The Black Diamond Beta Lite 45 is an ultralight rolltop backpack with vest-style shoulder straps impressed by operating packs. Weighing 31.2 oz, it’s made with an ultralight cloth known as Extremely 200 and Extremely 400 and seam-taped internally, making it successfully waterproof. It’s arrange like a normal ultralight backpack with a big entrance stretch mesh pocket and two aspect pockets with an exterior bivy pad pocket behind the shoulder straps. Whereas the hip belt is detachable, you’ll most likely need to maintain it on a pack with this quantity (45L), until you put on it with a climbing harness.
Specs at a look
- Body: Two Aluminum Framestays (detachable)
- Weight: 31.2 oz
- Shoulder Straps: Vest-style, S-shaped
- Pockets: 3 on the pack and 1 inside, 2 on the hip belt, and three on the shoulder straps
- Load lifters: Sure
- Hydration Appropriate: Sure, heart port
- Gender: Unisex
- Torso Sizes: XS (14″-15.5″), S (15.5″-17/5″), M (17.5″-19.5″), L (19.5′-21.5″)
- Bear Canister Compatibility: The BV425 and the BV450 match horizontally within the backside of the primary compartment, whereas a BV475 matches horizontally within the high of the rolltop. The BV500 can solely match vertically.
- Materials: Extremely 200 (physique), Extremely 400 (backside), 100D nylon ripstop (aspect pockets), Stretch mesh (entrance pocket)
- Mfg. Max Beneficial Load: 40lbs (we predict it’s nearer to 30 lbs)
Black Diamond makes a number of backpacks, though most goal climbers and mountaineers as a substitute of backpackers and thru-hikers. Nonetheless, it was a little bit of a shock after they got here out with a brand new pack made with Extremely 200 and Extremely 400, a brand new ultralight waterproof cloth primarily utilized by smaller cottage backpack makers. True to kind, the Beta Lite 45 is an effective pack with a big foremost compartment for storing cumbersome gear and usable exterior attachment factors. Whereas it’s not fully dialed in for backpacking, I prefer it and discover that the vest-style shoulder straps make it a really comfy carry on the 45L quantity.
Backpack Storage and Group
The Black Diamond Beta Lite 45 is a rolltop backpack with three exterior pockets and a full-length mesh inner hydration sleeve. The highest of the pack is considerably wider than the underside: 20″ tapering to fifteen″. This makes it simpler to seek out gear buried deep in the primary compartment and makes it simpler to load. The rolltop has an inner stiffener, but it surely solely buckles closed on the highest and never alongside the perimeters, limiting the quantity of high compression. A single compression strap runs from the again to a buckle on the high of the stretch mesh pocket, offering some utility for carrying overloads however not as a lot because the Y straps on different ultralight backpacks.
The entrance stretch mesh pocket could be very tall (20″) and might maintain various gear or clothes. It’s made with tightly woven nylon mesh, which lets you see what’s inside and helps you keep away from abandoning gear and dropping it. The mesh’s tight weave makes it fairly sturdy, but it surely’s not as bombproof as if made with Extremely Stretch Mesh, which is more and more used on different backpacks made with Extremely cloth. Regardless of this, the power to view the pocket’s contents is an enormous plus and one thing that Extremely Stretch Mesh doesn’t allow.
The aspect pockets are additionally outsized and might simply maintain two Smartwater bottles. Nevertheless, they’re solely made with 100D ripstop nylon, which is somewhat shocking given the damage and tear that may happen while you put the pack down or brush previous overhanging vegetation. On this software, a extra sturdy cloth like Extremely 200 or Extremely Stretch Mesh would have been extra sturdy.
The pack additionally has an exterior bivy pad pocket behind the shoulder straps, which is purpose-made for the pad that comes inside it. Don’t attempt to take away that pad: you’ll by no means get it again into the pocket once more. It’s meant to be a part of that pack, not a detachable sit pad, and I don’t perceive why they didn’t simply sew the highest shut. The aim of that pad and pad pocket is to cushion your again towards the 2 body stays housed within the pack’s inside. The pocket isn’t massive sufficient to retailer a hydration bladder (just like the exterior reservoir pocket on some Osprey Packs) as a result of it should barrel into your again, though it’s a useful place to stash a pack of tortillas and heat them up together with your physique warmth.
Backpack Body and Shoulder Straps/Hipbelt
The Beta Lite 45 has two aluminum body stays saved in particular person keep pockets, that are detachable. Load lifters are sewn to the pack physique on the high of the body stays and supply a really safe anchor. It’s good to see load lifters on a backpack of this quantity.
The Beta Lite 45 has three exterior pockets and vest-style shoulder straps impressed by operating backpacks. Nevertheless, the pockets aren’t massive sufficient to retailer gentle bottles, which is a missed alternative from a design standpoint since that is normally one of many advantages of a vest-style shoulder harness. The vest pockets are nonetheless helpful: I shove my Garmin inReach Mini2 into certainly one of them and my iPhone into the opposite, however they’re not optimized for hydration use. If you happen to use this pack, you’ll need to use a hydration system or carry water bottles within the aspect pockets, as attaching accent pockets to the vest straps can be troublesome, given the shortage of daisy chains or different attachment factors.
Regardless of the restrictions of the shoulder strap pockets, the Beta Lite 45 is sort of comfy to hold as a result of the load is distributed extra evenly throughout the back and front of the torso.
The hip belt has two massive pockets to retailer snacks, a telephone, or different odds and ends. It’s related to the pack with velcro inside a sleeve behind your lumbar space. In addition to the pockets and a big central buckle, the hip belt is primary with out additional padding or contours to adapt to totally different genders or hip buildings.
Exterior Attachment Factors and Compression
The Beta Lite has a single tier of aspect compression “cords,” that are girth-hitched on one finish and fasten to wire loops on the different with plastic hooks. They’re threaded with a thick wire, which works, however I discover it awkward to make use of as a result of it’s troublesome to tighten. The good thing about girth-hitching the cords to the pack is that they are often eliminated. Equally, there are two cords on the base of the pack for carrying a foam pad or tent physique, though these aren’t detachable. Apart from that, there’s no ice axe loop or apparent technique to carry trekking poles besides by stuffing them into the pack’s aspect pockets.
Comparable Extremely and Woven Dyneema Backpacks
Suggestion
The Black Diamond Beta Lite 45 is an ultralight inner body backpack made with Extremely 200 and Extremely 400, a extremely sturdy and waterproof cloth. It has vest-style shoulder straps, that are comfy to make use of, even when the pack is closely loaded, as a result of they assist distribute the load throughout your chest, again, and hips. I used to be fairly impressed at how comfy the carry even with heavier hundreds. Whereas sure features of the pack may very well be improved, as famous above, the Beta Lite is among the few ultralight backpacks obtainable at this time on the 45L quantity with a vest-style suspension system and an excellent possibility if it’s essential to carry cumbersome gear and like the texture of vest-style shoulder straps. Examine it towards the Six Moon Designs Swift X 50L and the Nashville Packs Cutaway 40, that are additionally obtainable with vest straps however significantly extra “developed” for backpacking use.
Execs:
- The Extremely 200 and Extremely 400 materials are extremely sturdy
- The inside of the backpack is seam-taped and successfully waterproof
- The vest-style straps present higher load distribution throughout your chest and again
- Big selection of sizes obtainable, together with XS (torso size of 14″ to fifteen.5″)
Cons:
- Vest-style strap pockets can’t maintain water bottles
- Compression cords are awkward to make use of
- The froth bivy pad could be very troublesome to place again as a replacement if eliminated.
Disclosure: Black Diamond donated a pack for evaluate.
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