Rating
Overview
It’s easy to think that you should be able to cope with one rucksack to do the majority of things. In fact, this option from TSL Outdoor is a strong contender to fulfil the role. But it has one key feature that helps justify adding it to your current collection of one – the Dragonfly 10/20’s main purpose is to include an option to carry your snowshoes on the outside. Perhaps it’s time to replace or add to your current do-everything bag?
Like many of the TSL products, this rucksack is very well thought-out. To start with, its convertible – with two easy clicks you can increase its capacity from 10 litres to 20 litres. Of course, you can strap your snowshoes on the outside in either format. There are also loads of little features that help make it a really nice bag. For those of you who are snowshoeing regulars, you’ll know that one of the most important things regarding your comfort, is being able to regulate your body temperature in what can be significant extremes. A steep climb is very physical and you’ll often need to shed layers, hats and gloves, yet after a short pause or during a descent when the weather closes in, you’ll need to put it all back on again. The variable capacity gives enough space to carry the essentials, but also ensures your snowshoes are always mounted securely when you aren’t wearing them. There’s nothing worse than strapping things to the outside of a saggy under-filled rucksack!
Although it isn’t the highest quality bag on the market, the Dragonfly is mostly made from premium materials, has plenty of adjustment and feels ‘built to last’. So let’s have a look in detail…
Features
- Main pocket 10l/20l variable capacity
- Snowshoe straps with ‘Strap Pockets’ to hide them when not in use
- Large side pocket (within main volume) – big enough for a 1.5l bottle of water
- Small top pocket (with key clip) – ideal for sunglasses and phone
- Two bulky waist pouches – easily fits GoPro, tissues, energy bars, pocket knife etc.
- Pole holders – for walking/ski poles, ice axe or similar
- Central carry handle
- Integral inner pouch for water pack (with drinking tube exit and attachment loops)
- Waist strap and adjustable chest strap with integral whistle
- Three coloured strap loops to attach small items
- Vented back padding
Living With It
My personal preference is for a rucksack to be full enough to fit correctly. Historically, I’ve used a 12 litre to carry the bare essentials and a water pack, a 45 litre for a long day out and a 65 litre for the occasional walking camping trip. This bag feels like it will cover all but the large-capacity requirements of my old 65 litre. In 10 litre format, there is just enough space for a mid-layer top or light jacket with thick gloves and a bobble hat. When opened out to the 20 litres, it’s easy to stuff in the second top, a neck warmer and large water bottle.
The combination of the size, access and position of the various pockets works well. The tall side pocket accessed from outside the bag is ideal for a large 1.5 litre bottle of water for those days when you can’t be bothered fiddling about with a water pack. That said, the drinking tube hole and loops are easy to use and threading it through is much easier than on some bags I’ve tried. There is a little webbed section at the bottom of the side pocket – a great idea to prevent small items falling out if it gets left unzipped by accident! The top pocket is ideally sized for sunglasses and phone, keeping them up high and protected. The waist pouches are a nice size and easy to access. I could easily stuff away a couple of energy bars and a small pack of tissues for those runny-nose moments, but they’re equally good for a GoPro camera, Swiss army knife or bulky set of keys if you don’t want to risk damaging your glasses and phone up top.
It is often overlooked, but the grab handle on the top of the bag is ideal in this case. It is wide enough to be comfortable, slim-line enough to keep out of the way and is a really convenient way to carry it a short distance with the snowshoes already strapped on.
When I first looked at them, I thought the pole holder bungees would be a pain to use. On the contrary, they are actually very good. There is a nice stiff hook to make a secure, yet easy to use quick-release. The bungees can be tensioned nicely and the grip feature holds really tight. There is even a little patch of high-friction material sewn onto the bag to ensure the poles don’t slip during the first leg between the carpark and the snow.
The main features aside, TSL have put lots of thought into all aspects of this rucksack. The zips have nice double-sewn straps to make it easy for a gloved hand, there are little elastic loops on all straps to make it easy to prevent those annoying wind-induced flaps and the three coloured loops on the left shoulder strap can be useful to hang whatever needs to be at your fingertips. I also like the sliding claw-on-tube system used for the chest strap. This is a nice quick, easy way to adjust and much better than the un-thread and re-thread system found on some bags. They’ve even gone as far as to add a reinforcement patch for protection against snowshoes etc.
Niggles and Suggestions
The position of the snowshoe straps does make it difficult getting into the main pocket when snowshoes are strapped in place, particularly when you need access to something nearer the bottom. The reinforcement patch is a good idea, but not suitably shaped for the sharpest bits of my particular snow shoes, so I stacked mine a different way to that intended.
I’m getting fussy, but if I could have my way, I’d like an easier way to hide the snowshoe straps. The current ‘strap pocket’ idea works well enough and makes for a nice clean appearance, but is fiddly enough that most people would likely leave straps permanently in or permanently out. A larger opening, perhaps with some Velcro would make it much easier. Also, I’d be pleased if there was a tuck-away exterior rain cover as extra protection on wetter days when I’d not be snowshoeing.
Verdict
This is a good value and very well-designed rucksack. The main feature is the snow-shoe strapping, but its versatility makes it a great all-rounder and good option for that one do-everything bag. If you like to carry a bit more, there is a larger version with 15l/30l capacity and a few extra features, but this pack will cater for the majority of smaller outings. The slim-line 10l format is a nice size to ski with, and personally, I really like the styling. I’ll give it 4.5 out of 5.
NF
