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Gear Review - Black Diamond Dawn Patrol 32 backpack

Henry
1 day ago
4 min read

Caught between a rock and a hard place, a new backpack for ski touring will fill a hole in my ski set up – but will it live up to the expectations of the brand?

I have a few backpacks to hand, the result of purchases or brands sending me gear to test. But I have distinctly fallen out of love with the larger pack that I use for ski touring over the past couple of years, as I have felt around and realised just how high quality the off piste backpack market now is.

The ski backpack market has been on a bit of a warpath of late, with a revolution in design and looks taking hold to make it a more competitive space than ever before. It is in this market that Black Diamond have been crafting their Dawn Patrol range, designed for ski touring and off piste skiing.

Will the Black Diamond Dawn Patrol 32 litre backpack live up to the brand’s not-high reputation of quality? Read on to discover Skiing Unlocked’s review of the Dawn Patrol 32

The Brand

To say that Black Diamond have had a rocky history with ski gear in the past has been an understatement. Founded by Yvon Chounaird – later of Patagonia fame – as a first move into the outdoor equipment market, it now produces a huge range of skiing, climbing, hiking and camping equipment.

It’s recent history, however, has been more mixed. Poor management of a transceiver recall by sister brand Pieps – effectively part of the Black Diamond family – soured the brand with many hardcore skiers.

But that has been on the change over the last few years, and the Salt Lake City, Utah-based brand has been quietly building a reputation as a high quality ski brand to compete with the best of them. Their ski clothing has been at the head of the pack in terms of look and quality, and the Dawn Patrol enters the fray as their feature skiing backpack.

The Gear

The Dawn Patrol 32 occupies the middle ground of many things; its volume (32 litres) sits at the top end of the Dawn Patrol range (others being 25 and 15l), but is still small enough to be a daypack and big enough to get away as a multi-day pack (if packing light).

Similarly, it is not overly lightweight, featuring robust panels and reinforcement where you need it, but also not overly heavy, again stressing that this is a day pack but it can be used for serious tours and days in the off piste.

It is also packed with features. Access to two of the three main pockets is via the top of the bag, including the avalanche gear pocket located in the front. Whilst I would normally have reservations about this, the top of the pocket is clearly marked and unzips easily, the top 10-inches pulling down to provide really super easy access to your avi gear when you need it. This was a really clear indication of the thought and experience that has gone into designing this piece, and really high quality note to kick things off.

Moving backwards, you find a dump pocket, fleece lined to protect against scratching goggle lenses and sunglasses. This thing is huge; I stashed so much crap in here, it was incredible. Cameras, GoPros, goggle lenses, energy gels, everything. It was a bit like Mary Poppins’ handbag.

Finally, you have the main pocket of the back. This thing is huge, and it feels even bigger because it is accessed through the back panel which pulls away in its entirety. This means there is no rummaging around in dark and cramped space to find whatever you need; it is just there. This is so useful and meant I could take everything with me without fear of being overloaded.

The front of the back features a strap for pretty much everything, including a-framing or cross-carrying your skis, and stashing poles and ice axes; yet more proof that this is designed for the toughest of backcountry days. The helmet stowage is also really well thought out, with its own stuff pocket that can be accessed easily even with gloves on, and remains secure when stuffed back in so there is no fear of it coming off mid-ski.

Finally, the straps. Really comfortable, these are reinforced and padded on both the shoulders and the hips to make for easy all-day heavyweight carrying. They are also blessed with large dump pockets on the hips – perfect for stashing skins or skin liners – and a small pocket on the left-hand shoulder strap, for a GPS tracker, Garmin InReach, or, in my case, a fistful of gummi bears as my emergency fuel …

Drawbacks

There are a couple of drawbacks that I feel I need to draw attention to; not deal breakers by any stretch of the imagination, however.

The front of the bag has a strap for every purpose, but they can get in the way. You’ll find yourself reaching for your chest strap and instead find you’ve pulled the a-framing strap out of its holster. Frustrating in the moment but something that is soon forgotten.

And remember that huge dump pocket in the top of the bag? Well, this sits down into the main pocket of the bag, eating up a not insignificant amount of space in that main pocket. This meant it is more suitable as an organisational tool rather than as a bit of extra space.

Final Thoughts

I was really pleased with this piece. It looks and feels great straight out of the box, and it is packed full of features that are right where you need them to be, right when you need them to be. It can keep up with you on the thoughts of off piste days and longest of skin tracks. For most of it, I simply didn’t have to think about it, a glorious feeling when organising gear for a ski day.

Fundamentally, the Dawn Patrol 32 litre ticks off everything you could possible want in a ski backpack, and, quite simply, I loved it.