A couple of seconds after my ski associate and I dropped right into a steep north-facing couloir in Colorado’s Tenmile Vary, we pulled off to the facet right into a protected shelf. The couloir was unexpectedly plastered with powder deep into Might. We double-checked the snow’s stability after which continued. However I used to be nonetheless glad to be sporting Scott’s new Patrol E2 airbag pack ($1,300) as an added layer of security.
It was a weird spring for backcountry snowboarding in Colorado final season. The place avalanche hazard normally fades, we discovered ourselves snowboarding powder and beneficiant snowpacks deep into Might, battling with the snowpack instabilities that include it.
The place I might have normally stowed my airbag pack for the season in favor of a lighter, extra voluminous backcountry ski pack, I discovered myself confiding within the Patrol E2 airbag pack time and again for adventures close to and much. It offered an additional margin of security for noticeably much less tradeoff than different choices available on the market.
In brief: The avalanche airbag backpack discipline is crowded with packs that each one face the same dilemma: airbags are heavy, cumbersome, and traditionally don’t journey effectively. Scott clearly put within the R&D with these ubiquitous points in thoughts once they designed and developed the Patrol E2 30L. It’s a pack whose options have been, initially, constructed for skiers transferring within the mountains.
That’s complemented by one of many lightest and most compact airbag methods available on the market, the Alpride E2, which takes up far much less pack quantity than different methods and likewise occurs to journey higher than its opponents. It doesn’t go away me with many excuses to go away it behind — the mark of nice security gear.
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Value
$1,300 -
Airbag quantity
162 L -
Whole weight
2,786 g (6.14 lbs.) -
Pack quantity choices
32 L, 38 L -
Again lengths
Regular (NL) and quick (SL)
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Airline journey pleasant -
Wonderful function set -
Fast-charging and nice battery life with AA batteries put in -
Compact airbag system
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On/off swap and charging tough to entry -
No hip pockets
Scott Patrol E2 30 Package Pack Assessment
Whereas the information isn’t excellent, one factor is evident: avalanche airbags save lives in sure avalanche situations when deployed appropriately. They accomplish that by lowering the prospect that the consumer can be buried by an avalanche by the use of granular convection (i.e., greater particles float to the highest of a stream of particles). Although invented almost 40 years in the past, airbag packs have vastly improved and multiplied in a giant means during the last decade.
GearJunkie has examined the comparatively new Alpride E2 airbag system in a number of packs, together with the Deuter Alproof Pack. This second-generation airbag from Alpride is 40% smaller and lighter than the E1 model, a giant step ahead from canister methods.
From a broader perspective, it’s one of many lightest and most compact airbag methods available on the market, apart from perhaps the LiTRIC system within the Arc’teryx Micon LiTRIC and Ortovox Avabag Litric hitting shops this fall after a recall delayed its launch.
I used to be a sluggish convert to digital airbags, totally on precept. I attempt carrying as few digital issues into the backcountry as potential, which can or will not be outdated considering at this level. Electronics are clearly extra dependable than ever. This Scott Patrol E2 has some main benefits over the canister methods I’ve been utilizing during the last decade.
Ski Pack Options
Integrating an airbag system right into a backpack is a feat of engineering and design. Even the perfect ones, and I’m together with the Patrol E2 in that class, include inherent tradeoffs — normally skiability, weight, value, and quantity. However Scott did an exceptional job of addressing these tradeoffs head-on with this pack.
Right here’s what stood out to me above all else: Scott designed the Patrol to be a terrific backcountry snowboarding pack, initially, for a variety of actions. It’s nearly as good for straightforward cruiser days as it’s for lengthy ski mountaineering missions.
Quantity & Pockets
Even for large outings within the spring, after I wanted extra gear like crampons, a thin rope, and additional meals, the 32L Patrol E2 felt simply roomy sufficient. That’s not one thing I can say for each airbag pack on this quantity class. For even longer days and hut journeys, Scott additionally makes a extra voluminous 38L Patrol.
Like all devoted ski packs, it has a giant, exterior avalanche instruments pocket. That pocket has loads of room for bigger shovels and a 300mm probe. I even ended up stashing my quick (65cm) Black Diamond Venom LT ice instrument in there to maintain issues tidy on the surface. Even then, there was simply sufficient room for my ski crampons on the high of the pocket.
The Patrol comes with an built-in helmet carry internet. It tucks right into a small pocket on the base of the pack and deploys with huge hooks. It was safe sufficient that I had no considerations about stashing an additional layer contained in the helmet. Nothing fell out in the course of the check interval.
The Patrol E2 doesn’t have hip belt pockets. That’s my solely actual gripe with the format. I might love a pair of hip pockets sufficiently big for snacks. As a result of the airbag set off is designed to route by both the left or proper shoulder, the proper shoulder’s inner sleeve ended up working for just a few skinny snacks, like CLIF BLOKs. However nonetheless.
Ski Carry
Not like some avalanche packs, the Patrol affords three totally different ski carry choices: A-Body, diagonal, and vertical. All of these choices turn out to be useful in numerous conditions. With smaller packs like this one, I are likely to go along with the vertical configuration when my helmet and ice axe are strapped to the surface.
