Great Day Skiing pack for the BC

By Andrew McLean Ranked #9 - Winter Packs February 3, 2009

Im very particular about my backcountry skiing packs as they have such a big impact on a day of skiing. If they dont fit, have straps in the wrong place, or have features that dont work, you end up dealing with it multiple times per day which adds up to an annoying experience.

But not so with the BD Covert pack. I switched to it this season (from a Switchback pack and before that an Attack Pack) and have been very happy with it for days tours. I got the smallest size (22 liters) as I dont carry much on day tours, and with a small pack, you dont really have the option! It fits a good size shovel blade (G3 AviTech) and has a nice selection of holders for your shovel handle and probe. It also allows many ski carrying options, including my favorite, strapping them to the side.

The Covert comes with all sorts of extra straps which can easily be removed by unclipping them, which I do as I like a nice clean profile for skiing through trees or just keeping the dingle-factor at bay. I tried the AvaLung version of this pack a few years ago and didnt like it as the AvaLung mechanism took up too much room in the small sized pack, which meant I had to upsize to the larger pack to carry the same amount of stuff, which meant the pack was no longer as light and trim. Your mileage may vary.

On the negative side, once you put a shovel blade in the back pocket, it compresses the inside goggle pocket to the point where it is almost uselessly hard to get into, so I carry nothing in there. The hydration tube holder doesnt really keep water from freezing, so it is a bit of a moot feature.

But overall, this is my favorite backpack for day tours around the Wasatch.

View Details: Black Diamond Covert Winter Pack - 1343-1953cu in

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