Lowe Alpine Edge 26 Backpack

Product Information

The material in most frequent use here is Polyester, which has been created to tolerate significant stresses and strains and serve you well for many months and years until it is time to get a newer version. There are openings both at the top and the side, which makes accessing the contents a little easier. The lid has a medium-sized, zipped pocket, within which is a plastic key loop on a short webbing strap.

The struts of the frame are slightly curved and impinge a little on space in the compartment, but not to any great degree and the pack accommodated our usual load.

If you’ve more gear to accommodate, you can roll the top down just a little, knowing the zip will contain your contents, to give extra space up to 35 litres. The Kiwi 20 is a nicely retro-styled pack aimed at the urban user and commuter, while being sturdy enough for countryside excursions. A captive plastic buckle runs along the webbing and length adjustment is by pulling up on the spare strapping.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. For walking, the rucksack was comfortable though the lack of any back ventilation did create a build-up of moisture in that area.

Sometimes due to weather, technical or other unforeseen circumstances the ferry serving the Isle of Arran may not run for a day or more. The lack of a metal frame meant heavier loads didn’t feel quite as stable, but the fabric of the pack was robust enough to support most loads.

I found this very useful for getting to items towards the bottom of the rucksack, without removing all the contents via the top opening. The lack of waist or hip belt means the Stone 15 is limited in the weight that can be comfortably carried, but at 15 litres capacity, it’s unlikely you’re going to pack a huge amount. There’s a large, open-topped stretch mesh pocket which is useful for stuffing wet gear in if you want to keep it separate. This is designed to keep wet items such as clothing in without them coming into contact with other items in the compartment. The sternum strap, which has an elasticated section, adjusts a little for height by sliding up and down webbing on each harness strap.The sternum strap has continuously variable height adjustment on rails and the buckle incorporates a whistle.