I was hoping this pack would make carrying it every day a no brainer compared to my old BCA pack but nope.
Pros are:
Definitely the best airbag technology. Don’t have to worry about an airplane, multiple pulls is great, self test is reassuring, I buy the case for deflating in case of a burial, larger airbag to protect from trauma seems good, the between the leg strap is well designed and easy to use, helmet carry is well designed and useful, axe carry is also well done, the avy gear pouch is well designed and very easy to access. The diagonal carry seems pretty good although you need to take off your pack to use it.
Cons: It is a pretty terrible backpack, the shoulder strap adjustments are hard to use and it doesn’t have any strap on top of your shoulder for pulling the weight in, the hip belt is difficult to cinch and the webbing rolls every single day, while the multiple size attachments are cool they could have done better using straps to allow the pack to expand or contract depending on the day, the bag itself is not very organized, while you can move the zippers to any position for access practically speaking it functions like a top loader which reduces the efficiency of what you can put in there a lot. The result is that it packs smaller than it is. I pretty much always need to carry my 35L attachment unless it’s a really short and simple day. It also doesn’t really have any attachment points on the hip or straps for gear, radio, water bottle, snacks. The pull handle option on both sides is no necessary considering it sacrifices some option for radio/water bottle carry.
The bottom line is while it’s a great airbag, I’m still always debating whether I am actually going to need/want to bring it and the weight isn’t really the issue it more about just organization and efficiency.
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