In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:
> The Montane is a very flawed product too... no back system, just fabric. Would be a pain (literally) to pack quickly.
Not for people who actually want the lightest possible at a sacrifice of discomfort.
As Dr.S mentioned, most packs like this are too much of a niche for general population. Your regular hillgoer isn't obsessed about lack of features, which is essentially what companies are marketing.
How many hill runners, fastpackers or other weirdos do you typically see? Much less than people wearing jeans on hills for sure!
You are then left with few American brands that have more established ultralight culture that doesn't necessarily work for UK use, but there's not much demand from customers nor supply from manufacturers. Such a shame.