With its vibrant yellow colour and reflective section around the front zip, you can’t miss the MT500 pack.
It’s laden with features, including a ‘Koroyd’ (plastic honeycomb) backplate, ventilated mesh back panel, padded shoulder straps and stowage for your pads and helmet.
A separate tool pocket, waterproof pocket and hip pockets mean there are plenty of places to store tools, phone and snacks. The splashproof base will keep your sarnies protected from mud and trail splatter through winter too.
After initial testing with the backplate fitted we opted to remove it for comfort. This gives a slightly softer fit, with the bag able to hug the contours of your back rather than just sitting flat against it.
The hydration pocket is big enough for a full 3l bladder (you can buy a Hydrapak reservoir with the bag for £20 extra) but this does eat into the bag’s 15l capacity. It’s still big enough to carry everything you need for a day-long epic though, and it’s comfy enough too.
The combination of chest and waist straps secures the pack well when the trail gets rough, but it’s a shame that there are only three anchor points for the chest strap on the left-hand side, especially when it’s fully adjustable on the right-hand side.
