First Look: Black Diamond Bandit Pack

I'm constantly looking for a lift serve/sidecountry pack that works.  In the past few seasons I've been through the Dakine Heli Pro, Black Diamond Slide, Dakine Tram, and finally back to the Heli Pro(version 2).  

So in the search for the better moustrap, this years entrant is the Black Diamond Bandit.  Its 11L which transates to 690 cubic inches which puts it on the small side of packs.  For those that desire it is availible with an avalung but for my purposes I feel that the standard non avalung version is sufficient for my needs.

My problems with previous packs have ranged from poor fit, to lack of ski carry, and finally too many bells and whistles getting in the way actually doing the packs job.  In order to successfully win the job my pack has to do the following things.  

1. Its got to fit on the chair.  There is NOTHING worse then dealing with an overstuffed pack on a chairlift.  Especially on the East Coast where stupid people will flip the saftey bar down with no regard to whats in the way.  Seriously people if you're not coordinated enough to sit on a chairlif without falling off, perhaps you should drop skiing and take up checkers, ok?  The Slide was a great pack but it never compressed properly and you felt like you were carrying a turtle shell when you sat down.

2. Get rid of all the stupid straps and pockets.  The latest version of the heli pro is the WORST for this.  Its got integrated hydration so why the heck do I need a pocket for carrying a water/soda bottle?  Furthermore I HATE compression straps and buckles espeically when they cover the zippers.   All they're good for is coming loose and snagging on trees/lifts/etc.  Plus everytime you reach into the bag you have to unbuckle and re-adjust the compression straps.  I realize that on larger packs compression straps are a good thing but there are ways of using compression straps without interfering with the access to the pack al-la the Frenzy that I reviewed here. 

3. It needs to carry at a minimum: hydration, skins, change of googles and gloves.  Being able to organize all this stuff is a plus as well.   Both the old and new Heli Pro packs were lousy at this, the new one in particular.  There was no way to store small things like clif bars and chapstick away from large things like skins and gloves.  This ment that you were always digging through your pack looking for tiny crap.  I also get annoyed at companies that make packs for winter use and simply add the probe/shovel storage as an afterthought.  I'd be fine with a pack that didn't have shovel and probe storage.   But if you're going to put that feature into a pack, at least put SOME thought into what the best way to store them would be.  The newest version of the Heli Pro is absolutely abhorent, I don't know how anyone could easily extricate their shovel and probe, its hard enough getting them IN the Heli Pro.

4. A good ski carry, I honestly don't know why this bugs me, but it does.  The Dakine Tram was almost the holy grail, it was small, streamlined, well orgazined, and had a GREAT outer sleeve for shovel/probe.  But it lacked the ski carry which just killed it for bootpacking or any other task that required strapping skis to the pack.

So without further yammering here's my first look at the Black Diamond Bandit

The back is completely clean, no straps, no mess.  One outside pocket allows quick access to smaller items and as a bonus is NOT blocked once you engage the ski carry.  The material feels durable enough to take on ski edges but there isn't a specific wear area so I will be interested to see how it holds up over the course of a season.  The ski carry loop can be adjusted to fit wide ski tails and can be snugged up when not in use by means of an internal buckle system.

As you can see the pack is pretty low profile, I don't think you'll have any problems fitting this on a lift. It also retains its shape very well even when not full, which is a bonus since there are no compression straps.

The inside organization is almost subconcious.  There is very little excess space and therefore everything fits perfectly in exactly the space it's designed to go in.  Another neat little feature is that the zipper is designed so the pack can be enterly opened meaning you'll never have to dig for the stuff on the bottom.  It also has taller walls near the bottom of the pack which prevent anything on the bottom from accidentally falling out of the pack when its opened completely.  I'd say you'd have room for skins, h20, avie tools, goggles, hat, gloves.  You might POSSIBLY get baselayer or lightweight windshirt, but that'd be pushing it.  I don't think a down jacket or other top layer will fit inside.

Its also got a wet/dry divider, I'm not sure how well that's going to work, but its there.

The one area I fel like could really use an upgrade is the waistbelt.  It's mearly a peice of webbing with a buckle thrown on.  I know its a minamilist pack, and most of the extreme rando dudes will simply cut it off, but because its so light and tiny, I find that the waistbelt is very easy to tangle and lose behind you.  Adding padding would at least give you someplace to start looking, and would allow you to add a hip pocket to hold a digital camera or energy bar.

UPDATE

I took the pack on a quick dayhike and it worked fairly well, my only complaint is the waist belt, its somewhat uncomfortable and perhaps completely useless as I felt like the pack carried BETTER when I unbuckled it for a while.  I don't want to get rid of it before it gets some work carrying skis, but I could see taking a razorblade to it come ski season.

UPDATE #2

People have been clamoring for ski carry pictures so here they are

Setup is quick and straighforward

Loop the top strap through the reinforced loop.  Note that there are two loops, one right, one left meaning that you can set your carry up whichever direction you prefer.(also means you can use it for a board carry)

The bottom loop is pretty large, I'm carrying my bluehouse districts but as you can see there is plenty of room for a larger ski.  As I mentioned above the bottom loop has some adjustment so it can be sized to fit different skis, and retracted when not in use.

Note that even with skis on the pack you can access both the top outside pocket and inside clamshell fairly easily

Ski carry is solid, and theres not a ton of movement and its also pretty comfortable even without the use of the waistbelt.  It should be fine for a quick bootpack but I wouldn't want to do a 4-5 hour long slog with it as the heel of the binding/brake arm tends to rub a bit.  Again if you're considering this pack, you probably either have a pack for longer tours, or don't care about carrying skis for a long distance.