I've had a dead bird pack with those zippers. They all will fail horribly.
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I've had a dead bird pack with those zippers. They all will fail horribly.
Bump. Anymore thoughts on the Ortovox Litric packs after a season of use? Any word on when and if the ArcTeryx pack will be available to the general public?
I guess some general questions I have about both Arcteryx and Ortovox Litric:
Does the airbag system take up some of the advertised space? Or is a 32L have actual 32L of volume compared to non-airbag packs? How well do they carry and distribute the weight? Any other general thoughts if you’ve been using one of them for a while?
I used a Mammut airbag pack for a few seasons but have gone back to a non-airbag pack the last few, primarily due to weight. Testing the waters again.
I was able to add the ArcTeryx pack to my cart yesterday on their website. A few days ago it said for Pro group purchase only. Maybe it’s released now?
I picked up the Ortovox Litric Tour 40L last season and have taken it on a half dozen outings so far. My previous bag was a BD Jetforce pro for reference. Never pulled in panic but have tested the airbag function a couple times now.
The fixed back length will somewhat dictate how well it carries but I've personally been extremely impressed, especially compared to my prior bag. Relatively speaking, it practically disappears once adjusted with no flopping or weird center of mass issues at all.
The side compression straps are so effective that I haven't bothered swapping to the 18L zip that I picked up for shorter missions, I just cinch down the 40L. Doing so will pucker the circumferential zipper and make it harder to close if you're fully opening it up, but a quick loosening and retightening of the right side compression strap is quick and painless.
I can only speak very loosely to volume, but it seems true to size when comparing it against the Raide LF 40L pack. Listed volume seems to be gross, not net, so the airbag system eats up a couple liters.
General unsolicited thoughts:
Their burst zipper design is brilliant and won't pop open if you pack too much in the bag like the Jetforce was known to do.
Having the system activate/deactivate via rotating the handle is intuitive and easy.
I hope they switch to a replaceable battery system if/when they create a new version, similar to the E2. Don't know if it's feasible but 3x AAA would be nice since I carry spares for beacons already. I suspect they went with a hardwired system to shave weight and increase durability though.
I wish their avalanche pocket was slightly wider. The venerable BD Evac 7 shovel wouldn't reasonably fit so I switched to a Mammut Alugator Pro Light Hoe, which is about as wide as you can go. I can fit the Mammut shovel, a BCA Stealth 300 probe, and a G3 bonesaw in the pocket without binding it up, though the pocket is stretched enough that all small accessories pockets on that panel are near useless. The avy pocket was clearly designed for Ortovox's narrow but deep shovels.
The hip-belt + leg-loop design is a nice quality of life improvement since it uses a "normal" belt buckle. Wish it had a hipbelt pocket but that's easy enough to fix with a 3rd party add-on.
Integrated helmet and axe carries work well. Haven't had a chance to carry skis or rope with it yet.
^^^Awesome, thanks for the details.
Six or seven days with the Ortovox 40L. I agree with the above points. It’s super comfy for me (6’, 175#), my BCA shovel fits just fine. And I found the ski carry system to be balanced and easy on long, steep boot packs.
With my Scott e1 40, I deal with that by putting that stuff on the side , near the bottom of the pack. I then zip the 2 sliders shut next to that stuff.
That way I can get them out by swinging 1 shoulderstrap off, unzipping the zipper partway, and pulling/stuffing them in/out.