Canopy AL Design Notes

Some time in October last year, Coleman and Harrison met up in Seattle to hang out and to work on the sixth chapter of We Got This – a video series that stories a friendship that has spanned 13 years. Out of one of the many conversations between Coleman and Harrison came the seed idea of a collaboration between Atmos Projects and Caribou Lodge – a prospect that was incredibly thrilling, as Caribou Lodge has been a company we’ve long admired.

Weeks in, as the collaboration between both sides started being officially on the cards, I was introduced to Harrison over a Zoom call. First meetings discussing an ambitious project can sometimes be chaotic – in the best of ways. You’re trying to reach for the highest possible ceiling while simultaneously establishing a realistic floor you can execute on. One of the first questions we were trying to address was what project concept would make any sense for both brands. We could sketch up any model we wanted, even do a reinterpretation of our most popular models to date, possibly for maximum effect – but it felt like the most crucial thing to everyone on that call was making something that would resonate equally in both universes; something that would feel at home for both brands.

Another question that surfaced, perhaps non-verbally, was – how do you make something exceptional? Moreso, a physical product that accounts for nuances of feel and motion – when you’re halfway across the world? It turned out that half of the answer is a hundred late night Zoom calls and Telegram messages across time zones; the other half is developing a shared vocabulary for common references and description.

Harrison took lead in representing Caribou Lodge in our discussions, and we found out pretty early on that the three of us shared a love for the outdoors, and an accompanying appreciation for well-designed, thoughtful gear that keeps us safe and comfortable on those adventures. They don’t necessarily optimize for maximal performance, as a serious alpinist might look to do, but they sat in a category of incredibly functional, and utilitarian kit that seemed to fit every occasion with ease. Something you just wanted on every trip, something that felt like a good friend you brought along on adventure, something that just felt good.

Earlier, Coleman had commented that Harrison might enjoy the play of our latest titanium release, the Polaris – and so I sent one to him as a gift, and for feedback. Consequently, many of our design conversations surrounded features of the Polaris, as well as the Otter, Harrison’s signature model. The conversations naturally progressed to the possibility of merging certain features of the Polaris with the Otter, with major, intentional adjustments to the way it felt in hand and in play. Having both the Otter and Polaris in hand as common references, we were able to triangulate and zone in on a feel we were looking for. For one, Harrison mentioned the Polaris was a touch heavy for his taste – we settled on designing for something that would feel a lot more even.

We agreed on 54.9mm diameter and 46.0mm width as base parameters, and mass was to sit roughly in the high-64g range – and started sketching up the blueprint of our very first design, the Canopy AL. We embarked on a crazy design stretch – a period that featured working on CAD blueprints while transiting between flights in Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, hammering out refinements on weight distribution, hoping to get as close to perfect as we could on our initial prototype.

One thing I’ve always admired about Caribou Lodge is the attention to detail. It’s rare for companies to be so comprehensive and integrated in their design language that you can immediately tell a design belongs to them. Wanting to honor the Caribou Lodge heritage in this shared project, part of the design process included a serious study of a handful of Caribou Lodge’s designs and CAD blueprints, and getting a good, concrete sense of design decisions and how they bore out in the way they played. One of the most iconic details of Harrison’s Orca and Otter models was the short, fat half-spike, surrounded by a raised moat that transitioned to a clean cup – a feature that has since become recognizable. Another aspect of Caribou Lodge throws is a signature fullness of feeling on the throw. One wouldn’t describe it as dense, but extremely whole – this playfeel would be something that featured prominently further along the journey. More on this later.

We integrated the iconic hub design of the Otter with the minimalist silhouette and rim structure featured in the Polaris, but scaled it to an appropriate thickness for 6061 aluminum. The profile features subtle step-lines that lead to a fat, angular-overhung rim that contains a deceptive amount of mass – a recipe that’s worked beautifully in the Polaris, as well as the Ekta.

CAD files were promptly shipped off to our machinist, and a batch of prototypes (the same ones that have been floating around, most recently at US Nationals) were completed after some wait.

They were ready for testing all across the West Coast Road Trip that Coleman and Harrison were about to embark on – the prototypes would get to them just on time, but not without some drama. Other prototype units were sent out to the Caribou Lodge and Atmos players internationally, and so we sat back, ready for testing and feedback that would come our way the next few days – and feedback did start pouring in.

We were learning a ton about the Canopy AL together in real time. Feedback clustered around the consensus that the first prototype was enormous fun. The key attributes that most players loved about the prototype were its agility, stability and a floaty touch. Steve wrote in saying he found the prototype delightful and a joy to play; zippy, but not uncontrollably so, and felt lovely in the hand.

While we were in the right ballpark, a single point of improvement emerged amidst the other positive responses – it needed a touch more midweight. It was something that revealed itself only after a fair bit of play – when a player got past a point of saturation.

Days of additional testing confirmed this – players that Coleman and Harrison met on their road trip confirmed that while the first prototype played a treat, there was a desire for an additional smidge of weight – requests ranged from 0.5g-1g. We went back to the CAD and made some tweaks to the design – we threw in some quality of life refinements, but the most crucial change was a redistribution of a touch of mass towards the midzone, placing the revised version at an even 65.3g.

The changes made are visually imperceptible, but the differences in play are very pronounced. The revised version felt more consolidated, and had more presence – in the words of Harrison and Coleman, more “complete”. It felt a touch heavier on the throw at first compared to the first prototype, but after it got up to speed, it moved with the same fluidity, and hummed along with an easy confidence. Apportioning more mass to the midzone eliminated any of the “thinness” that could be felt after some play, and the new playfeel felt just right.

The Canopy AL was never meant to be a “min-max” design by philosophy; it never attempted to optimize in that direction. It ended up feeling capable of competitive performance, but still possessing an organic, homely essence to it. Going back to our early conversations about outdoor gear that just felt right, the Canopy sat in that zone of something you always wanted on hand, something that just felt good – like a good, well-worn Gore-Tex jacket, reliable and useful in every situation.

This is subjective, of course – but I personally felt our second version came a lot closer to the recognisable feel of Caribou Lodge models, which have this slightly old-school solidness and fluidity about them.

The wonderful thing about collaborating with others – what more with amazing, talented, and good people, such as the folk from Caribou Lodge – is the perspective you’d otherwise never have. The journey so far in developing the Canopy AL (and many, many other things we have in store) is such a departure from regular programming – but we’re so proud of how the Canopy AL has turned out, and we’re incredibly excited to share this with you.

The Canopy AL was designed for you. The Canopy ethos, “Everyone’s Covered”, was cleverly articulated by Coleman, and speaks to the connection and everybody-ness of our small, but wonderful, inspiring, and diverse community – we’ve experienced that in some small way working on Canopy Collection. The Canopy AL blends performance and fun, and is a reminder to get up, play, create, and to just go with the flow.

We hope you enjoy this one.