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| On our way to an overnight Bivvy in the Swiss Alps |
Star Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Recommended Retail Price: £140 from BD
Finally, a
multi-day pack that ticks all the boxes we were looking for!
The Black
Diamond Speed 50 is a light multi-day alpine pack. It features minimalist
construction, an internal frame, and excellent carrying ability for only 1250g.
It has the features that have become standard in most alpine packs today,
notably:
- Ice axe attachment system
- Hip belt with gear loops (removable)
- Padded pack panel with internal frame (removable)
- Chest strap (removable)
- A rope loop
- Main opening drawcord, plus baffle, also with draw-cord.
- Hood (removable) attached with two straps on each side, plus outside and inside zipped pockets.
- Zipped pocket on the inside interior of the pack
- Camel-pack compatible (pocket and passages)
- Two compression/ski straps on each side
We
particularly appreciate the shoulder, back-panel and hip belt construction. It
is particularly sturdy and carries exceptionally well for such a light pack. The fabric is 420d in the bottom of the pack, this part of the pack is also padded,
210d fabric is used for the rest of the pack. Most of the features are
removable or customizable, it has exactly what we need in the alpine, without
any extra. We particularly liked the draw-cord system.
We used the
Black Diamond Speed 50l for multi-day ski-touring-camping outings this winter and found 50l to be an ideal size for such expeditions. The durability of the
fabric might be an issue over time, although construction seemed very sturdy.
Having used a Black Diamond Speed 30, which proved particularly sturdy over 5
years of abuse, we would however expect the same of this model.
Overall, we
particularly appreciated the modularity of this pack, and the way it carries.
This is a solid multi-day alpine pack, exactly what we were looking for at 50l.
Things we like: Customizable, light, carries very well.
Things we don't like: Material on the inside of the hood is a bit noisy when cold.
Couldn’t find anything else.