need suggestion on Winter daypack

[Mike M]

Looking for a Winter daypack. Something in the 35-40-ish liter range. Must have strap setup to accommodate skis or snowshoes and a place to store small shovel.

Need relatively robust fabric for off trail use. Has to have some semblance of a frame- will sometimes be in the 25+ lb range. Good shoulder straps/hip belt (with pockets or the ability to add pockets).

Weight is a secondary concern; I’m thinking this should be able to be accomplished in under two pounds.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[Jason McSpadden]

Mike,

I have no idea what I’m talking about here.  But, wouldn’t your SO Flight pack with an attached  base Talon acting like a shovel pocket work?

Again, I have no idea what I’m talking about because I don’t have an SO Flight pack to look at.

 

[Mike M]

yeah the Flight would work probably just as is, as it has so many possible strap arrangements, but it’s double the volume I really need

was hoping for something a little smaller/lighter, not seeing much out there :(

[Jason McSpadden]

You could fill the extra volume up with whatever might be Blackfoot River Brewing Company’s best seasonal!

[Mike M]

or Draught Works Scepter IPA :)

[Murali C]

On Gear Trade – there is a Cilo Gear work sack ski pack – 26L for 95 bucks….

[Mike M]

thanks, but 26 liters isn’t going to big enough, thinking minimum of 35 liters

[BlackHatGuy]

Have you looked at the SWD Long Haul 35? There are three different versions: A ‘rugged’ version, a DCF version, and a regular version. Highly customizable. Long wait time.

[bjc]

Granite Gear Crown2 38l? Side and front straps, hip belt pockets. 33 oz with top lid but without frame sheet although it still has a soft frame. 100d and 210d material. Currently on their website for $100!

[Philip Tschersich]

I’ve converted a few friends’ HMG packs (SW style is good) to winter use via a short daisy chain up high on the side (sewn) and a single daisy loop below the side bottle pockets (Aquasealed because it’s too hard to sew down there). This allows excellent  vertical ski carry with Voile straps. The existing attachment points work well for snowshoes with long Voile straps. I can provide pics at some point if you want to pursue this. A ‘tall’ pack would fit well enough. Don’t consider anything shorter.

Apparently David C can help if needed.

[Jacob]

This might be too small and too heavy, but maybe evergoods mpl30?

The shoulder straps and hipbelt on the current version look very similar to the setup on their MQD24 I snagged used; while they are minimalist, they have good ability to add pockets. The small daisy chain on the shoulder straps support gossamer gear bottle pockets excellently and the hipbelt is standard  1″ webbing.

An ex-patagonia engineer started Evergoods with a founder of goruck.

 

 

 

[Rick M]

Patagonia Descensionist 40L ? Feature set upgrade for 2020 for more durability and usability but added 400g over previous versions.

Black Diamond Cirque 45L  if weight is really more important. Only 1 hip pocket.

[Mike M]

thanks for all the suggestions; have a little reading it up to do

[jscott]

If you’re strapping skis especially, or showshoes…I would think a frameless pack wouldn’t be optimal.

the swd long haul looks really good! In the end, a day pack in winter that has to carry skis needs to be robust and solid, with good attachment points, in my limited experience. Not really a day pack at all.

Honestly, and I hate to say this here, an external frame allows for great attachment points and accommodates a shovel and all the rest very well.

[Mike M]

^ agreed; an external frame or a robust internal frame, frameless isn’t going to cut it- I’ve tried that w/ several different packs

[Edward John M]

I have just started to modify my own winter daypack again.

It’s a dinosaur canvas so not yet worn out but it is 42 litres and IME the optimum size.

I have replaced the old style Karrimor aluminium stays and Evazote pad with a piece of 2mm thick UHD polythene and thinner CCF. Now it seems to carry better and is marginally lighter and there is room for my folded T’Rest in the sleeve pocket too.

Check out packs made for fast&lite Alpine climbing too. I can’t give any actual personal recommendation as I’ve not bought a new ski or climbing pack in 30 years

 

[Dan]

After reading the OP’s last post, I guess this won’t work for him since he wants a frame, but I’ll just add my comment here anyway in case it could be useful for someone else.

I currently am happy with my Deuter Freerider daypack for backcountry skiing day trips (not hard-core mountaineering). Inexpensive, mass market pack. No frame, but it has a pretty robust hip belt and good straps and attachment points for skis, with various options. Works for me. It has some compartments for organizing gear, but I like the fact that it’s not overbuilt or overly complicated. The 26L version is adequate for my use, but the line includes larger volumes, and apparently the new series has a roll-top closure that expands the pack by 10L.

[S Long]

The Osprey Mutant 38 ticks a lot of boxes, and you have Osprey’s great lifetime warranty if something happens to it.

[Mike M]

^ that does look like it might work- has a frame sheet with a couple of aluminum stays that should help with 20-ish lb loads and reviewers say it handles A frame carry of skis pretty well

the 200d fabric with a 400d bottom should prove pretty durable too

[Jacob]

Osprey also markets their Kamber 42 (4#) and Soelden 32 (2.5#) specifically for ski mountaineering.

The Mutant, Soelden, and Kamber lines all seem to be using different strategies of reinforcing a HDPE framesheet. It would be interesting to hear the reasoning behind these different choices from the designers’ perspective; its hard to tell how they differ from the website.

[Mike M]

the Soelden looks interesting, but with only torso length, likely wouldn’t work for me- have a 20″-ish torso

[Jon Solomon]

Here’s a link to a new crowdfunded pack from a small maker in France that ticks some boxes for you and has some interesting features, notably a swiveling hip belt.

[talagnu]

ks alpisack

[Mike M]

^ what does the ks use for a suspension /frame?  might have missed it on their website

[talagnu]

see the ks packs page for details under “removable frame set”

basically removable aluminum external stays + whatever padding you choose

ks is making some of the best ul packs right now. quality is top notch and there are so many customizations possible

[Author]

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