Review of Kare and Descensionist Backcountry Backpacks
Klattermusen Kare 30L - Patagonia Descensionist 40L
Klattermusen Kare - 30L
Price - £299
Weight - 1200g
Main Body Construction -
Retina®, 50% Post-Consumer Recycled
Polyamide, 50% Pre-Consumer Recycled
Patagonia Descensionist - 40L
Price - £230
Weight - 1300g
Main Body Construction -
420 denier, 100% recycled Nylon Ripstop
Both the Klattermusen Kare and the Patagonia Descensionist are designed for backcountry skiing and snowboarding. The first noticeable difference, other than the additional 10L of space in the Descensionist, is the more robust feel of the Kare.
Most of the buckles of the Kare are aluminium, as are the closing clips and snowboard strap adjustments, while the Descensionist are plastic, and while I’ve only ever had it happen a couple of times, I have had people stand on plastic hip strap buckles and break them in the past. But I’m sure the Patagonia clips will do their job if treated with a little respect.
Another noticeable difference is that the Klattermusen Kare has multiple attachment cord loops, but these are very small and would be easier to use with a carabiner if they were ever so slightly larger. There’s also a large elasticated figure of eight cord, which you could stuff a jacket behind if the bag was full, but I’m not sure I’d trust it not to fall off and would attach anything stuffed behind it onto one of the many cord loops too.
Both have good chest strap adjustment, the Patagonia has 5 placements loops while the Klattermusen has 8, the Kare also has a whistle incorporated into the chest buckle. Both have wide, comfortable and fully adjustable shoulder straps.
The Descensionist has two good sized, zipped pockets on the wide hip belt that you’ll easily get a phone, small camera, woolly hat, trail mix, etc. into, made from the same ripstop as the main bag. The Kare only has one pocket which is made from an elasticated fabric, and will be full with a woolly hat, or a phone and snood. There is the option to buy a coms-pocket for £40, more on that later.
Klattermusen Kare Storage
There are two defined sections to the Kare, the semi open avalanche section, with ample space for your probe and shovel, I say semi open as it’s closed by a flap with one single red buckle, pictured above left. There’s also an elasticated flap which allows you to attach your helmet or extend the area’s capacity. What I really like about this section is the ease of entry, it really speeds up deploying your safety kit, and there’s space at the bottom of this section for small items, such as spare gloves but to keep them dry I’d put them inside a stuff sack.
The top of the bag has a large fleece lined, zipped goggle pocket, which will keep glasses, etc. good and safe.
The storage section of the bag is accessed by a full zip, so in reality you need to take the bag off to get inside. There’s plenty of space for crampons, skins, lunch or similar, but it’s not big enough for an overnight trip. It also has a zipped flap pocket which is great for flat-ish objects and car keys, would have been nice to have a clip in there to keep your keys super safe.
There’s a cleverly designed hole to let a rope through, you’d probably never notice it if you weren’t looking for it, but it’s very handy for short roping.
Patagonia Descensionist storage
A horizontal zip opens the avalanche pocket, which is very large and will swallow up your safety kit plus a few other bits and bobs if that’s how you like to pack. The way the zip opens you have to enter this section in a downward way only and it would be nice if it opened a little wider.
The top flap is very minimalist and has an unlined pocket just big enough for a pair of goggles in their own protective bag.
The voluminous main section is either accessed by a pull cord top opening or a horizontal zip on one side. You can load the Descensionist to the max and it will swallow up all your splitboard kit with ease, unless you have a large tent with you too, but it’s not as easy to find your kit once stuffed inside as the Kare is, as both the Descensionist’s openings while functional, are on the small side.
The internal flap pocket is of a good size and does have a clip for your keys, and is also a good place to keep the helmet net (see below) and snowboard straps if you want to take them off.
The fixed side compression straps work perfectly and there is a set of removable, thin, but perfectly sufficient, snowboard carrying straps, that connect to the compression straps, an ice-axe loop and a larger ski loop, both of which can be tucked away while not in use.
The Kare has two metal ice-axe attachment things (can’t think what to call them) which work really well, as long as your axe has a suitable hole, otherwise you have to simply use the elastic they’re attached to, which isn’t great. The snowboard straps are very strong and partially coated with a sort of flexible rubber and they also double as compression straps, but I did find if the bag isn’t full or you forget to pull the straps tight the buckles can come undone, but they won’t fall off, just dangle.
The Patagonia Descensionist comes with a removable helmet net which you have to store within the bag, which is all good but it would be better if it was attached at one corner and had a little stuff pocket like you would find on lots of bags.
Both packs fit perfectly on your back and I found neither came loose or swung around at all while I was leaping around on my board. The small maroon bag below is the Kare communications pocket, which attaches to the left shoulder strap. I found it to be really useful, as I used it for my phone which I repeatedly got out to take photos and look at a digital map, but the £39 extra feels a little steep, even if it is insulated and kept my phone from losing too much battery life. I have to admit, it took me a few days to trust that it wouldn’t pop open but it never did.
I’ve written more about the Kare, but that’s not because I like it more, it’s because its really design focused, whereas the Patagonia is super stripped back and functional, nothing extra - no bells and whistles, just a solid bag that does what you need.
If I had to choose one of these I’d simply ask myself what I want my bag to do, and how much space do I need?
If its day tours and resort riding/boot packing then the Kare is the one, especially if you like to be able to see all the bag’s contents at the same time. On the other hand, if you need to carry lots of kit, such as a drone, a large camera lens or even kit for an overnight stay, then the Descensionist is a better bet, but you may find yourself unpacking half the bag to find what you're looking for.