LF 40L

Have now used this about 5 times, and continue to be impressed - great design, comfort and ease of use. And finally, an exterior ski pocket/sleeve that is big enough (and deep enough) for modern skins - THANK YOU! The pack shape is great for fitting things in, and so far I have not needed to use the extension (and BRILLIANT for how Kyle got it to fold up nicely!)

Areas for improvement - not a fan of the stretch belt pocket on the left, either needs to be tightened up or replaced with a real side pocket. I wish there was a clever way to better seal the main area with the drawstring as no matter what I do, I get a small opening and it’s a PITA when it is snowing hard (maybe some simple flap?). Finally I’d like to see some dedicated slots on each of the shoulder straps (maybe vertical ones like Hyperlite packs have) for clipping in Rocky Talkies, pockets for phones, etc etc.

The BEST ski touring pack ever, by FAR!

Greetings from the coastal mountains in Terrace, BC. I ordered the Tall pack by mistake, but Raide came through with excellent customer service, aiding in helping me find another home for it. I'm 6'2" and the Medium fits very well and is a noticeably more compact bag in a good way. For day tours, I've been rolling up the top and using the cinch compartment for sunglasses, hat/toque, goggle bag, Buff, under gloves. Depending on how packed your bag is you obviously have to be careful using the back panel zip (so items don't fly out), but the flexibility of the panel is wonderful for peeling it open half way, mid-up track or steep slope item grabs. The back panel interior zipper pocket is plenty roomy/stretchy for inreach, keys, hotpacks, headlamps, additional snacks, wallet etc. It is very evident this bag is geared toward those carrying lowest profile/least volume gear on the market. The Tall bag will fit my 112mm-width teal Pomoca skins side-by-side width wise, the Medium you have to stack the skins on top of each other. The pink pomoca's fold way slimmer than teal, so don't bother putting anything in the front zip pocket if you want to slide you skins in with ease (as others have mentioned). I chose to stash my headlamp and ski straps in the front zip and it was causing issue with skins/plates stash pocket tightness. I haven't noted any issues with "sterum strap ride up" and believe the quick stash hip belt pocket works well for lip balm, smaller snacks and I don't ever see anything falling out. I haven't tried the left hip pocket for my phone yet, but imagine that's the best spot to store it. Ive gotten snow that has ice up into the hip belt buckle but had zero issues buckling it closed! I don't imagine many skiers/boarders using this bag would be wearing their helmets with ear covers, but it's worth noting your helmet won't fit well into the carry if you do so. I have a large Oakley helmet and it just slides into pouch and the helmet carry strap just reaches the closure bucket when doubling back the strap through the front holder loop...so great work on the tolerances there. As others mentioned, it travels very nicely as a carry-on bag.The bag rides very light and very comfortable and I hope to use it for a very long time to come, including some camping and multi-day missions, which I have not gotten to at the time of this review.

This is the most functional and versatile touring/backcountry/mountaineering pack I’ve ever used. I’m five ten, of standard body proportions, and have a first generation small and a v2 medium. They both fit well, with the medium coming in with a more glove like fit, albeit at 200grams heavier. Six points of note -
1.the raide pack v2 puts the avvy gear completely out of way till emergency, when access is then made from the intuitively opposite side of the working end of the pack, its bottom, allowing gravity to help with rescue tool retrieval while the pack stays on. This single stroke of genius simultaneously cleans up the pack interior of all the odd partitions, clips and zips that used to clutter the trad avvy pack.
2.The front zipper under the helmet holder in version#1 has now been moved to the back of the pack, just above the shoulder harness for quicker access underneath the top layer, cleaning up the previously inconvenient layered access from the front pouch.
3.The helmet holder is a dream device that multitasks for a ski cap/goggle pouch and temporary ski jacket clinch on less cold days while climbing, if a helmet is not part of one’s cache.
4.the straps are all lightweight and minimal without feeling so, providing sufficient width and comfort for a secure fit without compromise to weight. The new buckles are more traditional but not necessarily easier to work than in v1, provided the left buckle in v1 has a slim pull threaded through it to make fastening a breeze. Straps are a touch shorter with less unnecessary excess and slack
5.The only improvements I can think of would be 1.to change the colour of the zipper pulls - they’re very well made with rubberised material heat shrunk around the nylon and knobs of the pull, but with the current colour combo of white specks on black, make them less immediately discernible, especially in conditions of snowfall. Perhaps just the heatshrunk bits could be in red or orange. 2.the shovel zipper ends too far up the side of the pack, making it difficult for the only hand, the left one, to reach back and up to, in that moment of emergency. Four inches lower would make it immediately reachable, and still allow a huge mouth for the shovel blade to descend. I currently have a longer pull attached to the zipper for better reach.
6.Last, I do not live in a place I can access snow by any other way than via flight. Meaning I have to conserve as much weight as possible, in order to keep it all within baggage allowable, making the use of a dedicated carry-on a luxury I cannot afford. The raide LF40L does double duty as my carry on, fitting a pair of tech boots, base/mid layers, shell jacket and overalls, socks, gloves, ski caps/beanie, mitts, goggles, sunglasses, toiletries, powerbank, charger, cables and passport comfortably, if not perfectly. And it’s small enough on my back that I’m never asked to have it weighed, coming in under 8 kilos even if so.
It’s an amazing little multitasker ; )

For those wondering, don’t bother with the 30 litre pack - the LF40 compresses down pint sized when space isn’t needed, and goes huge when it is - it’s truly the best ski/mountaineering pack made today. Love it : )

Kevin

I've owned a lot of bags and I could never find one that worked well for all types of ski touring. Depending on the tour, I might need a bag anywhere from 32-50L. I was always switching between bags and would end up forgetting something or being disorganized. I've got a couple of bags from the other big dyneema bag company and the raide bag takes the cake. Living in the PNW and often climbing volcanoes I need to bring sharp pointy things. This bag carries technical tools well and even protects the pick heads. The full back zip is the best option to get to all your gear without emptying out the bag. The roll top design is useful and unique. I could go on and on. A few things I think could be improved- the back outer zip pocket is hard to use for much when my pack is full. I haven't figured out what to keep in it yet. The diagonal carry strap could use an easier storage method. It would also be nice to have a vertical snowboard carry without having to give up your side buckles. For instance if I had tent, sleeping pads, or pickets strapped to the sides I couldn't vertical carry the board. Maybe some kind of external crampon carry would be nice. Awesome bag and stoked to see the future products from this company.

Light weight, comfortable, simple, well designed storage, quick access to probe, sleek design. I am very happy with my new 40L bag AND other Raide backpack owners i meet on the trails share the stoke on the bag. Highly recommended.