Many airbag packs, together with the Patrol E2, depend on just a few inches of nonlocking triangular zipper tooth on the high of the pack. When the 162L airbag bursts open, it peels open the compartment zipper from these nonconnected tooth. That enables the airbag to deploy in full in about 3 seconds. The zipper is simply safe sufficient that it doesn’t burst open throughout regular use, even when the backpack is overstuffed.
Nevertheless, like different luggage I’ve tried, the airbag part can pull open when carrying heavier skis diagonally after a great bounce. It’s not a day-ender, in fact. You simply have to take the pack off and rezip the compartment closed, however it’s the explanation I’ve typically prevented the diagonal carry methodology.
Snowboarding With the Scott Patrol E2
There’s that saying that applies to security gear. “The perfect ___ is the one that you just’ll put on.” The Scott Patrol E2 stuffed that clean for me.
Aside from a excessive price ticket, the opposite main barrier customers face when contemplating an airbag buy and truly sporting the one they personal is weight. Airbag packs have all the time been heavy.
My first airbag pack weighed 3,371 g (7.4 kilos), and shamefully, I barely used it. Nevertheless, the Alpride E2 is among the lightest airbag methods available on the market. The Scott Patrol E2 pack weighed in at a verified 2,786 g (6.14 kilos).
So, whereas it’s not an absolute featherweight in comparison with my 1,005g non-airbag-equipped Blue Ice Kume 40, the Patrol E2 is a big step in the proper course. I felt that on the pores and skin monitor and the descents.
I wasn’t crushed by the load of an airbag pack, crampons, and cord throughout lengthy days within the spring. And I by no means hesitated to seize it for extra informal laps midwinter, which is a foul behavior I fell into with my older pack.
As soon as I had the pack on and bought used to the slight weight penalty over a light-weight, non-airbag-equipped backpack, it light into the background. That’s what I’m all the time in search of after I’m testing backpacks. It rode on my shoulders, hips, and again comfortably sufficient by good and unhealthy snow alike. It didn’t bounce round — it simply felt secure.
Touring With Airbag Packs
Canister methods are an enormous ache to fly with. You and your pack aren’t getting anyplace close to a business airplane with a full CO2 canister. You should deploy the airbag to empty the canister to get anyplace. Then, you’ll have to discover a place to refill it when you get to your vacation spot.
The Patrol E2’s Alpride System as a substitute makes use of a completely electrical system. It has a radial compressor fan powered by a supercapacitor and backup AA batteries.
As a result of there aren’t any lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors are passive digital parts, the Scott Patrol E2 doesn’t face any type of journey restriction. You possibly can carry this bag by safety and onto a aircraft or put it in a checked bag.
After I reached out to Switzerland-based Alpride for extra particulars on this, they famous that it’s typically higher, in its expertise, to take it into the cabin. That means, you may ultimately clarify to safety what it’s in the course of the X-ray verify. It’s fairly probably that almost all safety groups haven’t seen avalanche airbag backpacks earlier than.
Charging the Alpride E2
Supercapacitors aren’t solely lighter than lithium-ion batteries but in addition extra immune to freezing. So that they make sense for the chilly situations that we ski in. The supercapacitor alone will maintain a cost for 15-30 hours.
There are additionally slots for 2 AA batteries, which vastly broaden the cost of the supercapacitors to 2-4 months of use. Plus, AA batteries will recharge the supercapacitors reasonably rapidly after an airbag deployment, making it potential to deploy the bag a number of occasions on a single cost.
It’s a slick system. However there’s one factor that might be improved with the following iteration — charging entry and the on/off swap.
To entry the USB port and the “on” swap, you’ll want to absolutely open the primary clamshell-style compartment of the bag (and basically take away all of your gear from that pocket) and zip open the E2’s protecting cowl. It’s clunky for a $1,300 backpack.
By way of performance, there’s zero concern right here. Charging and turning it on earlier than the tour simply takes slightly bit extra forethought. However it’s nonetheless annoying. Luckily, with AA batteries put in, you don’t have to cost it fairly often, and it solely takes about half-hour if you do.
Scott Patrol E2 30 Package Pack: Conclusion
There are various causes to love the Scott Patrol E2 airbag pack. However I maintain coming again to its easy performance and considerate design.
Above all else, it’s designed for backcountry skiers who want one pack to do all of it. It’s bought the proper pockets (besides on the hips), it rides effectively in your again, and it has sufficient room for the gear you’ll want for a giant day within the backcountry.
Some customers can be thrilled with the airplane-friendly airbag system. This pack travels much better than its canister opponents. It opens up a layer of security in far-off ski locations that canister methods merely can’t.
At $1,300, there’s nothing cheap concerning the Patrol E2. The Alpride E2 system is rather more costly than canister methods, like these present in Mammut’s Professional 35 Detachable Airbag 3.0 ($890).
Nevertheless, the backpack is cheaper than Arc’teryx’s new digital Micon LiTRIC 32 airbag pack ($1,600) and Black Diamond’s Jetforce luggage ($1,499). The designers at Scott managed to discover a good steadiness between value and performance.
Backcountry skiers available in the market for a brand new airbag-equipped backpack can be hard-pressed to discover a higher choice than the Scott Patrol E2. Till some loopy new compact, light-weight airbag expertise comes alongside, the Patrol will proceed to drift above the pack by way of performance and affordable weight. I’ll be reaching for all of it season.
