Black Diamond Distance 15 Vest Pack: A Hiker's Honest Review
Daily · Published 12/22/2022 ·
It’s still winter, so I doubt many folks are out hiking right now — but give it two months and we’ll have warm spring breezes again.
Hiking really is a wonderful sport. It’s also great exercise to do with a few like-minded friends, gathering in little groups of two or three.
You’re going to want a backpack.
Pick one good backpack and you’ll get a ton of use out of it.
Personally, I’m a fan of the 15-liter vest-style pack.
For some people, 15 liters might sound really small. But that 15 liters is just the internal pocket space — once you start using the external string storage too, it turns out to be surprisingly versatile.
This is my go-to outfit these days. Tights, trail running shoes, a hard shell, and the vest-style pack.
Here’s the back. You can slot trekking poles on either side. And there’s also some kind of attachment point on the bottom for hanging things.
I’ve got my Bandari (little moon bear) mascot hanging off the string.
This is the front strap section.
The straps give you six storage spots total: four pockets (two on each side) plus two zippered compartments.
Here’s the side. This is a pack meant to sit snug against your body, and the whole point is to get it hugging you as closely as possible — like it’s part of you.
That Black Diamond Distance 15 comes in two sizes, Large and Medium.
You can wear it loose on purpose if you want, but if it still doesn’t sit snug even when you cinch it all the way down, it can get uncomfortable.
I’d really recommend trying it on before you buy.
The pole holders on each side have small openings at the bottom, so if there’s water or melting snow and ice on your poles, it can drain right out. Oops… my poles are filthy ^^;;
There’s this slot at the bottom for inserting something — is it for an ice axe or something like that? Truth be told, I’ve never actually used an ice axe ㅜㅜ
If anyone knows what it’s for, I’d be grateful if you left a comment~
This is my mascot, Bandari. Took some effort to track this one down ^^
Inside, there are two partitions.
In the zippered section, I keep my headlamp, wallet, car keys, and so on.
The part that rests against your back makes a decent spot for stashing powdered drink-mix snacks.
The headlamp ^^;
The rest of the space you can freely partition as you like with a soft cooler, zip-lock bags, and the like.
The pack does offer basic water resistance, but since you’re using it outdoors anyway, it’s a good idea to give electronics and power banks an extra layer by wrapping them in a zip-lock bag.
Condensation from a water bladder inside can build up and dampen things around it too, so when it comes to truly waterproofing something, plain old plastic is still the best.
A pack this size is big enough to traverse a national park in three seasons — everything but the dead of winter.
When your pack is big, you just keep cramming more and more stuff into it.
When your pack is small, it’s not that you leave things behind — you end up using your head to work around not having them.
And the upshot is that your load gets lighter.
When it comes to anything you have to carry, heavier is never better.
Pack light and get out hiking often.
Next time, I’ll put together a post on the gear you actually need on the trail when using this pack.
Thanks for reading.
-Bought it with my own money-
#BlackDiamond #Distance15 #TrailRunning #VestStylePack #HikingBackpack #NationalParkTraversePack
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