I love all Rab gear but I especially like my new Rab Alpine 35 Backpack; as it’s such a well designed and useful bag! I’ve been using it over the last few weeks and have really begun to appreciate just how well made it is. The rucksack has a capacity of 35 litres, which combined with its extendible top makes it a very useful size.
So far I’ve used it for a few day trips, weekends away and a hike in the snow on Dartmoor. My favourite feature of the bag is the quick release lid. You can undo 4 buckles and one popper and take the lid off the bag. This can be done in seconds and sheds all important weight when hiking or climbing. I also found this very useful when travelling, for example on a train journey I was able to store the main body of the bag in the overhead area and just keep the lid, containing all my travel essentials, on my seat.
As with all Rab equipment it’s made from the best, top quality materials. The fabric is 210D and 1000D high tenacity Nylon which makes the bag tough and light – at just over a KG. The bag has been given a DualGuard coating to prevent dirt and water infiltration too. The bag is internally reinforced and has triple-stitched seams so that it can take on challenging environments and win.
The roll top entry of the lid and the YKK Aquaguard zip make this bag extremely weather resistant and certainly stood up to the snow on my hike on Dartmoor. I’m very confident that this rucksack could take on even more.
Rab have really put their vast experience in the mountain sport world to good use. It’s the most comfortable rucksack I’ve walked with. It has a closed cell foam back panel which doesn’t absorb water and therefore will not get heavier during bad weather. To give further back support, the Alpine 35 has a removable foam and wire frame that is surprising light considering how rigid it is.
It doesn’t end there! To give you an even better carrying experience the bag has a non removable hip belt which like the other straps are adjustable to ensure you are comfortable when walking even when carrying the bag to its maximum load.
It’s got all the added extras that you’d expect from this sort of bag and some nice ones that you wouldn’t. It has internal clips for a drysac for your valuables and an internal pocket and hose outlet for a platypus. It has stretch mesh, side pockets for storing water bottles etc. I do think these could be a little more solid and robust, as my water bottle did fall out at least once. However I did find that position the compression strap over the bottle stopped this.
It has a quick release ice axe carrying system, which although there wasn’t much call for this on Dartmoor, I did find an alternate use for it as a GoPro stick holder. This turned out to be very useful and you could alternatively use it for carrying walking poles.
Packing the bag is really nice as it has a wide opening and several side compression straps to keep the contents of the bag in place and well packed.
In summary the Rab Alpine 35 is an awesome lightweight backpack that can easy handle anything that you can throw at it. It is obvious that it’s been designed with a fine attention to detail, built on years of experience in the field. I thoroughly recommend it, whether you’re climbing a mountain or just going for leisurely walks around the local countryside!
If like me, you’re a fan of gear reviews then I recommend that you check out this cool site that I’ve been using to inform my purchases: Outdoor Gear Review.
