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There wasn’t a ton of snow in Colorado’s backcountry even though 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 probability I obtained — 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 hooked up I used to be changing into.

The pack is stuffed to its gills with practical options and sensible designs. First, the roll prime expands the quantity from 40L to 50L and in addition 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 enable water to flee by 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 seems.

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 improvement 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 referred to as it the perfect 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 totally featured and punctiliously designed backpacks I’ve ever interacted with. The sturdiness of the supplies is unmatched. It seems cool. And it combines the perfect 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 large 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 Assessment

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Raide relies 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 pissed off 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 desires: 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 particular function. It’s a bodily manifestation of Siegel’s backcountry snowboarding obsession.

Supplies

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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

Nevertheless, Raide’s major material shouldn’t be Dyneema. It’s referred to as Problem Extremely 400 X. It has a tarp-like really feel, is 100% waterproof, 100% UV-resistant, and 100% recycled. The Raide Analysis web site claims it’s twice as tear-resistant and eight occasions as abrasion-resistant as “related materials” (learn: Dyneema). Whereas many customary UHMWPE materials are composite, Problem Extremely 400 X is woven and feels notably harder.

And, not like 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.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

The cinch prime of the Raide LF 40L is produced from 210D Nylon with UHMWPE ripstop. The stretchy helmet carry is a Lycra nylon mix interwoven with UHMWPE. Apart from the metallic buckle clasps, plastic buckles, and nylon straps, each facet of this pack consists of UHMWPE in some taste. As such, it’s a bombproof piece of substances. You possibly can really feel that as quickly as you get your palms 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 might use barely extra foam protection for a extra comfy carry. However the design clearly aligns with the pack’s minimalist nature.

Format

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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

Avi Instruments Compartment

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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

Stash Compartments and Pockets

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Two stash compartments are on the skin of the pack. One is a straightforward zipperless sleeve slightly below the helmet carry characteristic. It’s excellent for skins, gloves, or a midlayer or shell. It clasps shut with the helmet carry’s clip on the prime of the pack. There may be additionally a water-resistant zippered pocket on the skin 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 proper hip belt. There isn’t a lid on the Raide LF 40L. There may be, nonetheless, some additional storage afforded by the roll prime characteristic when it’s totally 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 best way Siegel sees it, the quicker you possibly can transition, the extra snowboarding you possibly can pack right into a day. He stated that was a giant focus of his as he dialed within the design of this pack.

Options

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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 trying to shave ounces at each alternative, that is an undoubtedly engaging 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. Be sure you insert it going through the proper 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 software. Most backcountry guides are required to hold one thing related 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 practical characteristic. It’s a software unto itself constructed straight into the backpack.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Glove Stash

The Raide LF 40L’s left shoulder strap has a nylon loop sewn into it to stash your gloves shortly and inside simple attain if you’re transitioning or skinning uphill. You wouldn’t need to ski together with your gloves in there. However in case you’re touring, or standing round, it’s a great 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 value bearing on once more as a result of this helmet carry system shouldn’t be 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 worry that they’ll fall out on the hike up.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Roll High Expands to 50L

The roll prime 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 best way if you don’t want the additional house. Whenever you do want it, merely unsnap the buttons, roll out the roll prime, and voilà! Your 40L is now a 50L.

That additionally creates an additional storage space on the skin of the pack. As a result of the roll prime extends from inside the primary compartment’s cinch closure, it creates a sleeve with a number of additional inches to retailer extra gadgets. 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 choice for snowboards and splitboards. So it doesn’t matter what type of plank(s) you’re hauling on the hike in, the Raide has a carry choice for you.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

No-Snag Ice Instrument Carry

As all good backcountry ski packs ought to, the Raide LF 40L consists of two ice software carries — one on both aspect 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’d in any other case get caught on.

It Drains!

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

Within the Area

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

As talked about, the season was off to a gradual begin once I obtained my palms on the Raide LF 40L pack for testing. So I wasn’t in a position to get it up into the steep and deep backcountry terrain it was constructed to overcome. 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 in a position to apply it to in a single day tenting or hut journeys, both, for related causes.

Nonetheless, on the excursions I introduced the Raide on, it carried out extraordinarily effectively. 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 shortly and experimented with how a lot tools I might pack into the Raide LF 40L. Regardless of the dearth of huge mountain terrain obtainable, I nonetheless managed to place this pack by its testing paces.

Snowboarding With the Raide LF 40L

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

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

You too can stuff quite a bit into the Raide LF 40L. For many one- to two-night backcountry adventures, 40-50L of quantity is good. You possibly can simply match all your avi instruments, sleep system, additional garments/layers, meals, toiletries, and most all the pieces else you’ll want. Siegel factors out that the additional exterior storage that unrolling the roll prime creates can also be a terrific place for a few beers.

For day journeys and strike missions, if 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.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

The options listed above, all got here in useful. The helmet carry was low-hassle and made it a no brainer to deliver 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 pal out of the backcountry on a makeshift sled (fortunately), the detachable foam again panel nonetheless got here in useful once I needed to sit down or kneel within the snow.

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

Room for Enchancment

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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 might be refined.

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

This pack doesn’t have something like that. The entire 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.

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

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

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

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Lastly, the metallic 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 observe would most likely go a great distance. However so would a much bigger clasp. I’ve used metallic clasps that have been simpler to control with gloves on. Including a type of would make this pack simpler to make use of and will pace up transitions. However once more, it might include a small weight penalty.

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

(Photograph/Will Brendza)

Yearly a variety of new backcountry ski backpacks hit the market — from large 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 totally featured and studiously designed backcountry ski pack presently on the market.

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

When you get your palms on a Raide LF 40L ski pack, it’s simple to inform why professional athletes like Jim Ryan {and professional} IFMGA guides like Evan Stevens, Raide’s first ambassador, are so excited concerning 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 opinions like this. However within the case of the Raide LF 40L, I feel that time period is justified. This pack sits on the bleeding fringe of the way forward for backcountry ski gear. I can not wait to see what else Raide Analysis comes out within the seasons to return.