Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 - review
I've always had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about 20L packs. Before I had ever even heard of ultra running I somehow managed to get round a couple of Mountain Marathons carrying a classic 20(ish) litre OMM pack, and for the last few years all of my run commuting has been done first with a Terra Nova Laser 20, then a Haglofs Gram Comp 25 and more recently with a Montane Ultra Tour 22. Sarah and I also both had a Montane 22 on our backs when we did the UTMB route over five days this summer.
Whilst I've liked different things about all these bags, I've stumbled into some pretty significant shortcomings with all of them over the time that I've used them. Mostly comfort and fit-related (especially on multi-day trips), but also plenty of other little gripes like the lack of pockets/storage options on a lot of the bags.
So when I first heard about the Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 my ears certainly pricked up. It seemed like both comfort and plenty of storage were high on UD's priority list when designing the bag and when I got the chance to give the bag a proper test/review I jumped at it.
I've had about three weeks to test the pack now, and although I've not had the opportunity to take it out on any really long or multi-day trips I've been using it as my commute bag since I got it, and have taken it on a couple of longish (and in some cases rather wet!) runs too. And right now I have to say that - whilst it's not 100% perfect - I can't imagine going back to any of my previous bags. The fit, pockets and general care and attention that have gone into the construction of the bag mean that for me it is definitely a cut above all the other 'classic' design 20l bags that I've tried in the past.
For those of you who like geeking out on the details, I've gathered a few pros and cons about some of what I see as the main selling points of the bag.
Vest-style fit
The most noticeable differentiation point between this bag and the others in it's class is the racing-vest style fit. Like pretty much every other ultra runner I'm a total convert to this style of pack, and it makes complete sense to me to see it moving out to the larger sizes of packs too. It's considerably more comfortable and also gives you much more options when it comes to up-front storage (but more on that later!).
When doing the 5-day UTMB tour last summer Sarah and I both ended up with very sore, bruised collarbones from the narrow, unpadded straps of the Montane Ultra Tour bouncing up and down across our shoulders. The Fastpack's straps are broader but more importantly the multiple adjustment points offered by a vest-style system means that you can really get a good fit to your body, making it feel a lot more solid and snug. There are two straps across the chest, both of which can slide up and down as needed and one pull-down strap at the bottom of each 'half' of the vest that allows you to clamp everything down across your body. The plastic clips used on the chest straps (and for the roll-top compartment closure) seem a little on the flimsy side, but have caused me no problems so I guess I can't complain.
Another nice touch related to the vest fit is what Ultimate Direction call their 'InfiKnit' construction - this basically means the fabric on the inside of the straps wraps seamlessly round to merge with the part of the pack that sits against your back. As seams are the enemy of every longer-distance runner this is a little touch that has the potential to be a massive bonus if you are wearing the pack for a long time and have had issues with strap chaffing before.
When wearing the pack it seems to sit higher up on my back than most of the packs I'm used to, but this is no bad thing as it keeps it from rubbing on my lower back and doesn't feel off-balance at all. I've not tested it with a lot of heavy gear in it but when full or half-full of lighter stuff it had very little bounce which is great.
My only slight concern about the vest-fit is the sizing - I'm not exactly a big guy and despite having the pack in the smaller of the two available sizes (S/M and M/L) the pack was only just able to cinch down tight enough when there wasn't much gear in it. I can imagine that if you are very slight you may find that it's hard to get it tight enough on you if you are running with a half empty pack. However for the other 98% of the population there is no doubt in my mind that this is a far superior system to the conventional shoulder straps/waist belt/chest strap combination.
Storage galore
All my previous bags of this size have had one big main pocket, two side 'bottle' pockets and - if I was lucky - a couple of little pockets on the 'belt' part of the strap system. Thankfully the Fastpack (partly as a side effect of having a vest-style fit) improves on this situation, offering a bunch of varied pockets which can be co-opted for various uses. The pack has the following storage options:
Large (15-22L), roll-top main compartment - Nice and roomy and and water-resistant - despite getting quite wet on a run once or twice the contents of this seem to have stayed dry so far. The roll-top closure is pretty standard on bags of this size but the clever z-style cinch straps on the side do a good job of both compressing down the contents and also squashing it all front-to-back. My only slight complaint about the roll-top (and which is a nice, subtle feature of y Montane Ultra Tour pack) is that the clips on either side of the roll-top are both 'female' clips and not one male, one female as they are on the Montane. With one of each on either side it means that if you have really overfilled your pack you can clip them to each other rather than being forced to try and clip them down to the side straps. A minor gripe however!
Back outer stretchy mesh pocket - useful for wedging in a jacket or any clothing that you need quick access to and don't want to put in the roll-top main compartment. Can fit quite a bit in here but is obviously exposed to the elements.
Stretchy mesh side pockets - easy enough to get to and big enough to hold extra items of clothing or bigger bottles etc, these are pretty handy but with no drawstring closure system or similar you need to be a little careful with what you put in here if you bend over with the pack on!
Waterproof zip pocket with key strap - this is tucked away on the side of the bag and is pretty easy to miss if you don't know it's there. However it's one of my favourite little touches on this bag and is something I've wished all my other previous bags have had. Perfect for keeping a wallet and keys safe and dry and out of harms way.
Expandable front pocket (top righthand side of vest front) - this is a kind of weird hybrid pocket with a vertical zip that you can open to expand the volume to fit a bottle into. With no way to close up the top of this I've not really found a use for it so far (although you can probably fit a good few gels/bars in it if you want) as I'm worried about stuff falling out if I bend over. Definitely good to have an option for front-bottle holding though and I may find it more useful once I get out on some longer runs with it.
Drawstring front pocket (top lefthand side of vest front) - this is a pretty large, stretch-mesh pocket which is big enough to hold a 500ml or so bottle but also great for phone or food etc as the elastic drawstring means you can close the top right up.
Little velcro pocket (bottom righthand side of vest front) - small, velcro-closure, not much else to say!
Little zip pocket (bottom lefthand side of vest front) - as above but with a zip closure which I have a lot more faith in than velcro!
So all-in-all lots of great options that offer plenty of flexibility - it happily copes with all my commute junk as well as (I'm sure) all the little bits of gear and food you'd need to bring on a proper multi-day trip.
Other features
The pack is intended to cope with a proper bit of adventuring (as opposed to my tame wanders over the local hills and my commute to work) and as such is well equipped with little details like a daisy-chain cord running down either side of the back of the pack and trekking pole (or ice-axe) attachment points. I've not had any use of these so far but they seem well thought-out and robust.
The back of the pack features a removable, stiff back-pad. When in place I found this added a lot to the comfort and gave a nice feeling of 'structured-ness' to the bag which I've not had in my previous packs and which I liked a lot. There is also an inner water-bladder sleeve at the back with a velcro attachment point and a hole to feed a drinking hose through if that is your hydration preference - although like all bags that have this without any external access to the bladder it's not going to be easy to refill it if you have a bag full of stuff without a lot of fiddling around and (likely) unpacking.
In summary...
As touched on above, the fit and storage options of the pack make it - for me - a clear winner over other similar sized packs that I've tried. It's comfortable, lightweight and has loads of flexibility when it comes to stashing all those little bits that you don't want to wedge into the main compartment. It makes a great commute bag and whilst it doesn't have a 'bulletproof' feeling I'm sure it would have no problem standing up to some long tough days on the trails. Hopefully I'll get some of those in soon and can update this review to confirm!
The Ultimate Direction Fastpack 20 is available now from the Ultramarathon Running Store.