Mountain Hardwear  Alpine Light Roll-Top 45 L Pack

This is the alpine climbing pack I've been waiting for! I use it mostly without the lid so that I can look up wearing a helmet. The 2 side pockets give easy access to essential items and there is also an additional pocket which is removable inside the main compartment. It's totally waterproof too, I actually filled my pack with snow and left it in the sun at basecamp, we used it for storing water ! Side straps can be used for carrying ski's or extra kit and if you need extra room you can add the lid which has two compartments. Love it :-)

So far I'm really enjoying this pack. Enough room to use it as a travel bag, detachable brain comes off easily and you can fit the main body of the bag in an overhead on the plane. Remove the frame too, and you have a great roomy daypack. The lightweight and durable materials held up against some solid rain while hiking in the cascades with no water seeping through. Looking forward to putting it through some more technical adventures this summer! Giving 4 stars because I'd have liked an interior sleeve along the back to help separate avalanche tools or do other minor internal organization in the main compartment, but otherwise this is almost exactly what I've been looking for!

I got this for weekend, overnight alpine objectives and for ice climbing day trips. Great, tough materials and modularity options as a 45L. Lots of great things to say, but one issue and one frustration. 1. This is a roll top and it would be nice if it was the cinch top like MH's current Alpine Lite 30/50. 2. On my first day of use for an ice climbing day trip, I hiked 6 miles RT and the waistbelt had no padding on the back/hips. Above my tailbone (parallel with my hip bones) was tender for two days. Now I'm dreading using it again and I can't get a refund. I feel like this was going to be a multiuse pack for year round use, now I'm afraid of how my lower backbone is going to feel on the next trip.

Best pack Mountain hardware has ever made, I use this for mountain rescue missions and recently took this into some canyons in Zion and fully submerged this pack in pools of water for extended periods of time and it stayed completely dry. My only complaint is they don’t make this in a 55L size!!

Excellent snow and ice climbing pack; lots of room to store your climbing equipment and room for extras too. I especially like the rolltop pack feature, so it keeps debris and snow out of the pack while grabbing gear or repacking at the end of the day. Simple and efficient. The twin ice axe loops keep my climbing axes secured and out of the way until they are needed.

This is my third version of this pack (prior two had the waist belt stitching blow out - this one seems better with reinforced bar tacks on the waist belt sleeve). Just used this newest pack on a multiday ski mountaineering trip, loaded to about 50lb with skis and boots attached. It is pretty good but not perfect. The side cinch straps need a locking mechanism, otherwise they do not stay cinched with skis in A frame setup (I had to tie an overhand in the strap end). Even better would be a lower sewn strap to slot ski tails into. A strap on the back of the pack to allow the option of diagonal ski carry would be nice (strapped to the back of the pack diagonally, with both tips above one shoulder and both tails below the other). Also was disappointed to find one of the shoulder strap cinch buckles was threaded incorrectly so it would not lock. I had to cut the folded/stitched end of the strap webbing to be able to pull it out of the buckle and thread it back correctly. Not the end of the world, but that should not have been missed in quality control.

This is the best alpine climbing pack available that I know of. It’s very durable. Very light. Totally waterproof. Climbs great. Carries great. Looks great. 10/10. I use this year round.

This is a specialized pack for below freezing in the mountains. Personally, bought this pack for long 1-day alpine hikes and 2-day cascade volcano summits in the Cascades. Out of the box the quality of this pack is pretty good: really tuff Cordura Nylon, generously sown seams, no loose threads. Lots of good customization possibilities from the various removable straps and extra loops so I can add attachments. The 45L size is good for overnights, otherwise I can remove the lid and makes it more like a 30L pack for longer day hikes. With a pack like this and no easy access hydration holders, water management is something to think about. Obviously, this was intended for freezing temps where you must be careful about water freezing anyway so something to keep in mind. I’ve added a cheap holder to the shoulder straps to hold water in moderate conditions, otherwise stuff Nalgene bottles deep down inside the pack to avoid freezing. Took it out for an 8-mile trial run in last week’s nasty PNW Bomb Cyclone, 30 degrees, heavy sleet up and down near Snoqualmie Pass. The pack was covered with snow/water mix. The side zip-compartments and main roll-up area were completely dry. However, some water penetration in the top of the head compartment – like a few drops. Upon further inspection the top lid compartment even though it has a water-proof zipper has a piece of normal fabric sewn over the seams, unlike the rest of the pack that is using taped seams, which was near the source of the water penetration. My interpretation is that this top lid compartment is not waterproof. This isn’t a deal breaker for me as I can use it to store my shell layers, but I’m curious whether this was by design or did my seam get sewn with fabric instead of tape on accident? Otherwise really like this pack and I plan to keep it. The orange color has great vis. Can carry a lot of gear on the outside: snowshoes, hiking poles, ice-axe, crampons, and helmet. Hiking Mt St Helens with it next week, can’t wait!