The Ski Pack Your Backcountry Information Desires: Raide Analysis LF 40L Evaluation

There wasn’t a ton of snow in Colorado’s backcountry although it was squarely mid-December. Lots of my favourite backcountry spots weren’t very skiable but, however an absence of deep snow wasn’t going to cease me. I used to be setting out on exploratory ski excursions at each likelihood I received — from the Aspen Valley to the Vail Valley and over into Summit County.

My luck had been combined. However I used to be psyched regardless as a result of I used to be attending to know the brand new Raide Analysis LF 40L backcountry ski pack. And the extra time I spent with it, the extra connected I used to be turning into.

The pack is stuffed to its gills with purposeful options and sensible designs. First, the roll high expands the amount from 40L to 50L and likewise rolls down and stows away. Inside, the froth again panel is detachable for kneeling or sitting in snow or splinting damaged limbs. Subsequent, a novel characteristic, the shoulder strap has a glove stash. Lastly, drain ports permit water to flee by means of the bag.

All that and extra in a bundle that weighs simply 1,090 g (or, stripped, simply 900 g). That’s to say nothing of the high-end supplies the Raide LF 40L backpack is made with — or how good it appears to be like.

That is Raide Analysis’s first pack. The creator, Kyle Siegel, had by no means earlier than designed a backpack. Nevertheless, with engineering expertise from House X and product growth expertise from The North Face, he’s come out of the gate swinging with the Raide LF 40L. Backcountry ski guides and professional athletes are buzzing over it. Jim Ryan straight-up known as it the very best bag he’d ever used.

And after just some weeks of utilizing it in early-season backcountry situations, I’m tempted to agree with Ryan.

In brief: The Raide 40L backcountry ski pack is among the most absolutely featured and punctiliously designed backpacks I’ve ever interacted with. The sturdiness of the supplies is unmatched. It appears to be like cool. And it combines the very best options from different ski packs into one — even including a number of I’ve by no means seen earlier than. It was designed by a backcountry fanatic for backcountry fanatics. And whereas there’s room to shine particular particulars of the pack’s design, there isn’t a lot to enhance. There may be good motive why this pack is making such huge waves on this planet of backcountry snowboarding.

Looking for backcountry ski packs? Evaluate Raide’s to GearJunkie’s Greatest Ski Packs of 2023-2024.

Raide Analysis LF 40L Backcountry Ski Pack Evaluation

Raide is predicated out of Carbondale, Colo., the place Siegel lives — and the place he skis within the backcountry always. After a 2020 journey to summit Washington’s Mount Rainier, he returned house with a mission. Uninterested in being annoyed with ski packs that weren’t assembly his expectations, he had determined to make his personal.

Three years, 9 prototypes, one journey to Vietnam, and numerous hours later, he had the pack of his goals: the Raide LF 40L. He had agonized over each characteristic, each gram, and each materials that went into the pack to steadiness its weight, consolation, sturdiness, and aesthetics. The result’s a pack finely tuned for a selected goal. It’s a bodily manifestation of Siegel’s backcountry snowboarding obsession.

Supplies

Siegel didn’t skimp out on the supplies he used to make the Raide LF 40L pack. The principle materials is ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) — the identical stuff that Dyneema is made out of.

Nevertheless, Raide’s primary material is just not Dyneema. It’s known as Problem Extremely 400 X. It has a tarp-like really feel, is 100% waterproof, 100% UV-resistant, and 100% recycled. The Raide Analysis website claims it’s twice as tear-resistant and eight occasions as abrasion-resistant as “comparable materials” (learn: Dyneema). Whereas many normal UHMWPE materials are composite, Problem Extremely 400 X is woven and feels notably harder.

And, in contrast to most UHMWPE materials, the Problem Extremely 400 X UHMWPE could be dyed. As such, the Raide LF 40L has two colours: white and black. Different packs made with Dyneema, like The North Face Phantom 38 or the Hyperlite Crux 40, don’t are available any coloration however white.

The cinch high of the Raide LF 40L is made out of 210D Nylon with UHMWPE ripstop. The stretchy helmet carry is a Lycra nylon mix interwoven with UHMWPE. Apart from the steel buckle clasps, plastic buckles, and nylon straps, each side of this pack consists of UHMWPE in some taste. As such, it’s a bombproof piece of substances. You may really feel that as quickly as you get your arms on it.

The shoulder straps have 9 mm of froth that tapers towards the underside of the strap. The hip pads cowl simply sufficient of the hip areas to be comfy. Each shoulder straps and hip pads may use barely extra foam protection for a extra comfy carry. However the design clearly aligns with the pack’s minimalist nature.

Structure

There are simply three primary compartments within the Raide LF 40L. The biggest, the place the majority of the gear is supposed to be saved, is accessible by means of the cinch high, or the again panel. The panel unzips simply with one zipper with a big pull tab. A pass-through gap on the high makes it appropriate with hydration bladders or radio cables.

