TREKKING
Product 2017
Man
The Forclaz Air 20+ is an inexpensive day hiking backpack.
This was our first impression of the Forclaz Air 20+: a lightweight pack, that seems well made with pretty good carrying comfort, well designed with some basic accessories.
Next we noticed the brand and especially the price.
The field test supported our first impressions. It has quite a technical and sober look and the pack is doted with a waterproof membrane.
It has a main compartment that is easily accessible with its full-length zip enabling easy entry to take items that are at the bottom of the pack without emptying out the whole pack. It also has a flat zipped pocket on the back, two side material pockets to carry water bottles, and an outside material pocket for easy access to a raincoat or gloves etc. Inside there is a small pocket for papers, wallet etc.
The top lid has a large zip pocket for items such as gloves, hat, map, etc.
The main compartment is a good size and enough for a day hike. The zips slide well although are probably not waterproof. It would be necessary to check in bad weather (but there is a rain cover in the event of very bad weather).
The carrying system has been well designed. There is a stretched mesh netting to ventilate your back.
The shoulder straps are comfortable. The waist belt is wide and the double tightening system is smooth and practical, with two zip pockets for storing small items like keys, cereal bars, sun cream, etc. to have at hand.
There is a pole attachment system on the side.
Finally at the base of the pack there is a Velcro pocket that contains a rain cover.
We tested the Forclaz Air 20+ in the mountains. With weighed it down with a 20m climbing rope, harness, carabiners, a liter of water, raincoat, soft shell, some food…all in all about 5 to 6kg.
The first question that arose was where do we slip the bladder tube? Usually you find a small H20 insignia, ok, we didn’t look for a very long time but there is no indication, this would’ve been quicker.
Once wearing the pack it was comfortable to carry, the straps have been designed to improve carrying comfort and to restrict rubbing. The chest attachment has a good tightening system, the upper strap tightens across the chest and subsequently the pack sits snugly on your back. The load carrying straps are a little small and situated a bit high but they enable a good balance of the loaded pack.
We could have actually put more weight in it without it being too heavy.
The main zip was very useful for pulling out the rope without needing to pull everything out the pack. Unfortunately the lid pocket doesn’t have a large enough zip and so access is a bit restricted even though you can store quite a lot of small items (glasses, food, baseball cap, gloves, camera, etc.).
We were disappointed by the pole attachment system. Once the poles are stored and attached to the pack the poles have a tendency to swing on the side creating an annoying motion.
To avoid this with decided to put the poles into one of the side pockets and kept them in place with a tightening strap.
At the base of the pack there is a strap loop that looks like it is for attaching an ice axe but there isn’t anything at the top of the pack that corresponds to it to hold the handle… So we don’t know what this is for?
It is possible to make use of the back strap, but it’s a bit DIY!
A first outing of several hours didn’t reveal any major problems other than this problem with the poles.
Otherwise it would need to be tested over a long time to see how it resists the rain, knocks, abrasion, etc. but at this price you can’t be that demanding!
Or should we ask ourselves why pay more for a branded backpack?
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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