Neel Parikh

Everyone knows that I’m a bit of a backpack whore… I broke through the denial a few months back, and came to the realization that I had far too many packs for any grown adult male. I ended up flipping a few that I wasn’t using on Kijiji, and began searching for a good all-round climbing pack. I was also sick of carrying around a gear bag + a rope bag, so whatever i got had to be able to fit both. My other criteria were: It had to be comfortable, reasonably waterproof or at least water shedding, and have enough room to store (in addition to a 60m rope) shoes, harness, chalk, a sport/trad rack, a water bottle, some snacks, and some other smaller emergency items.

When REI came out with it’s seasonal 20% off coupon, I figured it was time to pull the trigger, and took a gamble on the Mammut Neon Gear 45. Having never seen one in person, let alone tried it on, I was a little skeptical, but after breaking it in on a trip to Lion’s Head, a couple trips to Mt Nemo, and more recently, a week in Squamish, I am completely sold. This is one of the most versatile climbing packs I’ve ever used, and will likely be the only climbing/cragging pack I will ever need in the foreseeable future. (See how I worded that for when I eventually do cave in and buy another pack?)

So what makes this pack stand out in the crowd?

Tonnes of space without having the feeling of being a “big” pack. It swallows everything in my gear list like a black hole, and still has a bit of room to spare! The combo of back-load and top-load zippers makes loading and gaining access to your stuff a breeze. Unlike most top-load packs, you don’t need to empty out everything to grab something from the bottom. Everywhere I go people comment on the convenience of the back-load design. It’s actually quite shocking that it’s not more commonplace in packs.

Everybody loves gear loops. If for some reason, 45L just isn’t enough space, there are plenty of gear loops to clip extra gear on the back. And if you don’t want to store your rope inside the pack, or happen to be carrying an extra rap line, there’s a handy tie-down strap on the top that’ll take good care of your beloved cordage.

Plenty of mesh interior pockets and dividers help keep your gear organized, and there’s even a rope tarp to keep that Kentucky sandstone from infusing itself in everything it touches. There’s one small exterior zipped pocket large enough for carrying a phone, wallet, and couple Clif bars. Unfortunately this pocket is blocked if you’re carrying anything up top, and there’s no other exterior pockets for water bottles or other things you might want quick access to. I suppose that’s what the gear loops are for.

Worthy of separate mention is the removable, zipable, chalk bag pouch. Yep, it seems totally gimmicky, and maybe it is, but if you carry around loose chalk and don’t trust it in a Ziploc, at least you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that if it does spill, it’ll be in a zipped pocket, and not mingling around with the rest of your gear.

Of course, comfort is one of the biggest factors in buying a pack. Although completely subjective, I found that the Neon Gear effortlessly carries weight on long approaches… in fact, didn’t feel like i was carrying a rope at all. The waist strap is a tad thin, but has the added benefit of tucking away to convert into a decent piece of check-in luggage. On that note, the shoulder straps have convenient velcro coupling for carrying like a duffel. The back padding, while comfortable, leaves a bit to be desired in terms of breathability.

In the past, I’ve been pretty biased against Mammut gear… one of the first ropes I owned was a Mammut Flash 10.5. At the time i wasn’t very discriminating in my tastes for gear (my wallet, however, was very discriminating), and later came to the conclusion that the Flash (and basically every other Mammut rope that I have ever used) quite simply sucked. The Neon Gear goes a long way to changing my mind about Mammut products. Its unlikely that I’ll ever buy another Mammut rope, but the pack is definitely a winner.