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Berghaus A-Trek Pro 65 + 10
First Look
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Price: £100.00
(also available as 60+10 women's)
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Weight: 2250 grammes (men's
L)
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Features: Ardura
1000D / Esdura 600 RS fabric (ie: reinforced base), A-Trek
Pro adjustable back system with twin aluminiium staves and
polythene plate in hip-belt sewn into main back frame for
load transfer,chest strap, built-in hydration facility,
side-zipped main entrance, pre-curved 'grabber 'hip fins,
two 5-litre expansion side pockets, weather lock main
compartment closure, base compartment with drawcord divider,
zipped external lid pocket with key clip, zipped internal
lid pocket, twin walking pole / axe holders, top tension
adjusters, compression straps, accessory strap points, base
accessory straps, wand pockets.
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New generation Berghaus backpacking sac
Nowt really
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The
new for 2002 A-Trek Pro is the second of the next generation of
Berghaus backpacks to fall into our sticky paws - the first was the
£150, top-of-the-range
Quartz.
That pack impressed us with its neatly thought out design and some
innovative features and a full test will be on the site soon, but it
comes complete with a hefty price tag.
At around £100, the A-Trek is scrapping with more affordable
all rounders like Lowe's highly effective Skyline, so it needs to
keep its wits about it if it's going to succeed. And the good news
for Berghaus is that it comes out, fists swinging, as a real
contender.
Back System
The back system is an evolution on the established twin-alloy
stave / polythene plate theme, with back length easily adjustable to
suit a claimed range of heights from 5'4" to 6'3" using a
Velcro-fastened tab. Where it really scores is in the way a plate in
the neat, contoured hip-belt fins is sewn directly in to the
backplate and stave confection for more effective load transfer.
It looks like a good idea on paper and so far we reckon it works
well. If anything, with moderate loads its as comfortable than the
Quartz, which some people find slightly 'blocky' in the middle back
region. The density of the foam used for the curved shoulder straps
and the design of the hip-belt are both spot on and you can make fine
adjustments by bending the staves to suit and with the twin top
tension adjusters to pull the top of the sac closer to your
shoulders. There's less padding than the Quartz which might decrease
comfort with very heavy loads.
Body Building
So first impressions are that it's a very stable, comfortable
carry - just 'right' in fact - but what about the rest of it? General
build quality, as you'd expect from the big B, feels excellent with
tough fabric and a reinforced base. You get the standard features
you'd expect like twin-axe loops and wand pockets plus compression
straps and two fold-flat side pockets, which are easy to use.
As with the Quartz though, the icing on the cake comes with some
neat new features. The main compartment is accessible from a separate
curved back panel zip that runs from the compartment divide to the
top and works well, though it could usefully be a few inches wider.
Great for dragging out that spare fleece without having to disembowel
the entire sac.
Other touches we like are the way the lid pocket zip is located on
top of the pocket so you don't need to lay the pack down or risk
spilling the contents to get in there - also a god-send to idiots -
who us? - who forget to do up zips on a habitual basis. Plus the
extended compression strap around the lower compartment pulls the
contents into the hip-belt nicely.
Oh, there's also a hydration system pocket, which we reckon is a
must have for all sacs these days.
Downs?
Criticisms?
We've read some guff about how floating lids let the rain in more
easily, but we prefer them in radical overload situations - with the
A-Trek's extendable, but not floating lid, you can reach a point
where you simply run out of space and force the lid backwards towards
your head. Still, it's an incentive not to carry too much... That's
it really.
Base A-Trek
For £75 you can buy Berghaus's 'entry-level' A-Trek 65 which
shares some of the A-Trek Pro's features but uses a simplified
adjustable single-stave back system. We haven't tried it yet, but our
past experience of sacs using a single, central aluminium stave isn't
positive. We reckon the twin-stave configuration is simply more
stable and effective at transferring load to the hip-belt. You may
save 300 grammes of weight and 25 quid, but unless you're really
strapped for cash, we'd seriously consider the Pro instead. Of course
we might be wrong, but at any rate, try with a load, back to back,
before buying.
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Provisional Verdict: At a
suggested price of £100, our first impressions are that
the A-Trek is an excellent value backpacking sac with a
particularly effective back system. Build quality is well up
to scratch and the detailing is well thought out and neat as
with other new generation Berghaus packs we've tried so far.
The direct transfer of load from back system to the
well-shaped, reinforced hip-belt and the shape and density
of the straps really work well. We also like the easy access
to the main body of the sac, the thoughtfully positioned lid
zip and the built-in hydration system facility that will
take a 2-litre bladder. Also available in a 60 + 10 W
women's specific version. A real contender for best in
class.
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