Scott Alpride Airbag Backpacks Looking Good for 2015-16

Two ends of the Alpride spectrum. Air Mtn 40 to left is Scott's largest airbag backpack. It’s slightly reworked for 2015-2016 but nothing earth shattering. If you need a larger airbag backpack this one helps keep things on the lighter side by weighing 2.9 kilos, 6.4 pounds (all our weight specs include cartridges). Air Mtn AP 20 to right is a trim Euro style pack with enough room for minimalist touring gear, verified with calibrated scale at 2.3 kilos (without bottle holder or helmet net). It’s also slightly improved for 2015-2016 with a better trigger stowage compartment and a few other minor changes. While 20 liters of baggage capacity isn’t going to work for some styles of ski touring, it’s plenty of room for a shovel, snacks and a layer or two. Swapping Scott’s Alpride airbag system between packs is fairly trivial, so you could own one of these for your quick and fast days, then swap the guts into perhaps Scott’s 30 or 22 liter models if you need to carry more gear.

Scott AP20 teardrop interior is not huge, but large enough for minimalist loads.

Scott AP22 interior. For .4 kilo (14 ounces) more than AP20 you get two more liters of capacity. That doesn’t seem like a good trade, but does show the AP20 is built with lighter fabric and less extra doo-daddery. We suspect the AP20 when stripped down will yield a very nice volume-weight ratio. Razor at the ready. But seriously, Scott should make a bigger version of the AP20 with perhaps even fewer interior fabric layers.

The aluminum chest strap buckle on 2014-2015 Alpride airbag backpacks took some getting used to. For 2015-2016 they’ve switched to a strong but more easily operated plastic buckle, the waist belt buckle remains as aluminum. In testing for standards compliance these packs are tortured to high loads. Knowing that, I’m not worried about the buckles and prefer a chest buckle I can operate without asking for help. The other change in this area of the packs is the chest strap height adjustment is hidden within the shoulder strap compartments, and the trigger handle compartment is a bit larger and easier to use.

Marc carries around his demo plumbing in a foam hardcase like he’s transporting jewelry or a top secret weapon system.

Alpride motor is precision machined; multiple tubes and ports have to be carefully created. It’s called a motor because it creates suction that pulls in ambient air from the outside to mix with the cartridge sourced gas.

NEW for 2015-2016 Scott Air Free AP12 Pro avalanche airbag backpack is a bit small for full-on backcountry skiing, but it’ll work well for quick tours, freeride, and that sort of thing. Fairly lightweight at 2.3 kilos due to the small amount of fabric, and removable back protector can trim weight but should probably remain in the pack as you need to keep the plumbing from damaging you if you land on your back. This backpack is built more along the lines of a “wearable” garment with its wide shoulder strap system and two sternum straps. Obviously intended for highly athletic forms of skiing such as aggressive freeride. Women’s torso length available as well. I always question the need to make packs heavier so they handle better, but in the case of doing backflips perhaps doing so is necessary. Or, at least while riding the tram you should be looking as if you do backflips as casually as a French freerider lighting up a cigarette.

Journalist models show their Scott airbag rucksacks off piste near Davos, Switzerland. She is sporting the AP 12, he’s got the AP 22.