Asher I. "Dick" Kelty, whose innovative aluminum external-framed backpacks with waist straps revolutionized backpacking in the 1950s, died Jan. 12 at his home in Glendale. He was 84 and suffered congestive heart failure.
A onetime cottage industry launched in Kelty's two-bedroom home in 1952, Kelty Packs Inc. earned a reputation as the Cadillac of backpacks. From heavy and cumbersome wood frames and canvas bags, the company went to a lightweight, contoured aluminum frame and a nylon bag.
Mr. Kelty's new design also padded the shoulder straps and added upright partitions inside the bag. And his "hold-open frame," which was threaded through the top of the bag, allowed easy access.
But most significant, Mr. Kelty added the waist strap, which took the weight of the pack off the shoulders and redistributed it to the hips.
"I call Dick the Henry Ford of backpacking," Nick Clinch, an explorer for National Geographic magazine, told Mr. Kelty's wife, Nena, in "Backpacking the Kelty Way," the book she co-wrote. Born in Duluth, Minn., Mr. Kelty moved with his family to Glendale in 1922. He made his first visit to the Sierra Nevada at age 6 on a family camping trip. In 1972, Kelty Pack was sold to Boston-based CML Group. Dick Kelty remained the Kelty chairman until retiring a few years later. Kelty Inc. is now owned by American Recreation Products.
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I love my Kelty pack and have a number of their other products. My hat is off to this creative and industrious individual for his contributions to our recreation.
A onetime cottage industry launched in Kelty's two-bedroom home in 1952, Kelty Packs Inc. earned a reputation as the Cadillac of backpacks. From heavy and cumbersome wood frames and canvas bags, the company went to a lightweight, contoured aluminum frame and a nylon bag.
Mr. Kelty's new design also padded the shoulder straps and added upright partitions inside the bag. And his "hold-open frame," which was threaded through the top of the bag, allowed easy access.
But most significant, Mr. Kelty added the waist strap, which took the weight of the pack off the shoulders and redistributed it to the hips.
"I call Dick the Henry Ford of backpacking," Nick Clinch, an explorer for National Geographic magazine, told Mr. Kelty's wife, Nena, in "Backpacking the Kelty Way," the book she co-wrote. Born in Duluth, Minn., Mr. Kelty moved with his family to Glendale in 1922. He made his first visit to the Sierra Nevada at age 6 on a family camping trip. In 1972, Kelty Pack was sold to Boston-based CML Group. Dick Kelty remained the Kelty chairman until retiring a few years later. Kelty Inc. is now owned by American Recreation Products.
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I love my Kelty pack and have a number of their other products. My hat is off to this creative and industrious individual for his contributions to our recreation.
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