| Reviews: 12 |
| West Yorkshire |
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  3 of 5, "Still Searching..........." 09/02/2007 @ 14:45:16 |
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| Price Paid |
| 60 English |
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| Bought From |
| Snow & Rock |
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| Times Used |
| 2-5 Times |
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| Review Detail |
Not sure how much I can write about a bag but here goes. It's a good sized bag to take out with you for the day. It's big enough to fit my helmet in en route to the slopes but not too big so that it looks daft. Main reason I bought this is because a) my helmet would not fit in my Dakine pack, b) I wanted a hydration compatible pack as I love a good old swig of ice cold Evian on the slopes and finally c) I wanted somewhere safe to keep my ipod whilst I was riding.
The 1st two points have been ticked off thoough I'm a little dissapointed with what Burton's term 'Hydration Compatible' actually means. I've got a 'Taylor Made' golf bag with also has a water bladder built in. The bladder has it's own special zipped compartment and tunnel for getting the straw out to the shoulder strap. The AK bag simply has little pouch inside the main compartment and a hole that goes from the inside to the outside so you can thread the straw through to the shoulder strap. I'm no bag designer but I reckon any burton bag could probably be 'Hydration Compatible' as the straw could simply go out through the zips! Anyway, the little loops on the shoulder strap do mean that the straw is nicely placed near your face should you want to take a sip. I've got a Camel Pak bladder and not the Burton one as could not find a high street shop that sold them.
Now then, on to the 'Fleece Lined Mp3 Storage Compartment With Headphone Jack'. I've had this bag for 3 weeks now and have not managed to uncover this pocket yet. The only fleece lined compartment is for your goggles and there's no sign of anything headphone related in there. Both the tag that comes with the bag and the Burton catalogue say the bag has this compartment but I'm now loosing hope of ever finding it.
Ok, never mind the iPod compartment, say I was a builder/decorator and wanted to take my 7 year old Nokia with me on the slopes. I'd simply remove it from my trendy leather belt clip and place it in the waist mounted phone compartment that comes with the bag, errrrr, no, I wouldn't because like the Mp3 compartment it does not exist either. Luckily for me I'm not a builder/decorator and so would leave my phone at the chalet but still, naughty naughty, another lie!
As far as comfort goes it is very good. The shoulder straps are nice and thick and ergonomically designed. I've removed the waist strap and old really use the chest strap when I've got a board strapped to the bag. If I've got my helmet in the bag and I carry a board vertically then the bulk of the helmet keeps the bottom of the board from catching my calves as I'm walking which is a good improvement from my Dakine bag. The vertical carry straps have a hard material inserts with will stop them from fraying on the boards metal edge, something my Dakine bag was doing and would probably have ended up cutting through. I've tested out the horizontal sled ready carrying postion and found that the whole bag bends in half and goes out of shape. I'm not really bothered by this as don't really see myself on a ski-doo in the near future unless Jake Burton decides he's gonna take a half decent 3 week a year boarder and sign me up as a pro. I haven't used the lower cooler compartment as reckon -3 degrees is cold enough for storing mars bars and bananas. I don't fancy putting cans of beer in there as if you had a tumble I reckon you could do yourself a nice little spinal injury. The goggle compartment is good if you take 2 pairs out wth you or even for storing whilst having lunch or in a bar. I haven't bothered with any of the snow shovel attachments and straps that come with it, I'm clever enough not to get landed with that responsibility. |
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| Strengths |
A good size for a day pack
Very comfy
Hydration system is really handy
Vertical board carry system is good
Cooler compartment probably good in summer? |
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| Weaknesses |
No sign of any Mp3 and headphone compartment
Bad news if your a builder/decorator and want to take your phone out on slopes
Carring the board horizontally changes the bags shape.
Pretty pricey when you add on another £18 for the bladder
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| Similar Back-Packs Used |
| Dakine Wonder Pack |
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