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A waterproof and comfortable pack for long days in variable weather. Stuffed full of excellent features in the Scandi style.
The Klättermusen Ull pack was one of the first products we featured on CGR back in 2024, Rich found it an excellent addition for his XC touring activities, French alpine routes and general UK hiking. Since then we have concentrated on reviewing the clothing range so it’s good to have the new Vide Backpack 30L for review on the site to see how the pack range is developing.
The Vide Backpack 30L is a fully featured pack designed for longer days and shorter multi day adventures. I would say it’s suitable for winter excursions and shorter hut to hut tours. At 30L it’s probably a little too small for camping tours – civvies would be OK though.
Materials and Construction
The Vide Backpack 30L is packed full of thoughtful features, as you would expect from a premium Swedish brand. The pack is fully waterproof with a lightweight, fully laminated and ripstop Retina fabric. This is backed up by fully taped seams, aquacoil zips and a roll top closure. This has worked well in the raining spring we’ve been having here in UK. I’ve used it several times in rainy conditions and my kit has stayed perfectly dry – so the waterproof claims stacks up well.
All in all the Retina fabric (which is made using Klättermusen’s strict environmental standards) has proved to be highly durable and robust and should last a hiking lifetime. The weakness in the system will be (as always with waterproof items) the taped seams which may delaminate – only time will tell on that one. The base of the pack is tougher still and has easily withstood the knocks and bumps of rocky and wet ground. The packed weighed in at 1063g, with is not bad considering the waterproof fabric and features.
On top of that most the buckles (the waist belt and roll top closures) are made from high abrasion aluminium with just the shoulder and chest straps made using lighter weight plastic. The waist buckle has worked well with a feed through system which has a neat pull tab to release it. The roll top closure buckles are wired snapgates (like a mini carabiner). These have proved to be a bit smaller than I would have liked and closing the pack with gloves on or cold hands has been tricky – particularly feeding (and releasing) the buckle from the small tape loop which is situated down by the mesh pockets. I’ve dropped half a star for this as I feel it’s been a real faff at times – especially in windy cold conditions.
The Carry System
The Vide is a wired frame pack. The back has a complete frame around the outer edge of the pack. To frame or not to frame – that is the question? It is unusual, these days, to have a 30L packed framed. They are more usually stiffened with a sheet of plastic or carbon fibre; there are benefits in terms of carry comfort with a frame. The Vide pack is designed for longer days and multi day trips so I can see the sense in a frame as you’ll be carrying extra weight. The frame is not removable so you will need to be sure that it’s the type of pack you want. The size if fully adjustable and is very easy to adjust with a large hook and loop patch. That together with the roll top closure means you can get a good quality fit. To top that, the breathable shoulder straps are excellent and fully adjustable and the daisy chain loops allow for a good fit for the chest strap, also the stiffened waist belt is super comfortable.
Features
Klättermusen packs are always well featured. The main USP is the amazing versatility you can get from the multiple daisy chain loops. The Vide is well endowed with loops along the front as well as the lid. You can either use the elasticated cord supplied or add extra cord, uses for this are things like stashing a hardshell to the back when the pack is loaded so its easier to deploy, carrying a sleeping mat and you also need it for locking an ice axe or poles into place. The supplied cord hooks into position so you can have maximum flexibility in it’s use. The waist belt also has daisy chain loops on the left hand side, this is useful for clipping carabiners and other smaller items, the right hand side has a zipped pocket for food or a phone/compass.
The Vide pack has 4 main pockets (plus the belt pocket), two mesh side pockets that are nice and deep with plenty of room for stashing all the kit you might need quick access to. The base of these pockets is the same, durable material as the bottom of the pack, which is a nice touch. There is also a mesh security pocket on the inside for stashing car/hut keys and other high value items. There is no key clip so you may want to keep this pocket free of other items you may need on the trail. The final pocket is a water resistant lid pocket. The zip is high quality aquacoil and has been very water resistant. One problem with it is that if you put more than one turn in the roll top lid the pocket you begin to limit what you can put in as it folds into the pocket.
Finally. Klättermusen are a premium Swedish brand so the pack does have a high end feel to it. It’s unusual and you will definitely have a pack that stands out on any hike. It has plenty of quality features such as aluminium buckles, ice axe loops, excellent colour scheme – the dark red flashing oozes quality, best in class sustainability credentials, reflective Klättermusen logo and of course, the Musen is discreetly labelled on the back.
My verdict is that the Klättermusen Vide Backpack 30L is well featured and more than suitable for deep winter adventures and shorter multi day trips such as hut to hut tours. It is super comfortable when loaded and totally waterproof – which is great for adventures in Norther Europe or any rainy climate. There are a couple of minor niggles such as the front pocket and the fiddley roll top carabiners but these are minor details that can be worked around.
The Klättermusen Vide Backpack 30L comes in one size and three colour options.
The SRP is £280 and it can be purchased direct from Klättermusen UK or the London shop.
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