Black Diamond Onyx 65 Pack (Prototype)
August 3, 2011
I recently went on a media trip with one of my Featured Brands Black Diamond and its PR company Backbone Media to test prototype packs for Black Diamond. I was pretty excited to get this invitation because a) press trips are fun and this one looked amazing, promising two days in the backcountry bordered by two nights in Aspen, where I’d never been; and b) I am always flattered when I’m invited on press trips, like I’m really an important person in the industry or something. They serve to help me convince myself that I’m kind of a big deal. And as long as I believe it, I’m happy. That’s the key, right?
After a few emails back and forth, though, it became apparent that I’d been invited on this one in large part because I just happened to be in the neighborhood anyway, or so the PR company had thought. It turned out that I was, in fact, 3500 miles away which would necessitate some travel dollars that the company hadn’t accounted for. Awkward! But I really wanted to go on the trip so I tapped my own bank account for the airfare and joined in as planned. I was really interested to see what this new pack line has in store, as it seems that large-capacity women’s packs haven’t really gotten their footing yet in regards to design and fit. I wanted to see what BD had done with their line and I REALLY wanted to check out the large-capacity women’s specific packs because I’d long believed that though mid-size packs are great for women these days, large-capacity packs haven’t evolved as far (Item number 3 under “Yay”).
In the six years I’ve been operating this web site, I’ve tested a lot of gear in a lot of different ways. By far the most common way is for a manufacturer to just send me a sample and let me try it out my own way. This is usually just fine, but occasionally I get the chance to hang out with the manufacturers and designers of the gear while I’m testing it out, usually on these types of press trips or at industry events. I find that this is far and away the best way to get to know the gear; after all, who is a better source of information than the person who actually designed the product? Every time I talk with a designer, I learn something new about the gear and I find this is very beneficial, not only for learning about that particular item, but for learning about design in general. It’s so cool to have the designer sit with you and talk about why he designed the item the way he did (all the designers I’ve met so far have been men, not sure why there are so few women), and it’s VERY cool to see the obvious passion with which they approach their work.
On the Black Diamond press trip, we were joined by Nathan Kuder, a pack designer for Black Diamond – the very man who created the prototypes we were testing out. Now, this isn’t a Nathan review or anything, but it’s worth saying that Nate is one of the most awesome people I’ve ever met. He was super knowledgeable about the packs, which probably goes without saying, but more importantly, he was a blast to hang out with and brought a great attitude and can-do vibe to the rather ambitious backcountry route we were attempting. The only time I ever saw Nate even slightly stressed was when I tried to herd all the journalists outside for a game of frisbee on the fairway of the golf course bordering our guest house – he wanted to be sure all the participants were fitted properly to their packs so in true border collie fashion he herded them all back inside with me trailing behind sadly with my frisbee.
Christian Levesque of Espaces.ca (I hope you can read French) soon cheered me up with a rousing game of ping pong as Nate got everyone sized to their packs. I paid for goofing off when, as the last one fitted, I discovered that there were no more packs my size so I had to go with one that was a size too big. I wasn’t too worried about it, though, as it seemed to work just fine even though Nate wrung his hands a little bit over not having enough properly sized packs. Nate then went over the features of the packs with us, en masse, and then we scattered to prepare for our 5am next-morning wakeup to get on our way to the backcountry.
The next morning, we had what we thought would be a straightforward 6-7 mile hike in, albeit one with a high pass to cross. My pack was loaded typically for me, with exactly the things I needed and no more. This was great, because the last time I went on a pack-oriented press trip, they made me carry a bunch of useless crap so that I could really feel what the pack felt like. At least on this trip we carried stuff we actually used. The fact that we had guides with us made for a lighter load than normal as I didn’t have to carry a stove or fuel and we all had divided the tents between our 18-person party (um, I mean, our two parties of nine people each, right Forest Service or Parks Service or whoever runs that part of Colorado?) so I was only carrying a moderate load. Still, I appreciated the slender silhouette of the pack as it accounted for the smaller torso size of women. Big packs are annoying when they are too wide for a smallish woman like myself. No problems with the Onyx, which carried really nicely.
Nate had explained that the major feature of the pack was its rotating hipbelt which, as he put it, “allows for the sashay” when the wearer is walking. It was a bit of a finicky system, requiring proper sizing, which is why Nate was there; to make sure we all knew how to use the packs. For people who think they can be yarded into a pack by the 18 year old clerk at REI and head on down the trail with no issues, you might be surprised to find how much a pack – or at least these packs – can be customized with some rather unorthodox fitting techniques. I admit that I’d never think to watch a pack fitting video like the one on Black Diamond’s web site, so it was lucky that we had Nate along to provide custom fitting services. When I commented to him that my back was pulling on my shoulders a bit, Nate responded by pulling the pack off my back, putting it on the ground and stomping on it several times. Now, I’ve been sorely tempted to do that to frustrating gear before, but I have to say I was a little surprised – until Nate explained that the technique is the preferred way to bend the stays of the pack to fit the wearer. Who knew!
After the adjustment, the straps pulled less on my shoulders, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced that the rotating hipbelt was all that, until one of the journalists was fortuitously struck down with altitude sickness and I helped carry her pack down to camp. Well, not fortuitously for her, as altitude sickness sucks a lot, but good for me because I finally was getting to carry a pack that fit me properly. I noticed right away that the hipbelt was really comfortable and moved with my body without losing its ability to carry the load. It was awesome and an extremely noticeable improvement. I wore the better-fitting pack for the rest of the trip and didn’t experience any of the hip bruising or soreness that I usually get after long trips with big loads. The pressure points just weren’t there. The sizing of the pack had made all the difference; more so than normal for packs without the swivel hipbelt feature. Had I not tried both sizes, I wouldn’t appreciate the importance of sizing this pack properly, so when you give it a try (in Spring 2012 when they come out) make sure that you get the correct size. You’ll thank me when you first carry a load using that hipbelt!
Other great features are the full-panel front zipper that allows the user to access the load from either side of the pack and the variety of capacities (50, 65, and 75 c.u.). The shoulder harness is very comfortable and nicely sized, though I’d like to see sizing options other than “Small” and “Medium”. Why is there a “Medium” if there is no “Large”? Strange. Anyway, I’d doubt that just these two options would fit all women, though the All-Knowing Nate seems to have designed a very customizable system that might be more expansive than I thought. All I can say for sure is that if you don’t notice a major difference in comfort with this hipbelt, check both the pack size and the lock-out straps on the sides of the belt to make sure you’ve got the full range of motion. It really does make a huge difference.
This was reinforced to me the other day when I wore one of my favorite personal packs, one without the rotating hip belt feature. I felt right away that my, er, pelvis region was much more constricted while walking than it had been with the BD pack. I soon got used to the “regular” pack style again, but it served to remind me just how great the swivel was. My sashay missed it!
These packs aren’t available until 2012, and I hope I’ll remember to come back and update this post with a link to buy them when they do!
