Just a few 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 aspect 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 often 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 often 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 over and over for adventures close to and much. It supplied 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 every one face the same dilemma: airbags are heavy, cumbersome, and traditionally don’t journey nicely. 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 had been, at the beginning, constructed for skiers shifting 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 depart 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 -
Complete weight
2,786 g (6.14 lbs.) -
Pack quantity choices
32 L, 38 L -
Again lengths
Regular (NL) and brief (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 Overview
Whereas the information isn’t good, one factor is evident: avalanche airbags save lives in sure avalanche situations when deployed appropriately. They achieve this by lowering the prospect that the person will probably be buried by an avalanche by means of granular convection (i.e., larger particles float to the highest of a circulate of particles). Although invented practically 40 years in the past, airbag packs have vastly improved and multiplied in a giant method 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, aside 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 attainable, which can or is probably not outdated pondering 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 easiest ones, and I’m together with the Patrol E2 in that class, include inherent tradeoffs — often 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 an amazing backcountry snowboarding pack, at the beginning, for a variety of actions. It’s nearly as good for simple cruiser days as it’s for lengthy ski mountaineering missions.
Quantity & Pockets
Even for giant outings within the spring, after I wanted extra gear like crampons, a thin rope, and further 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 brief (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 prime of the pocket.
The Patrol comes with an built-in helmet carry web. It tucks right into a small pocket on the base of the pack and deploys with large hooks. It was safe sufficient that I had no issues about stashing an additional layer contained in the helmet. Nothing fell out through 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 via both the left or proper shoulder, the appropriate shoulder’s inside sleeve ended up working for just a few skinny snacks, like CLIF BLOKs. However nonetheless.
Ski Carry
In contrast to some avalanche packs, the Patrol affords three completely 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 together 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 prime of the pack. When the 162L airbag bursts open, it peels open the compartment zipper from these nonconnected tooth. That permits 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 baggage 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 usually averted the diagonal carry methodology.
Snowboarding With the Scott Patrol E2
There’s that saying that applies to security gear. “One of the best ___ is the one that you simply’ll put on.” The Scott Patrol E2 crammed that clean for me.
Apart from a excessive price ticket, the opposite major barrier customers face when contemplating an airbag buy and truly sporting the one they personal is weight. Airbag packs have at all times been heavy.
My first airbag pack weighed 3,371 g (7.4 kilos), and shamefully, I barely used it. Nevertheless, the Alpride E2 is likely one of 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 appropriate route. 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 nasty behavior I fell into with my older pack.
As soon as I had the pack on and received used to the slight weight penalty over a light-weight, non-airbag-equipped backpack, it pale into the background. That’s what I’m at all times on the lookout for after I’m testing backpacks. It rode on my shoulders, hips, and again comfortably sufficient via 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 wherever close to a business airplane with a full CO2 canister. You have to deploy the airbag to empty the canister to get wherever. 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 components, the Scott Patrol E2 doesn’t face any type of journey restriction. You may carry this bag via safety and onto a airplane 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 method, you’ll be able to finally clarify to safety what it’s through the X-ray test. It’s fairly doubtless that the majority safety groups haven’t seen avalanche airbag backpacks earlier than.
Charging the Alpride E2
Supercapacitors aren’t solely lighter than lithium-ion batteries but additionally extra proof against 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 develop the cost of the supercapacitors to 2-4 months of use. Plus, AA batteries will recharge the supercapacitors fairly rapidly after an airbag deployment, making it attainable to deploy the bag a number of instances on a single cost.
It’s a slick system. However there’s one factor that might be improved with the subsequent iteration — charging entry and the on/off swap.
To entry the USB port and the “on” swap, you should absolutely open the principle clamshell-style compartment of the bag (and primarily 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 situation right here. Charging and turning it on earlier than the tour simply takes slightly bit extra forethought. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless annoying. Happily, with AA batteries put in, you don’t have to cost it fairly often, and it solely takes about half-hour whenever you do.
Scott Patrol E2 30 Package Pack: Conclusion
There are various causes to love the Scott Patrol E2 airbag pack. However I preserve 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 received the appropriate pockets (besides on the hips), it rides nicely in your again, and it has sufficient room for the gear you’ll want for a giant day within the backcountry.
Some customers will probably 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 in regards to 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 baggage ($1,499). The designers at Scott managed to discover a good steadiness between value and performance.
Backcountry skiers out there for a brand new airbag-equipped backpack will probably 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.