“I used the 27-liter version for everything: winter gym sessions, ice climbing in Chamonix, bouldering in Joe’s Valley, Utah, and sport climbing throughout the Front Range,” one tester said. “The suspension system is minimalist but a pleasure to wear all day.”
“Its charm and perfection come from what it lacks,” said a tester who took this 38-liter pack out for multi-pitch days in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, through the winter. “It’s refreshingly simple with no bottle openers, crampon patches, or ice tool loops. Just functional and sturdy.” Credit a design that’s catered specifically to rock climbing.
Many “summit packs” are little more than stuff sacks with shoulder straps, but the Bacon is as hearty as its namesake. Ultralight (23 oz.) but tough, the 28-liter Bacon has a lightly padded back and internal webbing “skeleton” that kept loads centered squarely on the back and made it comfortable to carry modest loads up to 15 lbs.
This is a pack that makes you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” The outside is cleanly designed: The top has a recessed area and buckle to nestle a rope with two side compression straps to keep it in place. Two grab handles (one on top and one in the middle on the outside) make it easy to throw around from car to crag.
The light weight (about two pounds), adjustability, versatility, and pocketfocused design of The North Face Casimir pack ($129; thenorthface.com) made it one of the best medium-sized bags we tested. We carried it on daily gym outings one week and to Chamonix, France, for some ice climbing the next week and found it fitting for both uses.
Finding a pack that is perfect for everything from trad cragging to backcountry pursuits can make you feel like a whiney Goldilocks. It should be comfortable and stable enough to haul a double rack, food, layers, and water five miles or more into the alpine, but light and trim enough to stay out of the way when leading a crux pitch 500 feet off the deck.
Perhaps the worst part about trad climbing is tripping over that $1,500 glorified weight belt slung over your shoulder. We tested the Hummingbird Hover gear sling/pack system ($59.95; hummingbirdmountaingear.com) on trad routes throughout Colorado and found it was a superb alternative to a traditional over-the-shoulder gear sling.
How much space do you really need in a pack? The 26-liter capacity of the Wild Things Guide Pack ($175, wildthingsgear.com) definitely raised my eyebrows. It’s minimalist for sure—no external pockets; the waistbelt is nothing but two-inch webbing; and there’s no framesheet, just a removable pad. But it proved to be just enough for all my multi-pitch days, especially as an “up and over” pack for climbs where we didn’t return to the base of the route.
The Edelrid Caddy's ($44.95; edelridna.com) shoulder strap orients the broad, low-profile bag sveltely under your arm for easy carrying. The generous tarp features innovative grab loops on each corner that allow you to transport the rope easily between nearby climbs without folding everything up completely—no more dropping one corner and having the climbing rope spill out into the dirt.
9 new packs tested and reviewed, from rope bags for sport climbing to alpine sacks for lightweight ascents.
Seven user-friendly crag bags for short approaches - Picture this: You’re in Rifle, Colorado, land of the car-belay, and you need to get your rope, draws, shoes, cell phone, post-send libations, and some sustenance all of 20 yards away. You left your big pack at home because, after all, it’s Rifle, and you don’t need backpacking-style suspension. Plus, going elbow-deep into a top-loading pack to find a brush or lost draw is beyond annoying.
How should you carry your gear for a long rock climb with a big approach? Do you choose the behemoth backpack that swallows everything, and then leave it at the base? Or do you go with a teeny leader pack for climbing, and be forced to hike in and out with your harness on and gear jangling around the outside of the thing? Fortunately, a third option exists: the stuffable pack. These designs have been around in various forms for a while, but in recent years, more pack manufacturers seem to have gotten serious about them.
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