Avi Instruments Compartment

The avalanche instruments compartment is accessible by means of a water-resistant zipper on the surface or through a pass-through characteristic from the principle compartment. There are sleeves for a shovel deal with and probe. The waterproof divider separating the avi instruments from the principle compartment has a gap within the center for the shovel socket. That manner, Siegel defined, the steel doesn’t rub on the material from the within, carrying it out.

Stash Compartments and Pockets

Two stash compartments are on the surface of the pack. One is a straightforward zipperless sleeve just under the helmet carry characteristic. It’s good for skins, gloves, or a midlayer or shell. It clasps shut with the helmet carry’s clip on the high of the pack. There may be additionally a water-resistant zippered pocket on the surface of the pack for free odds and ends you don’t need to get moist or fall out.

The one different pockets are a small mesh zippered pocket on the within of the again panel and a small zippered stretch pocket on the appropriate hip belt. There isn’t a lid on the Raide LF 40L. There may be, nevertheless, some additional storage afforded by the roll high characteristic when it’s absolutely prolonged into “hut mode” (extra on that later).

The Raide LF 40L is designed so skiers and riders can transition with out touching a zipper. As a result of, merely, zippers gradual transitions down. And the way in which Siegel sees it, the quicker you may transition, the extra snowboarding you may pack right into a day. He stated that was a giant focus of his as he dialed within the design of this pack.

Options

Strippable to 900 g

The aluminum body of the Raide is definitely detachable, as is the inflexible foam again panel. With out that added weight, the bag drops from 1,090 g to a scant 900 g. For these ultralight skimo racers seeking to shave ounces at each alternative, that is an undoubtedly enticing characteristic. When stripped, this bag feels just about weightless.

Nevertheless, getting the inner body again into the pack after eradicating it’s one thing of a problem. Remember to insert it dealing with the appropriate manner, and take care to not bend the aluminum as you do.

Detachable Foam Again Panel

As talked about, the froth again panel is detachable with little to no effort and doubles as a multifunction instrument. Most backcountry guides are required to hold one thing comparable with them always. It may be used as a splint, as a knee pad or seat, and even as a small sled. This can be a extremely purposeful characteristic. It’s a instrument unto itself constructed straight into the backpack.

Glove Stash

The Raide LF 40L’s left shoulder strap has a nylon loop sewn into it to stash your gloves rapidly and inside straightforward attain while you’re transitioning or skinning uphill. You wouldn’t need to ski along with your gloves in there. However for those who’re touring, or standing round, it’s a super little stash spot for them. I used it each single time I wore the pack.

Stretch Helmet Carry

I’ve already talked about this characteristic, however it’s price bearing on once more as a result of this helmet carry system is just not like different packs’. It’s far safer. As soon as it’s clipped and cinched excessive of a helmet, there isn’t any wobbling or slipping out. I can retailer issues like crampons, gloves, hats, goggles, or sun shades contained in the mind bucket with out concern that they’ll fall out on the hike up.

Roll Prime Expands to 50L

The roll high on the Raide LF 40L is among the pack’s coolest options. It may be rolled down into the pack and secured with snap buttons, so it’s out of the way in which while you don’t want the additional house. If you do want it, merely unsnap the buttons, roll out the roll high, and voilà! Your 40L is now a 50L.

That additionally creates an additional storage space on the surface of the pack. As a result of the roll high extends from inside the principle compartment’s cinch closure, it creates a sleeve with a number of additional inches to retailer extra objects. Pull the cinch twine and it secures your gear in place.

Ski and Snowboard Carry Choices

Not solely does this pack give customers the choice to hold skis diagonally or in an A-frame, however it additionally has a vertical carry possibility for snowboards and splitboards. So it doesn’t matter what sort of plank(s) you’re hauling on the hike in, the Raide has a carry possibility for you.

No-Snag Ice Instrument Carry

As all good backcountry ski packs ought to, the Raide LF 40L consists of two ice instrument carries — one on both facet of the pack’s again. The blades of your instruments stow properly right into a no-snag sleeve that protects each your blade and any gear it would in any other case get caught on.

It Drains!

As a result of the entire pack is made from waterproof supplies, it may theoretically carry water like a zip-lock bag. However Siegel designed round that potential concern. Each compartment within the pack drains, so for those who take a dunk on a pond skim, or get caught in a severely moist winter storm, you gained’t begin taking over water.

Within the Subject

As talked about, the season was off to a gradual begin once I received my arms on the Raide LF 40L pack for testing. So I wasn’t capable of get it up into the steep and deep backcountry terrain it was constructed to beat. Most of my testing occurred in mellower zones as a result of the snow was just too skinny throughout a lot of Colorado’s backcountry on the time. I wasn’t capable of apply it to in a single day tenting or hut journeys, both, for comparable causes.

