Comments on: Dynafit Packs: Teching It To The Max

By: Greig

Greig — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:38:31 +0000

Paul,
Telemark Pyrenees (in the English Speaking Euro-world) do the Broad Peak 28. Link below
http://www.telemark-pyrenees.com/en/all/c-backpacks/backpackcategory-skipacks/f/?page=2

By: Paul Pearce

Paul Pearce — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:00:18 +0000

I noticed that Tyler asked where he could buy a Broad Peak 28 – I found just one retailer – Mountaingear.com. Otherwise, it seems very hard to find. I live in Australia and, as far as I am aware, we do not have a Dynafit distributor at present. So if anyone knows of other online retailers of this pack in the English-speaking world, I would love to find out.

By: Jonathan Shefftz

Jonathan Shefftz — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:25:47 +0000

Forest, thanks for the feedback. (And hope you got in some good skiing on Katahdin — a friend and his fiancee are up there now … right after he proposed!)
Odd though that the rope attachment straps are not quick release, since they are on my Manaslu 35 and Broad Peak 28 peaks.
So although the “Summit Comfort” pad has worked well in both my Manaslu 35 and Broad Peak 28 packs, just now I tried cutting up an old blue foam pad: provides an excellent amount of stiffening and protection, has multi-use capabilities, plus (FTW!) weighs ~2oz lighter than the Manaslu pad and ~1oz lighter than the Broad Peak pad. Will probably get trashed eventually by crampon points, but cheap & easy to replace.

By: Forest

Forest — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:23:46 +0000

After quite a few miles of both up and down, I am becoming attached to the new Baltoro 42. I have sewn a small webbing loop to the bottom edge of the back of the waistbelt for pulling my pulk, did 32 miles of pulling that in/out of Katahdin last weekend, plus numerous heavily weighted training tours, and the pack is holding up great. I very rarely remove the bottom section since I love having the safety box for ski/boot crampons and skins. The water bottle holder, after a little adjustment, is a delight to use and unobtrusive. The “summit comfort pad” was crap and I threw it in a corner and cut a new belay pad from closed-cell mat to fit the compartment – lighter and better. The rope attachment straps would benefit from the addition of quick release buckles instead of having to thread the strap through the buckle with cold, numb fingers. The top lid does work well for holding smaller, personal items; I only use it on overnights. No stitching or wear issues with the pack. I definitely give it a thumbs-up when a day pack just won’t do the job.

By: Jonathan Shefftz

Jonathan Shefftz — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:45:43 +0000

Forest, thanks for the info on the Baltoro. Although gotta give credit to Dynafit for the SnowClaw idea (which also at the time of the original RC20 counted under rando race rules as an avy “shovel). I recall that my “summit comfort” protector seemed a bit folded up at first, but it’s been fine ever since. The other plus is that it can be used as a divider within the safety box.
Robin, some of your concerns are probably addressed in the 35 version, although I didn’t have problems with fitting a 70oz bladder in either version. I’m also really baffled at what is going on with your ski lasso? Maybe a picture would have clarify.
For the shovel compartment, any model with a traditional neck is a tight fit, but the neck-less designs fit fine for me, even a full-sized blade. The avy probe compartment is just barely big enough for a full size probe from most companies – just another 1cm would make insertion way easier. (Fortunately removing it is still easy, since that of course counts way more.)
I too wish the pad was removable. I’ve now added a small pad from Gossamer Gear for emergencies – I cut it to just barely fit, and it’s twice the length, so folded up it fits in the pack, then unfolded it could help insulate a (small) torso. Weighs essentially nothing. I also did this for the Broad Peak 28.
Agreed on the need for a user manual! (The CAMP Rapid 260 also needs one – I never would have figured out some aspects of it w/o help from the U.S. distributor.)