I have a confession to make. Until recently I didn’t have a climbing pack. My kit (and by kit I mean my packed lunch and a drink) has been carried in a cheap drawstring bag, casually cast over one shoulder. My completely inappropriate bag meant that my brother David carried pretty much our entire climbing rack in his pack, which goes some way to explaining my reluctance to splash out out on a proper climbing pack. Eventually my guilt got the better of me and I decided to spend some money. I opted for the OMM ‘Classic’ 31L pack.

The thing I like about the OMM Classic 32L is that for a 32 litre pack it feels small. This is due to some of the storage space being on the outside of the pack. There’s a pretty spacious netting area on the front, it looks a bit flimsy but it will hold a 60m rope quite comfortably. It features adjustable drawstrings to keep the whole load in place. The only downside I can see with having the netting on the front is that there’s a good chance of getting it snagged  if you climb with the pack on.

Here’s the features that OMM list on their web site:

• Leanweight Chassis – puts strength where it is needed.
• L (Light), with 80gsm 210T fabric.
• UGR – Universal Gear Rail. Carries everything from axes to poles to skis.
• Bladder carry – In internal pouch or in front compression pocket.
• Bottle carry – 2 mesh side pockets – on the move accessible.
• Leanweight can be achieved by removing side elastics and Duo-Mat™.
• Now with Leanweight Link System.

The pack feels really comfortable to carry, even when it’s full of kit.

The internal bladder pouch seems well designed, my 3 litre camel back fits perfectly and the tube routing works well.

There’s what OMM call the Duo-Mat™, behind the bladder pouch. Apparently it’s a half sleeping mat (you can buy the other half as an accessory), I thought it might come in useful as a rope mat. When it’s in the pack it protects your back from whatever load you’re carrying.

OMM have included something called the UGR (Universal Gear Rail). There’s diagrams on how to use it on their web site. I haven’t tried it yet, so I can’t really comment.

The thing I can’t quite get my head around is that on the OMM web site, the product description, describes the pack as a mountaineering pack, but when you look at the technical specifications tab, they list its suitability as; fell running, trial running and 2 day mountain marathons – bizarre! (especially when all the pictures showing the gear carrying capability show ice axes and skis). Come on OMM, what is this pack for?

After a trip to Wales to climb the Idwal slabs, I have no complaints so far. The pack has performed beautifully. I’ll post an update at the end of the summer.

If you like the looks of this pack, you can buy one for £53.95 on Ebay.

Climbing equipment review: OMM ‘Classic’ 32L climbing pack is a post from: Rock Climbing UK, an online UK climbing magazine, written BY UK climbers FOR UK climbers.

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