How's it going guys so today we're going to take a closer look at my hiking pack.
So this is by the brand BlackWolf and it's called the Bugaboo 70 plus 10.
Essentially it's 70 liters and then the extra 10 liters comes from the lid.
There's little straps here that extend the lid and that creates the extra 10
liters. Which is quite big, it can fit a lot of stuff. In hindsight I would
actually probably downsize and get the smaller pack. The most notable thing
about this pack is its ability to carry a heavy load comfortably. So when
you flip it over and you see the back, there is so much support going on. The
harness is really nice, obviously it's adjustable. You've got a huge lumbar
support and the waist bands are sort of contoured into your hips. I couldn't find
anywhere where BlackWolf would specify the weight load it can carry but this pack
is designed for multi-day hikes and I've carried 17kg on the Overland Track.
So while that was heavy for me it was still comfortable, so I have no doubt
that it can carry many many more kilos. So I'll run you top to bottom of the
pack so you can see inside and all of its little features. At the very top
you've got two loop straps here we've also got a pocket here on the outside
that takes up the entire room of the lid. So it's a top access pack but you do
also have an entry point at the bottom. So when you undo the lid the lid doesn't
come off or anything but you've got an inside pocket here. This pack actually
has a lot of pockets so if you're a fan of pockets and sorting your gear out and
making sure that all your hiking gear has its own little spot then a pack like
this would be perfect. When you actually get to the main compartment you've got a
strap here that secures everything in the top.
You've actually got two drawstrings at the top here which helps compress and
secure everything as well. Inside kind of looks like any other pack, just a void of
darkness in there but you've got your spot where you can keep your water
bladder. I've got a different brand that is two litres and it fits perfectly fine
in here, and my bladder has a handle at the top and that handle then
sits in between this little velcro patch, so that the bladder doesn't slide down.
So if you're wearing the pack the bladder hose will come out on the right
hand side, and then you'll be able to clip your bladder here onto the right
hand side of your harness. As we move to the front pocket you've got an open
pocket here that stretches out a bit there's some mesh so that would be a
great place for something like a rain jacket that you need to access quickly.
Inside the actual front pocket you've got lots of organisation pockets. The two
sides of this pack are identical so you've got two compression straps which
is one of my favorite parts of this pack so when you open both of those then
you've got a zip to open the side pocket. Further down you've got your
mesh pockets for your water bottles, and then when you head down to the bottom of
the pack you've got two more loop straps this is actually where I keep my
sleeping matt. It's a good size for that. Then you've got the bottom access
zip and then two little loops at the end here. When you flip it around
you've got your sternum strap, the sternum strap has a whistle on it.
Then two little waist pockets that can just fit a mobile phone and your snacks.
Then you've also got these red straps here, that again pull the
load closer to your body. This pack also has a built-in rain cover so that is
secured by a Velcro strip on the bottom. So when you open it up, pull up your rain
cover which is a nice fluro orange colour. It has a drawstring at the top
to secure it. So for me personally some of the best things about this pack are
the real simple features that are done really really well. So for example the
side compression straps, the fact that there's not one that there's two and
they are put in the perfect positions to be able to compress your load closer to
your back that is really really important. If I was to say a few
negatives about this pack the position of the clips
at the front that clipped the lid close together are kind of underneath, their
stitched underneath this pocket here which sometimes it's a little bit more
difficult to adjust than if they were on the outside but that's a very minor
detail. The other thing is these mesh pockets where your drink bottle goes,
I've actually started to put holes in to mine and that's just because the height that
I am when I've tried to say squeeze through rocks.
Then my drink bottles with the mesh pocket has scraped along the rocks, but I
think I would still prefer the mesh material that's just something to be
aware of. Then because I have a Thermarest zlite sleeping matt, not one that blows
up I keep it on the outside. When it's raining and I want to put my rain cover
on this BlackWolf that comes with your pack it's actually not quite big enough
to go around my sleeping mat and then fully around both sides of the pack.
That's just something to note as well if you carry your sleeping matt on the
outside then this one that comes with it won't fully cover it. That's really the
only negatives that I can think of for this pack obviously the 2.4kg
is kind of heavy especially for someone like me but that's sort of the
standard that you're looking at when you're pack can carry heavier loads
so well. It's not waterproof but I always have a pack liner inside my pack anyway.
So that's essentially all I have to show you about this pack hopefully you're
able to get an idea of some of the features that BlackWolf put into their
packs. If you're a fan of the BlackWolf brand or a fan of their day packs you're
gonna be a fan of their hiking packs.