Mountain Hardwear recently identified a potential flaw in the manufacturing process that could affect the yoke and waist belt on the new Exodus series of packs. In a number of packs the company noticed that the “loop” fabric that is laminated to the foam pad could potentially lift or pull away from the foam pad while the velcro overlay is being readjusted. It is important to note that the fabric is still edge-bound and the product will continue to function in the field. In a letter to retailers, the company stated, “this is not reflective of Mountain Hardwear quality standards and we are now moving forward with a plan to replace 100% of the product that has already been shipped out to retailers and in our warehouse.”

The recall is limited to the harness and hip pad rather than the entire pack. Mountain Hardwear is sending replacements to the dealers for those parts which can be replaced on location rather than recalling the entire pack.

Mountain Hardwear has done a 100% quality check of the packs in our warehouse and determined that 50% of those need new harnesses and or belts. But the remaining 50% have passed our quality test and have been returned to stock and are available for ASAP shipping.

The final timeline is still coming together, but MTH’s primary objective is to replace all pads in the possession of their retailers as soon as possible. The factory has already placed orders for all raw materials needed and will begin manufacturing replacement pads this week. It is their goal for the factory to produce enough pads to account for all the pads in the field by the end of March. Retailers should then be able to receive the new pads by mid-April.

Paige Boucher, spokesperson for Mountain Hardwear said, “We have talked with a number of retailers regarding the replacement process and all agreed that they would either inspect packs themselves to determine condition of pads or simply pull product from floor and replace with new pads as soon as we could deliver. They all wanted to avoid having to send product back and forth.”