are honest rather than conservative: testers confirm the Ultra Circuit stays composed near 35 lbs, and the Catalyst's twin stays keep it composed with eight liters of desert water aboard. Bear-canister trips are the line's home ground: the 68 L Circuit takes a BV500 plus a week of food, and the Catalyst carries one horizontally with about ten days around it, the use case owners buy it for. The CDT has a firmer limit: once the back pad compresses past 25 lbs the weight lands on the shoulders.
Order carefully, because nothing adjusts later. Torso length comes in four fixed sizes from 15-18 in to 24 in and up, with no adjustment afterward, and the hipbelt is sized separately from the pack. The Circuit also offers J-shaped straps for square shoulders and S-shaped straps for sloping ones. Measure from the C7 vertebra to the iliac crest, and email ULA when you fall between sizes.
Sources: ula-equipment.com, ula-equipment.com, ula-equipment.com, ula-equipment.com, ula-equipment.com, ula-equipment.com
ULA Equipment
ULA Circuit
The Circuit is the thru-hiking pack — hand-made in Logan, Utah by ULA Equipment and a perennial #1 in Halfway Anywhere's PCT gear survey. Its 68 liters of total volume, bombproof Robic fabric, and 35 lb carry make it the default recommendation for first thru-hikes. An Ultra-fabric version is sold at a premium.
Weight
2.41 lbs
Capacity
68 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Catalyst
The Catalyst is the Circuit's bigger sibling — 75 liters of total volume and a 40 lb rating for long food carries, winter kit, or bear-canister-plus-packraft loads. It's the UL pack for people whose trips outgrow the Circuit.
Weight
2.78 lbs
Capacity
75 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment Ultra Circuit
The Ultra Circuit is the Ultra-fabric version of ULA's best-known pack. It keeps the Circuit's carbon hoop and aluminium stay combination but rebuilds it in Ultra 400X and 200X, making it waterproof and considerably more tear-resistant than the standard Robic version.
Weight
2.30 lbs
Capacity
68 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment CDT
The CDT is the largest of ULA's frameless packs and the cheapest way into the brand. UltraGrid is a doubled 200D recycled grid fabric that resists tears well beyond its weight, and ULA states a clear 25 lb ceiling rather than leaving it to inference.
Weight
1.69 lbs
Capacity
50 L
Frame
Frameless
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment Camino
Built as a carry-on travel bag first and a trail pack second, the Camino is ULA's panel-loading pack: 54 L, 47.2 oz, all 400D Robic, on a twin-stay framesheet rated to 40 lb. ULA says it carries a bear canister horizontally.
Weight
3.0 lbs
Capacity
54 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment Circuit SV
ULA's new smaller-volume Circuit is the Circuit SV: 48 L instead of 68, on the same hoop, foam and stay suspension, at the same $299.99. It weighs 37.5 oz and keeps the 35 lb rating, so the cut is in volume rather than carrying ability.
Weight
2.3 lbs
Capacity
48 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment Ultra Catalyst
ULTRA fabric replaces Robic on the Ultra Catalyst, ULA's 75 L hauler: same twin-stay framesheet and 40 lb rating as the Robic Catalyst, at 40.1 oz and $399.99. ULA states it will carry a bear canister horizontally.
Weight
2.5 lbs
Capacity
75 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment Ultra Circuit SV
ULTRA 400X and 200X fabric goes into the Ultra Circuit SV, ULA's new 48 L Circuit. It is 1.7 oz lighter than the Robic SV at 35.8 oz, keeps the 35 lb rating, and costs $80 more.
Weight
2.2 lbs
Capacity
48 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment UltraGrid Nexus
Between the 35 L Photon and the 50 L CDT sits the 2026 Nexus, ULA's 40 L frameless pack. It weighs 18 oz stripped and 21.5 oz complete, carries a 25 lb comfort rating, and has hipbelt pockets ULA says fit modern phones.
Weight
1.3 lbs
Capacity
40 L
Frame
Frameless
ULA Equipment
ULA Equipment UltraGrid Ohm
Now built in UltraGrid throughout, the Ohm is ULA's lighter framed pack: 55 L, 30.4 oz, rated to 30 lb. A 3/4 roll-top with a sewn-in Y-strap closes it, and the side pockets are bellowed UltraGrid.
Weight
1.9 lbs
Capacity
55 L
Frame
Internal Frame
ULA Equipment backpacks: common questions
When does the Catalyst make more sense than the Circuit?▾
On long food carries, winter kit or canister-plus-packraft trips. The Catalyst adds 7 liters, a second stay and 5 lbs of load rating over the Circuit, and buyers who do not need that volume tend to wish they had bought the Circuit.
Is the Ultra version of a ULA pack worth the extra cost?▾
The Ultra packs keep the same frame and load rating but swap Robic nylon for Ultra 400X and 200X, which is waterproof and more tear-resistant. Wet routes, brush and off-trail travel favor the Ultra, while the Robic Circuit does the job in dry climates.