Nonetheless, on the excursions I introduced the Raide on, it carried out extraordinarily nicely. I discovered a manner to make use of each characteristic; I took it snowboarding with its inner body and with out it. I practiced pulling my avi gear out rapidly and experimented with how a lot tools I may pack into the Raide LF 40L. Regardless of the dearth of huge mountain terrain obtainable, I nonetheless managed to place this pack by means of its testing paces.

Snowboarding With the Raide LF 40L

So far as weight goes, the Raide LF 40L pack is mild at 1,090 g. However while you take the inner body and again panel out, it turns into a featherweight piece of kit. If staying mild and shifting quick are excessive priorities for you, this pack needs to be on the high of your wishlist. Its ratio of options to weight is uncontrolled.

You may as well stuff loads into the Raide LF 40L. For many one- to two-night backcountry adventures, 40-50L of quantity is right. You may simply match all your avi instruments, sleep system, additional garments/layers, meals, toiletries, and most every thing else you’ll want. Siegel factors out that the additional exterior storage that unrolling the roll high creates can be an excellent place for a few beers.

For day journeys and strike missions, while you don’t want a lot house, the 40L quantity is greater than sufficient, however not an excessive amount of. The pack compresses properly, and since it’s so streamlined it doesn’t really feel cumbersome — even whether it is principally empty.

The options listed above, all got here in helpful. The helmet carry was low-hassle and made it a no brainer to convey mine on excursions the place I may need in any other case left it behind. I additionally used the glove holder on each tour. And, whereas I didn’t should splint any damaged bones, or drag a buddy out of the backcountry on a makeshift sled (fortunately), the detachable foam again panel nonetheless got here in helpful once I needed to sit down or kneel within the snow.

The again panel entry to the principle compartment additionally made it quick and simple to entry tools saved inside regardless of how deep it was. Its single-zipper design was easy, easy, and streamlined.

Room for Enchancment

For its first product out of the gate, Raide Analysis has set a excessive bar for itself with the LF 40L backcountry ski pack. However, as a brand-new model, there are additionally a number of elements of the design that could possibly be refined.

Foremost amongst them is the avi instruments pocket. Many manufacturers select to establish that pocket with a brilliant orange zipper pull tab, or another fluorescent indicator. That makes it straightforward to know which zipper to seize in an emergency when panic may be clouding your judgment.

This pack doesn’t have something like that. All the zippers and clips look the identical, making the avi instruments pocket indistinguishable from the others. Including a fluorescent zipper pull would come at no weight penalty and will assist somebody make a quicker rescue in an emergency.

Second, the padding on the shoulder straps and hip pads could possibly be expanded. If persons are utilizing this pack for multiday backcountry tenting or hut journeys, it’s secure to imagine they’ll be utilizing it to hold an honest quantity of weight over longer distances. Barely beefier and bigger hip pads and shoulder straps may go a great distance in bettering carry consolation with heavy masses.

However it will add grams to the design — which is probably going why Siegel stored the padding minimalist within the first place.

Lastly, the steel clasp on the hip belt is a problem to make use of with gloved fingers. It’s not an enormous inconvenience, and a few extra follow would in all probability go a great distance. However so would an even bigger clasp. I’ve used steel clasps that have been simpler to govern with gloves on. Including a type of would make this pack simpler to make use of and will velocity up transitions. However once more, it will include a small weight penalty.

Raide Analysis LF 40L Backcountry Ski Pack: The Last Phrase

Yearly a whole lot of new backcountry ski backpacks hit the market — from huge manufacturers and new up-and-comers alike. Some, like Cody Townsend’s Hyperlite Crux 40L, are created with assist from professional backcountry athletes. Many have nice designs. However I really feel assured calling the Raide Analysis LF 40L essentially the most absolutely featured and studiously designed backcountry ski pack presently on the market.

And it comes at a relatively affordable price point ($400) in comparison with many competing packs. That’s one thing that Siegel stated he intends to proceed, regardless of how huge his model will get. He stated he’d even drop the worth level if Raide Analysis reached a big sufficient scale.

When you get your arms on a Raide LF 40L ski pack, it’s straightforward to inform why professional athletes like Jim Ryan {and professional} IFMGA guides like Evan Stevens, Raide’s first ambassador, are so excited in regards to the pack. It consists of most of the greatest options from different ski packs and provides a number of that I haven’t seen anyplace else.

I do my greatest to keep away from sure overused, cliché phrases and phrases like “groundbreaking” once I’m writing evaluations like this. However within the case of the Raide LF 40L, I believe that time period is justified. This pack sits on the bleeding fringe of the way forward for backcountry ski gear. I can’t wait to see what else Raide Analysis comes out within the seasons to return.