Susan Vittery checks out Berghaus's £100 women's backpacking loadhauler complete with the award-winning Bioflex back system. Ideal for tackling extreme stiles...
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Price:
£100
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Weight: 2.39kg
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Features: Ardura 1000, Esdura 600, and Esdura 600 RS fabrics, BioFlex?, EVABreathe? Matrix Foam technology back system, gripper breather hip fins, shock cord front, internal 2 litre hydration pocket, rain cover.
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The Bioflex back system - general carrying comfort, even with a large load.
 Lack of extension on the lid; ease of use of the water bottle pockets.
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What's It For?
The C7 1 Series of rucksacks were amongst the first to feature the Bioflex back system - Berghaus's award-winning rucksack innovation. Whereas the backs of conventional load-hauling rucksacks tend to act as a splint and limit mobility and natural movement of your hips and lower body when, say, steeping up or crossing a stile, the Bioflex system was designed to bend and move with your body.
The C7 1 Series isn't the only pack range to feature the system. Higher up the price range you have the C7 Pro Series, which retails at about £180 per pack. This is a more budget version at a pretty reasonable £100.
The Bioflex back system emerged in the women's range of rucksacks at the same time as the men's, but women generally have shorter backs and narrower shoulders than men so the Women's C7 1 Series pack is shorter in the back and narrower in the shoulder - all very sensible really:-) The padding at the top of the back in the 2006 version also works as a single unit, rather than two separate upper back/shoulder pads, as on the originals.
Capacity is 60 + 10 litres, so it's a good multi-day trekking option. In a nutshell then, load carrying but with mobility and comfort.
The Techy Bits
The Bioflex System looks complex but the basic idea is that the hip belt and the back support can all move independently to reflect your body's movements. So, the back rest is 'attached' to two vertical rods, but only by means of (sturdy) fabric loops which encircle them. This means the back rest can slide up and down as you bend forward or backwards and your back extends and compresses - think fastening your shoe laces with your pack on. Bending down is much, much easier than it would be with a conventional system.
The hip pads form a semi-separate part of the pack and are only attached to the backrest by delrin rods. This means that the two can twist independently if you look over your shoulder, or any other lateral contortion. That way, sideways movements are taken care of, just as the sliding back rest takes care of up and down movements. As your hips twist slightly, and rise and fall slightly, as you walk, you should feel the benefits in comfort and stability all the time.
How It Performs
In terms of flexibility and general ease of movement, the Bioflex is benuinely innovative. We loaded it up as heavily as we could without falling over (we're talking a full climbing rack, rope, overnight gear, and a couple of ice axes on the back for good measure). With all that on our back, the limiting factor on our movement was our own strength, rather than the restrictions of the pack. It shifts well to reflect the movement of your hips and doesn't throw you off balance if you turn around, as the pack moves with your body much more than a conventional back system would allow. We also found the hip padding comfortable with its gathered-in section in the centre, resting directly above the hip bone, and more padded sections resting above and below.
The fit's more difficult to comment on because it's a personal thing. We found the shoulder straps were placed very slightly further apart than we would have liked, so if you're particularly narrow in the shoulders try carefully before buying. Otherwise, you shouldn't have any problem.
A couple of more general glitches bothered us: one was the lid, which isn't fully floating with no rear adjustment straps. This means that if you use the full capacity of the body of the pack, you can't fully close the lid - and we're not talking about over-filling the body, just using the capacity that's there. OK, so gear is increasingly lightweight and compact, and really large volume packs are less and less important as a result, but there's still no point in providing space in the body of a pack that you can't actually use.
Our other quibble was with the water bottle pouches at the side of the pack, which can be pretty handy on a long trek. They're very wide at the opening but quickly narrow to the point where it's quite hard to tuck a waterbottle in without exercising a bit more effort than you'd like when you're struggling up a long ascent. Hence, the water bottle always feels like it's a bit close to the top of the pocket and liable to fall out. They really need re-shaping.
The other features are all pretty well placed. There are loops on both sides so you can stow your sleeping mat or tent, if that's where you like to keep them. There are also side pockets underneath, which open at the rear, so you can still just about get at them even with a carry mat on top. On the other hand, if you're going to be passing through any narrow spaces or have a part-loaded pack, you'lll be glad of the side compression-straps.
What else? There are two loops for ice axes or walking poles (velcro only, so you have to be careful to attach them well. You also need to be careful not to let them get gunged up with bits of grass and the like if they're going to continue working). The pack's hydration system compatible although the hydration system can be hard to access and re-fill once the pack's loaded - a common problem - so either take a full day's supply or use water bottles to supplement your bladder. To round off the package, the hood has a roomy pocket (with a toggle, so you can open it with gloves on), a waterproof cover with its own pocket, and a waterproof internal pocket for valuables.
Just one more thing. We quite like the 'Bergbuckle' which you see across the range of Berghaus packs - we used it on the Freeflow recently. In really thick gloves it's slightly harder to do up than the standard 'compressible-fork' shaped buckle that you see on most packs. Like riding a bike though, once you've got the hang, you automatically try to fasten all rucksacks that way. It feels nice and clean somehow, with no unnecessary pieces that could snap off. Not that buckles are normally rocket science anyway, but even so, why make things more complicated than you need to?
On the whole, it's a sturdy design that's well reinforced in the right places - most notably, the double thickness base. The price you pay for this, and particularly for the back system, is that it's not the lightest of designs. The C7 1 Series is considerably lighter than the C7 Pro Series, but it's still not the lightest design on the market, if you're a gram counter. It just depends whether stability and comfort, or those few extra grams, are your main priority.
A sturdy, well-made pack at a decent price especially considering the advanced back system. Bioflex really does allow you to carry heavy loads comfortably, without restricting your movement as much as the traditional set-up and is a revelation on stile crossings or anywhere else where balance and mobility count. We liked it a lot.
A couple of features we weren't so happy with were the fit of the lid, which won't close properly if you fill the pack to capacity, and the side pockets, which don't fit the shape of a water bottle very well. Other than that, it's got all the features you'd expect from a high-volume pack - ice axe loops, a roomy hood pocket, a waterproof cover, compression straps, and a separate sleeping bag compartment.
The Bioflex gubbins do look a little fragile, but we'd stress that our long-term Bioflex pack is still going strong with no damage to the back system despite UK backpacking trips and a trek to Everest base camp.
The pack fits the fmeale body well, so long as your shoulders aren't too narrow - it has narrower straps and a shorter back than men's packs. One thing to note is that it's not the lightest pack on the market, at 2.39kg, although it's not too bad - that's the price you pay for the comfortable back system.
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Performance
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Value
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