How to prevent snow buildup in backpack side pockets?

I’m sorry, I can’t really give advice on this.  I just wanted to point out that you have a FAR more interesting life than me if you have a problem like snow in your pack pockets.  Count your blessings.  :)

This made me smile. Thanks anyway, Dean. Hope you get to hit the trail soon!

I share the sentiment, this is a good problem to have. ;-))

Are your pack side pockets empty?  In the Sierra Nevada on days when the weather is above 20 F I usually carry water in two old Nalgenes inverted in my side pockets. Sometimes when I am not carrying water, I have campstove fuel, avalanche wand, tent poles, toilet paper, and other gear in the side pockets of my circa 2005 Osprey pack. (On colder days, the water bottles go inside the pack.)

Even when there is a lot of light fluffy snow falling from the sky, I have never had snow getting into the pockets.  But I am not walking through trees and knocking off snow directly on to the pack.

The side pockets on the MYOG pack are tailored to fit the Nalgene bottles snugley.  Also, there is no bottom on the pockets,  Instead, lace loops are sewn around the the bottom edges of the pocket, and then another piece of lace is threaded through the loops and sewn tight to support the bottles.  So no snow or anything else gets in.  But the pockets only fit the water bottles, and even those need a little shock cord sewn across the top to secure the bottles at their necks.

I think the next pack pockets could have a vertical rectangle-shaped patch sewn behind the pockets so there is slot to slid long objects into.  But don’t really need that, because the two horizontal webbing  straps that cinch tight around the loaded pack at around 1/3 ways up and 2/3 ways up attache to buckles that are sewn to the pack corners that are closest to my back.   So ski poles or whatever can be slip under the straps before they are cinched tight.

Here is an old photo – not so good, but should show the above:

The next pack will have the pockets lower to make the pack less top heavy.

Bruce, my side pockets are relatively full. I usually carry water bottles, GPS, ziplocks of snacks, and cook kit. One of the things I may try next time is really tighten the side pockets down if I’m going to do a bushwhack. I usually keep them loose because I don’t want to fight them to get a water bottle out with my pack on.

Sam, really good idea about having laced side pocket bottoms. Since I almost never put small items in my side pockets, that idea in theory would work perfectly. Hesitant to slice up my Catalyst though!

For now, I think I have to resort to getting snow bombed pockets and just flip my pack upside down at stops or at camp to dump everything out. Made possible by a light pack weight. ;)

The struggle is real.

Mesh is an obvious solution but comes with durability issues.  A few years ago I made a pack with large, zippered side pockets for ultimate security.  They worked great when the pack was full, but smooth zipper operation went to heck quickly when it wasn’t.  The zippers also froze shut a few times during wet blizzards, which was less than ideal.

Best compromise I’ve come up with is having drawcords that you can cinch aggressively.  If you keep pocket contents somewhat low profile this keeps the vast majority of snow out.

John,

Have you tried adhesive backed or sown on Velcro?

Cheers,
<p style=”text-align: right;”>Russ</p>

@ John

Hard to tell from the photo, but perhaps your pockets are shallower  (less deep) than mine and, when stuffed full, are exposing more open surface area to the elements. It looks like maybe 2 to 3 inches on the Nalgene is exposed above the top seam of the side pocket.