I have been testing the Ortovox Traverse 28 S backpack. It’s a unisex fit and I have the size small. There is also a regular size. It is an all-round mountain backpack and is best suited to hiking or mountaineering. You could also use it for ski touring and climbing.
Features include:
- 28 litres of packable space
- Made with Polyamide 210 D ROBIC: 72% recycled Polyamide and 28% virgin Polyamide
- Ergonomically shaped shoulder straps
- Broad hip belt distribute weight evenly across the body.
- Zipped lid pocket
- Large rear stretch pocket (open top)
- Side pocket with integrated helmet net
- 2 x side drinks pockets
- Internal bottle pocket
- Internal bladder sleeve
- Zipped hip belt pocket
- Equipment loops on the shoulder straps
- Chest strap with whistle
- Pole fasteners
- Compression strap
- Hydration system compatible
- Emergency Card
- Key holder
- Three-sided front zipper and cinched top
- Rain cover in zipped lower pocket.
- Plenty of different colourways and other sizes available, too
- Price: Around £138, although I have seen it cheaper at different retailers.
- See: Ortovox Traverse .
In addition, there are some nice eco-friendly elements:
- 72% of the outer material is made of recycled polyamide
- The product contains no environmentally harmful per or polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs).
- The pack was manufactured under fair working conditions in conformity with Fair Wear Foundation.
- The product is climate neutral. It was produced in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Any unavoidable CO2 emissions have been offset.
- It also contains recycled polyamide.
On test: Ortovox Traverse 28 S backpack
This is not specifically a female backpack although it appears to be sized small and all the photos the website show a woman wearing the pack. You can see sizes of small and regular.
My immediate feeling is the pack doesn’t fit me really well. It fits okay but not brilliantly. The hip belt feels a little too high on my torso and the shoulder straps, whichever way I adjust them, don’t seem to lie flat on my body and have wee gaps a the side. It is as if the shape of the shoulder straps prevents the form lying flat on my body.
The straps are nicely padded and this is a bonus but I find this padding rubs my arms because the straps do not lie flat against my chest.
I suggest that if you are buying this pack, you try different sizes for a good fit. I’d really like to see a female-specfic fit to be honest.
There is some great back padding, so the pack feels comfortable against the back and hips even when fully loaded.
The actual packing shape of the backpack is really nice. The pack has tons of storage space and lots of useful pockets. Note the hip belt pocket is not large enough to fit my maxi size iPhone. This is a negative for me, although smaller phones will fit okay.
You can access the inside of the pack from under the lid and a cinched top, or by opening three sides of the pack with a two-way zip. It is useful to be able to open up the zip and see what you have inside, although this might mean you end up with items spilling out. (In usually do!)
There is a useful stretchy pocket at the reach for stuffing items that you need quick access to, suvh as jackets.
Extra features that I like are the pole fasteners, emergency whistle and equipment loops, such as for an ice axe. If you need to carry a helmet, such as for climbing or mountaineering, there’s a useful net carrier that you can fold out.
The backpack also has a foldaway rain cover. I rarely use these covers but it’s there if required.
I am not sure why you would need an internal bottle holder, but perhaps this is useful for keeping fliuds from freezing because it’s inside the pack rather than external. It’s just a bit tricky to get to and the two outer water bottle pockets are more useful.
Another option for fluids is to add a hydration bladder to an internal sleeve.
I really like the eco credentials. More brands are paying attention to environmental impact and this is a big positive of the Ortovox pack.
The price is also reasonable for such a high quality hiking/mountaineering backpack. I also like that you can search for local retailers, rather than relying on on-line sales. This means you can go to your local shop and try on the pack to get the right size.