Black Diamond - Betalight 45 - Trekkingrucksack im Test

After some modifications, it is nearly the perfect backpack. I am quite small (162 cm), female-bodied, and have average shoulder width for my size. Size S of the Backpack fits me very well. I have a relatively short upper body, and the hip belt pockets were highly annoying to me. I touched them every step with my elbows when walking with trekking poles. Therefore, I decided to cut them off. I wish the hip belt pockets were removable. I also wish the belt were sewn onto the padding of the hip belt. I left the back panels of the pockets attached to the hip belt to make sure the belt stays put. But in motion, the padding is still moving (was already before I cut off the pockets). The load lifters are very lovely and help carry heavier weights (like longer water carries). But one of them on my pack is very slippery and keeps loosening itself every km or so. But I can live with that. I wished the pack had two water bottle pockets in the front to distribute the weight more evenly. Nonetheless, I love the strap system, which is like my running pack. The large mesh pocket is awesome. You can stuff so much in it. The only thing that annoys me about it is that when the pack is very stuffed, you cannot nearly access the pocket because the upper unstretchy part won't move a millimetre. The two large side pockets are awesome. They hold about 2 L of Water each, easily + plus extras like a buff and Sunscreen. The roll top closure is super nice. I wish that there were two additional straps in the side pockets to buckle into to compress the pack a little bit more when stuffed. A Y-shaped top strap would also be nicer imo. The last thing I would change is the straps attached to the pack. First of all, I would use something like reflective tent cord or something similar, because it's lighter and more versatile. Secondly, I would add a zick-zack style strapping on each side of the pack to help with compression of the stuff in the pack. All the stuff mentioned above, I would still buy the pack again. Love it so far. Carries a heavier weight, super nice, and is extremely comfortable. I hike casually on Weekend trips in Central Europe with it. And I also hiked the entire West Highland Way with it without any problems. My base weight is around 6 kg, not ultralight, and I can comfortably carry 7 days of food and 4-5 L of water with this pack. Hoping for v2 of the pack with a slightly improved hipbelt and two front pockets for water bottles. Everything else is just a nice-to-have.