Gear Review -Black Diamond Demon

Gear Review -Black Diamond Demon

I don’t know about you but I’m not the most organized of people. My climbing gear gets whipped out of my bag and dumped in a box in the corner of the room before loading up with whatever gear is required for the next mission. As a result, the Black Diamond Demon pack is the ideal climbing pack for me. Most of the climbing I do is sport climbing at crags that don’t have long walk ins. The Black Diamond Demon is perfect to fit my rope, rack of draws, ATC, climbing shoes, harness, chalk bag, some food, water and sometimes an extra jacket where needed. The streamlined, minimalist design, without hundreds of unnecessary straps, means that it is the ideal companion when squeezing through ledges and tunnels to get to crags. This also comes in handy if you cycle or ride a motorbike to the crag like I sometimes do.

Depending on the length of your rope and the size of your stomach, you may need to utilize the feature which allows your rope to be strapped to the top of the lid with the help of the webbing found under the Velcro on the top lid. The rope lies across the bag and is fastened on either side with the help of the compression straps. These same compression straps also come in handy to strap your helmet and shoes to the bag if you have too much to take, or if your buddy palms his trad rack off to you because you’ve got a bigger bag.

Black Diamond has also built in some fantastic features that one may take for granted but that I really appreciate, for example the small pocket on the inside under the hood which has a small key ring to ensure secure stowage of keys while at the crag. I appreciate this as I know how irritating it can be to open a pocket and watch your keys slide out and fall into the cravase between the two huge boulders you standing on. Another such feature is the large robust zip pullers that make it easy to still open and close the top zip lid while wearing gloves or when you totally blown after a climb.

The top lid also features a convenient external pocket which is the perfect housing for a guide book and means that it is easily accessible without having to ruffle your other gear to get it out. Furthermore the bag features a removable 20 mm aluminum stay and frame sheet which helps to keep the shape of the bag when it is fully packed and also ensures that you don’t hike in with a caribineer sticking into your back.

In summary, the Black Diamond Demon is a no frills, minimalist bag which is the perfect solution for day trips to the crag.

Some further specs and features:

· 32-36 litre capacity

· Hydration compatible

· Padded hip belt

· Ice axe, trekking pole loop

· Colours: Red Clay/ Coal

· Volume : 34 L

Weight: 1.23 kg

For further details and images visit the Black Diamond website at: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-glbl/shop/climb/climbing-packs/demon