For years, I’ve been searching for a good waterproof backpack that will keep my stuff dry during the nasty wet Calgary winters. While a good drybag, or even a garbage bag, can usually keep things dry inside a regular pack, the pack itself will still end up soggy and smelly, and it’s a pain to dump everything into a drybag.

The Dry Shield line from Deuter is a waterproof line, which includes a cycling-specific pack — the DS Bike 18.

The simple yet functional approach Deuter took with this pack helps keep the weight down by eliminating unnecessary bells and whistles. It also helps keep the pack waterproof by minimizing zippers and seams.

The size of the pack (18 L) is at the smaller end, so you might have a tough time fitting in a lot of gear. However, the small size also means it’s a good comfortable pack for cycling.

Because I’m a bit of gear-nut, I tend to carry quite a bit with me. Each morning, I cram the following into my pack:

• A thermos of chai
• A thermos of oatmeal
• Lunch
• Towel
• Office clothes
• Glasses case
• Various USB cables
• First aid kit
• Bike tools
• Spare tube
• Bike pump
• Other misc bits and pieces (multi tool, Gerber knife, mini flashlight, etc, etc.)
• I also often carry my laptop with me.

All this fit into the DS Bike 18, but only just. On really cold days, I also like to carry a down vest, extra thick mittens and fleece pants in case I break down. Unfortunately, there’s no way these will also fit in the pack. However, if you’re not as much as a gear-pig as I am, you shouldn’t have any problem fitting the essentials into the pack.

This pack excelled in the areas I expected it to perform well in — comfort and waterproofness.

One of the biggest problems with using most backpacks for cycling are the thick, pre-curved hip belts that have sprung up over the past few years. They’re great for hiking, but are extremely uncomfortable if you’re on a bike as they dig into your ribs because of the hunched over position.

The DS Bike 18 has a small soft hip belt, with easily accessible mesh pockets on each side. The pockets on the hip belt zip shut. I have a building passkey in one side and a small digital camera in the other side. There’s still room in either pocket for some munchies, Kleenex or other small items.

I have a few other backpacks that have rain covers — probably one of the most useless features on a pack. They might keep some light rain or a brief dusting of snow off the pack, but they certainly don’t keep the pack, or its contents, dry.

The DS Bike 18 easily held up to snow, road-spray and the “shower test”. During a heavy snowfall, snow can accumulate on the top of a pack, quickly soaking into the material. Rain and snow can also fall down between your back and the pack. And last, but not least, a bike tire kicks up a lot of road-spray, soaking the bottom of the pack. Everything inside this pack stayed nice and dry, not only in the snow, but also during two of three shower tests. For these tests, I stuffed the pack full of newspaper, and gave it a five minute shower.

With the first test, even directly under the heavy shower, not a drop of water made it inside the pack.

For the second test, I removed some of the newspaper, and formed a bit of a dent in the top of the pack by pushing it in. The pack still kept things dry after five minutes under the shower.

When I tried a third time, I let the water sit pooled in the dent I’d made, and some water did seep in through the zipper after about 15 minutes. However, unless you leave your pack out in the rain or the snow, the odds of water pooling and staying on the pack are relatively low.

When I first got the pack, one of my initial thoughts was, “What? No helmet holder! What kind of a cycling pack is this?!” Then, as I was exploring the pack, I noticed the words “helmet holder” on one of the hip belt pockets. I wasn’t quite sure how I was expected to put my helmet into a hip pocket, but it quickly became clear that that’s where the helmet holder was stored. The holder quickly clips to the pack and securely holds your helmet in place.

There were a couple of things I didn’t like about the pack.

While the two mesh bottle pockets on each side are quite large, and easy to access while on the bike, the downside to this easy access is that it’s also easy for things to bounce out of the pockets if you’re riding over rough terrain. I lost a couple of granola bars this way — minor, but I’m glad it wasn’t my camera. I stuffed a bandana in over the granola bars after losing them the first time, and that seemed to fix the problem.

The zippered top access seems really small to me. I still put all my clothes into a drybag, as it’s the easiest way to keep them separate from everything else. The small top access makes it tough to stuff the bag of clothes in and take it out – it’s not quite large enough.

The inside accessory pocket gets in the way when trying to pull something out of a full pack. It should have been fixed in place, rather than being a “pocket flap”.

The outside pocket is surprisingly big. At first glance, I thought it was just a small pocket, but I was easily able to put a bike pump, first aid kit, tools, spare tube, Kleenex pack and other bits and pieces in and still have a bit of room left over. Unfortunately, this eats into the inside space of the pack, as the outside pocket is more of an inside pocket with external access.

The last problem I noted was a lack of loops for attaching a blinkie. This certainly isn’t a problem that’s specific to this pack, however, as I’ve yet to find a pack that has a loop that will properly secure a blinkie in place. I did, however, use the helmet cover loops to attach some reflective ribbon, which is a technique I’ve used successfully on a number of packs.

Overall, I was really pleased with the performance of the pack and its simplicity is what helps keep it waterproof. It’s what I’ve been looking for for years. In addition to that it’s always a treat to find a pack that’s comfortable on a bike, let alone designed specifically for that purpose.

