Backpacks
Product 2021
Woman, Man
The Vertical Bigline 25 L is a basic pack for ski touring or freeriding beginners. An experienced ski tourer will quickly find its limits regarding carrying comfort and its very flexible back.
The thin foam at the back is great for marrying back flexion, but no good for protecting your back from badly stored hard objects or simply heavy or rigid kit, such as an insulated bottle for example. So, you have to be careful, for example, with your shovel to store it carefully.
So, the Vertical Bigline 25 L has two large pockets, the first one on the top is for safety equipment. The second is for food, clothing, hydration and other kit. In the latter, there are two vertical interior pockets in an unusual format, very deep but ideal for cramming in a sandwich (baguette!). You need to cut the labels that get stuck in the zip.
The shovel fits in quite easily, while the probe, ours for example, a Black Diamond carbon fiber probe 240, does not fit in: you can’t close the zip. We didn’t understand what the point was of having the gray yoke with Velcro, at the pocket’s zip where the safety kit is stored. Is it for the shovel handle, or the probe to protrude?
For whatever reason, this compartment’s zip, and its tabs should be much bigger so you can grab them and open it very quickly in the event of an avalanche. The tab’s cord should not be able to get caught up in the shoulder straps. Most brands have also adopted a color code to easily identify the right pocket to open to grab the probe and shovel.
The Vertical Bigline 25 L’s fabric is water repellent or almost waterproof except at the seams.
The fabric is also tear resistant. If the waist belt is pleasant because it is wide and comfortable, equipped with a double adjustment on the strap, the shoulder straps have a very thin foam padding. The edges of these straps are uncomfortable when carrying the pack, or you really have to reduce the amount of kit that you are carrying. There was also a slight noise when you’re moving.
The shoulder straps have two very practical pockets so you can slip your smartphone, gels, sunscreen, lip balm, etc. Be careful, the zips go down very low, which is very useful, but you mustn’t forget to pull them back up otherwise you lose the content when it tips over and escapes.
We would have liked an emergency whistle on the chest strap. All the straps slide very well, the locking systems do too.
The upper storage space is lined with thin fleece and is perfect for slipping in your sunglasses.
The Vertical Bigline 25 L is lighter than they advertised: 900g instead of 950 officially stated.
There remains the question of portage. Our position is to defend the central carry which offers greater speed, ease and stability, superior to the lateral carry.
Now there’s the question of carrying the skis. We defend the central carrying position, which offers greater speed, ease and stability, which we find is superior to lateral carrying. The latter causes the pack to sway around and requires securing the skis with a strap. The Vertical Bigline 25 L has kept the side carrying, which can only be considered as a backup.
The Vertical Bigline 25 L is more of a freeriding pack than a real ski tourer’s pack. Lightweight and also very flexible it does not provide quality carrying comfort when the pack is loaded. The safety compartment should be reviewed as it is not quickly accessible. Some probes cannot fully fit into this space.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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