Camelbak Snoblast

Author's product rating:   

Value for money	Excellent
Durability	Excellent
How does it compare to similar products?	Excellent

Advantages:	Comes with bladder, expandable, waterproof, well constructed from quality materials, looks cool
Disadvantages:	Putting an mp3 player holder/port in the rear of the bag is daft .  How about in the shoulder strap?

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I bought a Camelbak Snoblast in the USA in January 2007 and have been using it for skiing holidays, walking holidays and just general use ever since then. I think I paid about £60.

In total I have skied with it for 8 weeks in all conditions and have been on a number of fell walking holidays where I have used it as a day sack.

One of the things that attracted me to this particular bag was that it comes with a Camelbak hydration bladder and insulated tube which runs from the padded bladder compartment through one of the shoulder straps. This is meant to stop the water from freezing in the tube and has done this every time except one particularly cold day in Breckenfridge when it hit -25.

When skiing I do not like to feel overburdened by luggage and don't like stuffing pockets with gear. This pack once on is very compact and barely noticeable once you get moving. The straps in no way restrict movement and it is pretty straightforward to take off when chairlifts require it. The sack itself has something like a 15 litre capacity which expands easily by another 5+ litres. I have never needed to expand the bag when resort skiing but on long day hikes when I needed to carry lunch, waterproofs and a spare layer found that after expanding the bag I had room to spare with no loss of stability. The pack has a zipped external pocket with a key clip and mesh pocket for bits and bobs. The fabric is high quality and well put together. There is a useful grab handle at the top.

The straps are comfortable and easy to adjust and there are straps for attaching skis diagonally. There is a headphone port in the small outside compartment.

One of the most important features about a rucksack for skiing is that it must be waterproof and this bag certainly is. I have never had a problem with the Snoblast and recently got caught in rain for 2 hours coming down from Scafell Pike with no bag cover and although the outside of the bag looked as though it was taking in moisture in places the contents were bone dry.

I believe there is a new slightly larger version of the Snoblast now available. If I was in the market for a replacement I would buy another without hesitation.