I am aiming to publish some occasional reviews of some of my
favourite items of kit, hopefully around one per month depending on commitments. By their very nature they will probably be
positive (clue in the word ‘favourite’) although I may also comment on items
that I bought that just haven’t worked out as they should.
All reviews are personal opinions and don’t mean that other
items out there don’t work just as well.
I am not paid to endorse anything and don’t get any equipment provided
to review, so I don’t have the luxury of trying lots of different options. However, what you do get is personal
experience, built up over time, of a particular item so you can use it or not,
as you wish J
I have already done an initial review of the Garmin fenix
GPS watch and am building up my experiences of it and a ‘snagging list’ which I
will use to provide an update in the near future.
Next in the series is
my trusty sack, a Lowe Alpine ‘Alpine Attack 35:45’.
Note, mine is the 2010 version, I believe the 212 is
basically the same.
I can sum up this pack and why I like it in a few short
sentences:
It a great size – I can make this
work as daypack for a walk in the hills, a full winter day of technical
climbing or an overnight mountaineering expedition.
It just feels right on my back. It is very comfortable even when heavily
packed and its own weight at around 1KG is not onerous.
It seems to take whatever I throw
at it without complaining and without , as yet, failing in any way.
I have other packs, but this is
my ‘go to’ pack even when it is probably a bit overkill. The only time that I
don’t use it is when I need to carry more than its literage can cope with,
which is generally only on multi-day self sufficient expeditions - in which
case, I use my other trusted friend, a BOD Thin Ice.
The next paragraphs are a slightly more in-depth look at the
pack and its features:
- Great size: The 35/45 combo just seems to work really well. I know this is not a feature unique to this pack but to does seem to be generous on size compared to other packs of the same nominal literage.
- Decent balance between lightweight and robust: just over 1KG standard, can come in at around 850g with bits removed - but is very robust thanks to the use of dyneema ripstop and a reinforced base and pockets. Mine is still going strong with only a minor stitching issue on the upper draw-cord in 2 years of very regular use.
- Good shape: nice and neat on my back without restricting arm movement and not to high over my head.
- Compression straps are well placed and work well for both stabilising the sack and holding items such as poles, axes and skis in place.
- Two outer pockets are made of particularly rugged material so hold my axes or poles without ripping or puncturing and can be used for sliding the lapstrap into and out of the way when climbing, a feature I use regularly.
- The lid straps and shape mean its works well in a variety of ways – its extends well when the rucksack is stuffed full and will accommodate my rope sitting on top of a very full pack but it will also fold into my sack and be held properly by the drawcord when the pack is half full (e.g. when climbing) to reduce profile. It can also be removed completely quite easily though I almost never bother because of the previous mentioned capability and because I like to use the lid pockets which are also a decent size and incorporate a clip within the outer pocket.
- The strap on the top of the pack (under the lid) works well for keeping my rope or crampons safe on the top whilst letting me get into the pack without loosening it.
- The single lid closure buckle and the mechanism are great for speed and efficiency with gloves on.
- The lapstrap seems a good balance between comfort and weight and the clips are still doing fine which has not been the case with my two previous packs at this stage of their life.
- The back is lightly padded and vented and I tend to use it with the light stiffening frame and sheet/bivi mat left in place, though it can be removed to save weight. Both ways seem pretty comfortable but the extra stiffness just makes it easier to pack, unpack and generally grovel around within it. However, without it, as well as being lighter, the pack will roll up and stuff inside someone else’s if you plan on climbing with only one sack. One minor point, I think the term bivi mat is a bit of joke here for a bit of 5mm foam measuring 52 x 22 cm, but maybe I’m not hard enough ? It is also not that easy to get at or replace once out on the hill so I could never imagine using it as a ‘bivi mat’.
- The slightly funky axe retention system seems to be a bit of a marmite thing – like it or hate it. I actually really like it within certain parameters:
it’s great for a long walk in
when you know you won’t need your axes for quite a long time. It holds the axes firmly, snugly and safely
against the pack and is IMO much better than the traditional loops.
It works well with my BD viper
axes , which is what the system is advertised with, but not so well on older /
more traditional shaped axes.
You can store skis very securely
as sell using the webbing system. I’ve
only done a bit of ski touring with it so far but what I did was fine and much
better than the standard compression strap option of my old sack.
It takes a bit of getting used to
when you are opening and closing your pack as the tensioning system is part of
the pack closure strap – open the pack and the axes go floppy on the pack. In reality I didn’t find this an issue once I
was aware of it.
‘You Tube’ clip of the system in
operation, including skis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4zoaJDrI-I
That said, I would always chose to stow my axes with the
compression straps and/or behind my shoulder once onto ground where I might
want to use them, so this system is not a clincher for me either way.
There are a number of more professional reviews of this
sack, and informal forum chat, some of which you can find below:
- Big brother, The 45:55 version on UKC: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=4211
- Outdoors Magic (2012 version) http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-news/just-in---lowe-alpine-alpine-attack-3445/9616.html
- http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=457195
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