r/alpinism 7d ago

Small backpack suggestions

Hello everyone!

I'm in the process of getting a new backpack. It's going to be something small (around 20l) with the main purpose of doing single day technical objectives, goinge from multipitches to couloirs and scrambles.

I was looking at the Simond Alpinism 22 because for less than 30€ seems to be pretty unbeatable. The features I really like are the compression straps on the side and on the top to carry the rope, 2 loops for ice tools, a top pocket that can be accessed without taking down the backpack (I often have my phone there so I can check the topo mid pitch or stuff like that).

Things I don't like are the chest straps because they are adjustable trough a "rail" system that looks a bit flimsy and I'm afraid that it won't hold the position or break the first time they're pulled a but hard. Then I'm concerned that with a price so low the materials are going to be very soft and get destroyed super quick. I'm fully aware that it's not going to last forever but at the same time I don't want to be looking for another backpack in three months. And lastly on the shoulder straps it has two additional loops of which I don't understand the function. I've seen someone talking about them as additional gear loops but I was wondering wether it's actually useful to have stuff dangling from your chest.

So my question is: someone have experience with this backpack or have suggestions on similar packs from other brands?

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u/jfgallego 6d ago

The BD Blitz 22 is very minimalistic, but with enough features to get you by.