Fjordalp Splitboard Crampon Bag
What we liked …
Easy to open wearing gloves
What we didn’t
Possibly a tad too big and heavy for the weight obsessed
The Verdict
OUR RATING
5 out of 5
THE SHORT READ…
An easy to access, tough, and durable bag, that is easy to locate in your backpack and will protect your valuable kit from sharp spiky crampons – such as your down jacket or the backpack itself.
The Long Read…
Delving your cold hands into a full to bursting backpack, only to get scratched or worse spiked by something sharp, is a real pain in the arse, well, hand, actually.
If anyone out there is like me, trying to declutter their life, they will find it hard to believe that they actually need more kit, but the Fjordalp Splitboard Bag can help you with your obsessive kit organisation.
It’s big, and when I asked why I was told “It’ll fit the largest karakoram crampon with ease, which was the biggest one we could find.”
Now, if I’m honest I’ve always got on with my Spark R&D splitboard crampon case, it’s very light and works ok, but now that I think about it I do often need to take my gloves off when getting the crampons out, and I defo do to get them back into the bag, as it’s only top loading and the opening is only just big enough. I also keep an emergency pair of Gore-Tex shell only mittens, in-between the crampons when packed away, which makes it even more fiddly when putting the crampons away.
So, when I first unzipped the well thought out Fjordalp bag, while wearing a pair of ridiculously oversized leather mittens, I realised that in fact I do need more kit in my life, to aid its declutterization (yes I know that’s not a word).
I played around with the contents of my backpack and quickly realised that the bag I hate most is my Petzl Leopard LLF Crampon bag, it’s too thin and far too small, I can never get the crampons to fit smugly inside it and it’s always got sharp points when in my bag. Problem solved once the boot crampons go into the Flordalp bag, they fit easily and still have space for other kit that’s not used much, such as bindings spares or fire starting kit…
Now for the tech bit, it’s made of Ecopak fabric, which is tough and puncture resistant and is 100% recyclable (although I’m not sure I could simply pop it into my green bin). It’s double layered and the internal seams are bound and stress points bar-tacked.
The YKK no.8 zip opens on the bag on three sides, with the fourth having a strong handle, and this undoubtably offers easy access to the bag, which can only be useful when on the mountainside, especially if you’re like me and always put your crampons on too late, finding yourself on an icy slope trying not to drop anything.
Kitchen Scales Test - bags only
Fjordalp - 103g
Spark R&D - 21g
Petzl Leopard LLF - 29g
Spark R&D bag
Petzl Leopard LLF bag
SUMMARY…
So, did I know I needed one of these? No!
But now I’ve got one, do I feel like I can throw away my copy of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’? Well, I’d say yes, but you’ve not seen the state of my house…