Rucksack: Berghaus Bioflex 65 10L
14th Jun 2007
The most important feature of this Berghaus pack is the Bioflex back system. This is designed to allow the pack to always stay at your centre of gravity, therefore making it a more comfortable pack to carry.
I have to admit that I was sceptical as I generally find that a pack this size is difficult to carry and usually very uncomfortable. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the pack was extremely comfortable to carry due to its constant flexing with each step. The pack moved in all the directions necessary to ensure that the pack stayed at my centre of gravity and the only down side of this was the squeaking of the bag after I had been walking for about an hour.
The pack also has a well padded back system and waist belt, which I found became too hot after only a short while of walking up hill and made me a little uncomfortable, however, I imagine if walking for longer diatnaces and with heavier loads I would have been very grateful for this feature!
The pack has all of the features I would expect, and specifically look for in a pack. It has a large lid pocket, with good access to it. I found this especially useful as I often find that lid pockets can be too small to be of much use. The side expandable pockets are also a reasonable size, so my water bottle fitted in easily without having to fight with the zip! The pack fitted a hell of a lot of stuff in it for a full weekend of strange global warming weather ranging from freezing rainy temperatures to baking shorts and t-shirts sunshine, and the large (+10) expandable top made it easy to fit an extra down jacket in ready for the cold nights. It has a bottom compartment with a zipped divider, a 3L hydration reservoir pouch, an easy to use rain cover, bungee cord, walking pole holders, wand pockets and useful side and bottom compression straps.
The pack was generally easy to adjust so that it was comfortable, however, I did find that the waist strap was insecure and kept slipping so it became loose. This was a definite inconvenience as the Bioflex feature of the pack is not effective if the pack is not sitting snugly on your back. I also found that unless you’ve got the body shape of a beefy alpine climber then I don’t know how the bag was supposed to fit snugly to your back, there did seem to be a lot of space in some joint areas between me and the waist pouch, and as I’m quite small anyway, the pack didn’t fit that well…
I did also find that the pack was heavy, being over 2.5kg was a shock to me, but I have always found this with the packs I have used that are over 50L.
All in all I was pleased with the pack and its numerous features, but personally would find it too heavy for any serious trekking, but with all the additional features and BioFlex technology, I can’t see how it could be any lighter.
Reviewed by Matt Heason on behalf of planetFear