Lowe Alpine is (or certainly was) a top brand. I borrowed one from a friend who worked in a climbing store in the UK to climb big walls in Yosemite in the late 1980s, it was an
excellent little pack. Tough and easy to access (one big clip) and climb with. Lots of clip in points (the Americans love to hang things outside their packs - very un-European
). I believe the company is/was owned & run by one of the Lowe brothers (Greg), from the famous US climbing family (which apparently doesn't include the late Alex Lowe, another top class US climber).
There is a new film coming out about
Jeff Lowe (a hero of mine) who spent 20 days going straight up the front & Middle of the North Face of the Eiger in the 70s/80s/90s(?) - think of it as "the North Face of the Eiger the hard(est) way", super-direct. Coincidentally they recently recovered his rucksack from the route - still intact (he was upset because there was a Mars bar and some candy left in it - presumably he felt he could have spent another day or so on that
). Hard as nails and a very cool dude - he's in a wheel-chair these days, not from a climbing accident but struck down by some hard to diagnose motor neuron - ish/nerve type of thing (the doctors keep changing the diagnosis). But he seems to be coping well with it -- he has always lived his life to the absolute fullest of his formidable abilities, so probably can few regrets in that regard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpa466sPp0
Jeff Lowe literally wrote the book on modern (or is that now pre-modern) ice-climbing in the 1990's, Ice World. The cover shows him climbing Octopussy (W8?), and mixed, roof, ice-climb - mind blowing. Although he uses and was sponsored by a fairly obscure French rucksack brand in that book, LaFuma. A lot of people selected gear (esp. boots, gaiters and axes) based on that book.
My favourite equipment is by another American company, BlackDiamond (formerly Chouinard* (sp?), of
Yvon Chouinard fame). They sell a few, good serious climbing-oriented rucksacks & other soft gear, but mainly hardware, which I think is well thought out and better value than most.
Your mileage may vary...
*Chouinard was sued, in a now famous/infamous case - which led to the name change and change of ownership. Later Black Diamond sued a film company that unfairly portrayed a failure of their gear.