Deuter website: http://www.deuter.com

Reflective ribbon on backpack, originally uploaded by elliottzone.

If you use a backpack when you’re commuting, adding some reflective ribbon to your pack can help make you more visible.

On my backpack, I have two pieces of reflective/neon yellow ribbon. I fixed them to the pack in an X pattern. They’re about 16″ long, so about 7″ dangle below my pack and flap in the wind.

My theory behind this is that the flapping parts may attract a bit more attention because they’re flapping. I added three grommets to each strip. This makes it easy to attach to any pack with a couple of mini carabiners or plastic ties.

Cost for the ribbon was about $10.

Usually, there are at least a couple of things I’d have done differently or that I think could be improved upon.

So, imagine my delight when I came across a backpack that seemed to have been designed specifically for cyclists. I also have a feeling it was designed, not by the marketing department, but by people who actually USE a backpack when cycling. Gadzooks!

For years, I’d been using a commuter backpack from Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) with moderate satisfaction. It wasn’t overly comfortable, and was too small for winter cycling, but it did the job until the zipper went on it. While MEC would have no doubt repaired the zipper under their fantastic warrantee program, I thought I’d look around for something bigger.

While reading online reviews and doing various searches for cycling-specific backpacks, I came across the Deuter website. Deuter is a German company founded in the late 1800s (yes, 1800s) and has years of experience designing outdoor gear.

I came across the Deuter TransAlpine 30 backpack and was hooked.

The site states that the TransAlpine 30 is the “Most popular, prize winning and best choice bike pack for challenging alpine bike tours.” Well, nice marketing fluff… However, after looking at some of the features, I decided to order one, and here are my thoughts…

Comfort

It is by far the most comfortable pack I’ve ever used while on a bike. While my preference is for panniers, a backpack seems to be better for winter riding, and I can’t fit a rack on my winter bike, anyway. 

Features

Airstripes back
This is what makes the pack so comfy. Two padded ridges lift the pack off your spine and almost massage the muscles on either side. The raised strips also increase airflow between your back and the pack so in hot weather, the pack doesn’t seem as hot. The amount of flow can be controlled with two straps at the top, simply by moving the pack closer to, or farther from, your back.

Adjustable internal compartments
This is a nice touch. An internal zipper lets you create an upper and lower compartment in the packpack, essentially separating the bottom third of the pack. This bottom third can still be accessed from an outside zipper.

Two front pockets
One at the top, and one at the bottom.

Valuables pocket
A small, zippered compartment in the top outside pocket.

Side mesh pockets
Pretty much standard, but angled down towards the back of the pack so it’s easy to get stuff in and out while on the bike.

Helmet holder
Never used this to hold my helmet, but I do stuff all my mucky stuff into it after getting to work.

Stabiliser straps
Top and bottom.

3M reflectors
Very minimal. If there was one thing I could say needed improvement, it would be to increase the reflective patches on the pack. There’s probably less than 2 square inches total on the pack. Having said that, I don’t depend on the pack to be my primary method of being visible.

Mesh wings and compression straps
Yet another good focus on comfort. The mesh wings don’t add the bulk of the overly padded waist strap that a lot of packs have. There are also two little clips on the waist strap. These two little clips are clear evidence that the designers of this pack have actually used it. The clips are used to secure the extra strap lengths (assuming your tummy doesn’t need the full length), so the strap ends aren’t flapping around “down there” while you’re riding. Very simple and very cool. Also, the buckles on the straps are slighly curved. This makes it very easy to release the straps while wearing bulky gloves — another functional element that is appreciated.

Hydration system compatible
I prefer water bottles, but the functionality is there.

Pack cover
I found this by accident. I came across a zipper at the very bottom of the pack one day, and thought, “Cool! Another pocket!” Well, yes and no. There was a rain cover in there that quickly and easily pulls out to cover the backpack. Two little pegs secure the top of it. It’s a lovely bright yellow colour, so will make you a bit more visible in the rain.

Alpine rescue info
I’m assuming you won’t need alpine rescue if you’re only using this on the bike paths, but… In case you do get lost out in the boonies, there’s a handy dandy little info guide on the inside of the pack that tells you what signals to use for alpine rescue.

Possible improvements

I had to really look for any improvements on this pack. Deuter did an excellent overall job with this, so my thoughts for improvements are pretty minimal.

Reflective patches
Increase the size of the existing patches, and implement a couple of stripes on the back of the pack.

Blinkie / lash points
I was a bit surprised at the lack of lashpoints on this pack. However, I didn’t really notice it until I wanted to attach a couple of bike blinkies to the pack. There is one blinkie strap at the very bottom of the pack, but any blinkies I tried to mount would have fallen off at the slightest bump. Likewise, when I wanted to clip something else to the pack, the only real place to attach anything was on the lashpoints on the shoulder straps.

Overall…

I don’t think you can go wrong with this pack. While it’s at the upper end of the price point for smaller backpacks, it’s an excellent pack for cycling, and also works just as well for hiking, skiing or snowshoeing.