UKH

Hi all,

So I had my first alpine trip in Switzerland and it went rally well, however I need some advice.

I recently bought the Black Diamond Speed 40. I like the bag for the most part, (apart from the lack of a side zip). However I ran into a few "issues"

On the way to the mountain hut it was stuffed to the max with gear (crampons harness etc) and food even using its extendable hood in some cases.

However then, after leaving the mountain hut and wearing most the gear to ascend the mountain, the pack then becomes too large and "floppy" as it will not have a lot of things in it and its a bit annoying/ in the way.

On my third mountain I removed the lid which helped a bit but then I have no easy to access pockets, and the internal one is too low down so there's other gear in the way.

One thing I could definitely improve is to remove some unnecessary kit I didn't need to take. up. 

So the way I see it my options are to either get a 30-35l pack and take less gear up (mind you this was the summer so I didn't need that much in the first place. A 30-45l wouldn't do for a winter trip?)

Or take a 25l in the 40l and use the 25l for the ascends.

Some wisdom would be greatly appreciated. 

One option is getting a smaller bag and strapping crampons/rope/helmet etc to the outside. I managed this with a 30L BD pack that had a removable hip belt - used the hip belt on for load carrying and replaced it for routes with a DIY 20mm webbing strap belt to stop it swinging around.

You've already got the 40L now though, so maybe a small and packable bag for ascents would be a better plan. You can get some really light ones that would probably be fine if you're not dragging them up chimneys etc. An Alpkit Gourdon might fit the bill (and could double up as extra storage when you're load carrying, if it will strap to the 40L somehow).

How about pulling all the compression straps tight to take up the extra room? I've always just had one 45 litre bag for alpine stuff. I can see how having a smaller one would be nice for short day hits, but never really thought it would be worth the money.

I think you're right to ditch the lid. Simple is good when it comes to rucsacks in my opinion. I tend to find extra pockets get in the way, or break at the zips and then become useless anyway.

...ah, the Gourdon is a bit light on pockets though. I use a BD Magnum 16 for ascents sometimes, it's a reasonable balance between features, durability and weight, but that might be a bit on the small side.

As a secondary "summit bag", maybe have a look at the Simond Cliff II? Seen loads of guides in the Alps use them and it packs down really small. 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/cliff-ii-climbing-backpack-orange-id_8302354.ht...
 

eIn reply to glenn0010:

I have the older BD speed 30 and it’s perfect in size. To fill a 40L you must be carrying a lot of kit.

This pack looks quite good + it is also very cheap. I wonder though is 20l enough? Say you have crampons in the pack another jacket and waterproof pants and food+ water?

Besed on your replys, I was thinking something like a Mountain Hardware Scrambler 25 or Mammut Trion light 28 stuffed inside the big pack would do,

Thoughts?

Tuck the lid inside the bag when it's half empty, do up all straps tightly. That was my approach for climbing with my Deuter Guide sack or my Blue Ice Warthog.

A Blue Ice Dragonfly is an excellent small daysack, particularly if you add a bit of shock cord to hold crampons/ a jacket on the outside of the bag and it has an ice axe loop too. It is essentially a tube with 2 straps and a pocket on the front, carries well and weighs nowt.

I guess you're talkin' about the old model (which I also have) as BlueIce revamped their range pretty much completely this spring (?).

The new DragonFly seems much more a backpack than the older model, at least from the pics.

That being said, the Simond Cliff would certainly be a good option as well...