LOWE ALPINE AIRZONE CAMINO TREK 40:50 / ND35:45
The Airzone is very competitively priced for the features on offer, but is this enough to impress on a long day in the Lakes?
■ Capacity 40-50 litres ■ Me■’s Two back sizes ■ Wome■’s ND35:45, one back size ■ Weight 1053g
■ Best price fou■d £68 IT'S GOOD
The Airzone is designed to keep body contact with the back system to a minimum by having a gap between the tensioned trampoline mesh back and the main pack itself. I found this worked really well, as my back and shirt remained dry. There are plenty of storage options to place gear outside the main pack with five external zipped pockets – large ones on the top and on each side, and two very small ones on each side of the hipbelt. You also get two generously-sized stretched water bottle pockets again on each side, and a bungee spider plate on the rear of the pack. The main pack’s contents can either be accessed conventionally via the top extendable floating lid, or by a zipped front opening. The main compartment can also be divided by a zip-out panel into a smaller, lower compartment with separate external zipped access and top compartment. It is the combination of the floated lid and zipped side pockets that allow the capacity to be extended from a basic 40ltr to a bigger 50ltr. So there’s lots of things to like.
HOWEVER
Although there are two back sizes available, neither size has additional back length adjustment, so the pack either fits and is comfortable, or it doesn’t and isn’t. It was not quite as comfy as the highest-priced pack either. Then there is the floating lid design to think about. I found that it tended to bounce around and required adjustment a few times to ensure it sat neatly on top of the pack. Personally, I’d prefer a lid that was attached to the main body, so that all this adjustment wasn’t needed. The zipped divider and zipped front opening make the bag overcomplicated for me too, as these features aren’t something I’d generally use on this size of pack.
VERDICT
The Lowepro Airzone is well-priced and comfortable to carry on a long, hot day in the fells, and has great features in general but there are less back length fit options than some packs allow.