Paul Petch

Salomon XA25 backpack review

This review will be pretty simple as there’s not much one can write about a pack is there? You put your gear in it and hit the trails right? Well, that’s what I thought until I started spending a lot of time on my feet clambering up and over stuff.

My current pack (a Camelbak Cloud Walker) moves around to much when trail running, it has no feed pouches to eat on the fly, and the hip straps are thin “token crap”  that never secures the pack in any way. After some limited research it came down to two packs, the Camelbak Octane or the Salomon XA25 (catchy!). Both felt great loaded in the store and running about like a frolicking jumping mountain goat! And both felt secured when done up around the waist with a roomy overall capacity close 30l. The Camelbak has a bladder and is less coin than the Salomon…..but it’s damn heavy. The excessive weight of the Octane in the end swayed my decision and $225 later I was out in the hills with the Salomon XA25.

Overall Thoughts

For the packs maiden voyage I loaded it up with about 5- 6KG of gear and ran the Crater Rim race here in the Port Hills Christchurch. Put simply, it blew my mind! It had zero movement and with the waist strap being independent to that of the shoulder straps it never budged the waist location even when I tightened the straps fully. With huge feed pockets and side pouches that could be accessed easily on the fly for gloves, water bottles etc….I knew that I had made a good decision. It is roomy, comfy and fits really well if packed properly. Even though it is rated as a 35l pack, I’ve discovered that it’s best to keep the back as flat as possible to stop it curving and then “pulling” on the shoulder straps when loaded. Of course, all packs should be packed this way, but for some reason the Salomon is particularly uncomfortable if things push into your back. Overall, this pack is super comfy and secure, with the waist strap sitting perfectly for me that keeps things bounce free. Did I mention that it weighs in at under 800g? Nice.

Another cool thing about the XA25 is that you can add a further pouch to the front via a clip system if required, as well as other feed bottle and drink pouches. If I was planning on a 100Km ultra or any unsupported adventures for example this would come in really handy. Of course these additions are not cheap with a 250ml feed bottle and pouch coming in at $25. Hmmmm.

The Bloody Chest Strap

After a few more long runs (3+ hrs) I did notice a kink in the packs armor. There was some tearing on the shoulder strap where the chest strap joins to it. I always use the chest straps on my packs as I find that it secures the upper half of the loaded pack from movement, and it also helps to stop my shoulders rolling back when running. I’m sure that I did not do it up to tight so took it back to the store being 3 weeks old and they swapped it over for a new one. From this point on, I made a point of not over tightening this chest strap “just in case”. When you take a close look at the pack, it is clear that this location in particular is not the strongest part of the pack to save weight, and therefore will always be a concern. The tearing does not stop the pack performing, but will get worse if ripped and I’ve never had issues on any packs in the past that I’ve treated roughly, never mind treated softly!

Fortunatley, the replacement pack has not teared yet, but I dare not tighten this strap and at $225 I would expect better. But it does not stop there :) The designers at Salomon have been quite clever in that the chest strap fits onto the shoulder straps on a kind of “mono rail” whereby you can slide the chest strap up and down to suit your needs. This was a great idea for about 2 weeks until the bugger just slides up without prompt. Before you know it, the strap is near choking you and then just pops off the end of the slidy raily things ™. I can not express to you how effing annoying this is when you are trying to focus and run marathon and ultra marathon distances….holy crap it is like an obsessive twitch where you find yourself constantly looking down to see if it going to pop off! Aside from the annoyance, it is also dangerous…because guiding this strap back onto the rails while running is like talking on a mobile phone when driving……and should never be done! I’m yet to solve this problem, but I’m sure some thread sewn either side of where I want the chest strap to sit will fix the issue. If not……I’ll get someone to sew on some webbing that can accommodate a real chest strap system as seen on my Camelbak. So I suppose at the end of the day- it is a minor annoyance on an otherwise fantastic trail running pack….but it should just not happen.

Some thoughts

Durable zip and stitching. Last thing you want is the zip to fail on you. Without a zip, the pack is totally useless and you don’t want a relatively simple process to become a struggle either. All zips open and close with ease and the hip ones get a real hammering when feeding and to date have never jammed. Everywhere on the pack the stitching is also spot on with major stress areas having a fair amount to cover mishaps and tears. It is just a shame that the shoulder straps are so paper thin where the chest strap joins to them.

Looks nice. You gotta hold this sucker with its bright rip stop nylon and other light weight “bits” as it feels amazing. As an added bonus, I love red outdoor clothing so this pack is a real treat :) On a practical note brighter colours outdoors make sense to me for safety reasons….and you would not believe how hard it is getting to get bright outdoor gear with black being the colour of choice in Christchurch!

Pricing. Unfortunately, our outdoor addictions don’t come cheap and this pack is no different. At $225 this is one expensive day pack, but being one of only a few on the market that caters to long distance runners……what can you do? Interestingly, the same pack can be picked up for $100 cheaper off shore- and next time round I’ll consider that. Overall I think the pack is over priced like most outdoor gear, but seeing as the XA25 does not come with a bladder…..it is a real rip off!

Should you buy it? Well, if you’re into a pack that caters specifically to long runs with easy to reach food pouches and is light weight, comfy and looks awesome then yes. If you are not bothered with eating on the fly, or weight then there are heaps of cheaper alternatives out there such as the Camelbak Octane. For me, I had some requirements of minimizing pack movement, obtaining a great fit and being able to eat on the go…..which this pack met….so I splashed the cash.

Things that I would Change

• The chest strap system. It is a really terrible design.
• A hoop inside the bladder pouch to “hook” a Camelbak bladder to stop it bunching.
• Easier bladder tube routing. Currently it is really tight to get the tube through.

Stats

• 25l capacity. (30l with side pouches etc)
• $225 a pop (ouch!)
• 703g
• Dimensions: 53 x 26 x 25

Having recently run the Kepler Challenge (61.7KM) with no rubbing, chaffing or discomfort……what else can I say? Overall this pack is fantastic, but not perfect and I recommend it. Just keep an eye on that bloody chest strap!

Related posts:

1. Camelbak Cloud Walker back pack review
2. Salomon XT Wings 2 – Trail Running Shoes Review
3. Salsa Fargo 800km update & first review
4. Specialized Enduro tyre review
5. Surly Singleator review

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Gear & Reviews and tagged with camelback, Gear and Reviews, salomon XA25, trail running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.