Rab Latok 28 Climbing Pack Review

The various types of climbers demand different things from a pack. Craggers want a full pack zip, maybe a built in rope tarp. Strict mountaineers want a picket pocket. Multi-pitch trad folk want it to be low profile and easy to clip to an anchor. Boulderers… who knows what they want. Regardless, when a company takes on the task of making a climbing pack that suits the needs of different groups, as Rab has attempted to do with the Latok line, it’s always interesting to see which groups come most strongly into their focus. In the case of the Rab Latok 28, I think it’s clear that it’s geared towards the alpinist – those of use who pursue the big, high-landscape trad, snow, and ice.

Rab Latok 28 Pack Features:

• Part recycled, tough, lightweight fabric construction, protects against sharp tools, rocks and ski edges
• Roll top entry and zipped rear pocket access
• Sternum strap with emergency whistle
• Top tensioner to stabilize loads close to your body
• Hipbelt with easy release aluminium buckle
• Strippable parts for lightweight mountain days
• 2 HeadLocker ice axe attachments with removable lash
• Detachable, secure rope carry strap
• Daisy chain for attaching extra gear
• Lightweight compression straps with tough metal hooks, double as A-frame ski carry
• Ultra tough Cordura fabric with Spectra® Ripstop
• Snow shedding back panel with removable foam
• 210D Cordura with Spectra® Ripstop / Hydroshield Dura and 50% Recycled 420 PW / Hydroshield
• Weight: 1lb 11.2oz (as weighed on my scale)
• MSRP: $215

Simple and Effective

I want to address this upfront, and I think the climbing community will agree that it matters. My testing period for this pack was over Summer and Fall. As a result, most all of my activities were technical rock, with brief forays into snow and really no ice exposure. I took it out on rock bigger routes at Squamish, brought it along for one of the final outings on my new North Cascades rock route, and toted it for a very long day on rock, climbing Infinite Bliss on Mt. Garfield. All the big notables in this pack’s testing history share the commonality of technical rock climbing. That’s the lens through which I’m writing this review – experience on technical rock – but as an alpinist, I’ll also speak to how I believe the features and construction of the pack might work for our beloved activities in the colder months.

Okay, with that callout behind us, let’s talk about materials. The main body of the pack is a 210 denier Cordura with a Spectra ripstop grid. It feels significantly burlier than your run-of-the mill ripstop nylon, and it wears much slower too. As a part of testing that durability, I opted to wear the Latok 28 on a chimney pitch high on Infinite Bliss. It’s an odd choice ordinarily, neither comfortable, nor practical, but it serves as an excellent test of material durability. After about 100 feet of vertical scraping with my 170 pounds pressing it up against the granite and shimmying skyward, you really wouldn’t know I’d done anything of the sort. At least not when looking at the fabric. That stuff is quite unaffected. The aluminum clasps didn’t fare quite as well, but what’s a bit of scuffing and scratching for those?

I’d call that more than durable enough for any form of alpinism. It just doesn’t get more abusive than a chimney. And the contents of the pack? Well, fairly squished after that ordeal. Storage for the pack is simple and adequate. The main compartment has a single access point through the roll-top, and that’s where the vast majority of the pack’s storage lies. Beyond that, there’s an internal zippered pocket that’s large enough for a day’s food, and an externally accessed zippered pocket which easily houses my “might want it whenever” supplies – sunglasses, sunscreen, chapstick, TP, and headlamp. The pack’s storage is all it needs to be: convenient, if not particularly flashy.

External storage is also simple, but I think a bit more elegant. The outside of the pack has 5 straps, all of which are removable and feature a clever hooked aluminum clasp. Four of the straps are on the side for either holding skis in A-frame or for securing the potential swing of a rope. There’s one more compression strap on top to hold a rope. The clasps are easy to secure and stay put quite well. Of all the closure mechanisms I’ve ever used, I think these may be the most glove-friendly. No fiddly bits or small pinch-points. They’re easy to set and to unset, but they don’t come undone on their own. They’re a definite design plus for the pack.

And while it’s not uncommon to see the aluminum Headlocker pieces which secure ice tools to the exterior of the pack, they are also clever and functional. Higher on the pack, two adjustable height cinches can easily hold the handles of the tools in place. All this external storage is cleanly designed and removable for folks trying to shed some extra grams. The one thing I wish made the list for external storage is a couple of more centrally located strap points where I could fix crampons to the outside of the pack. I much prefer external crampon storage (easier access and fewer pokies and wetness on other gear that way). A few strap-in points on the face of a pack would make that kind of storage a possibility.

Moving on to comfort, the Latok 28 is both bare-bones and well-considered. The shoulder straps are nicely padded and easily adjusted. Over the years, I’ve become used to soreness in my shoulders relating to backpack strap pressure the day after any 10+ hour climb. I spent almost 19 hours wearing the Latok for my ascent/descent of Infinite Bliss this past August, and while many other parts of me were feeling the pain, my shoulders weren’t at all. These are some comfy shoulder straps. The back padding is great too, both in that it’s comfortable, and it’s removable. In a pinch, it’s really nice to be able to turn your pack into a tiny sleeping pad. The final comfort item of note on the Latok 28 is a removable hip strap. It is spartan, but it does the job in spite of lacking padding.

It’s time to talk about weight. The Latok 28 aims to be a combination of burly and slimmed down enough to remove the removable items and end up with a pack “for days when you’re moving ultralight”, to quote Rab’s site. By my scale, the Latok 28 is 1 pound 11.2 ounces with all its straps and removable bits in place. Without them, it cuts down to 1 pound .6 ounces. With other packs out there like the Mammut Eiger Nordwand 28L being fully featured at a claimed 13.4 ounces, it’s pretty clear that the Latok 28 isn’t the place to go for true ultra-light. But, a stripped weight of just over 1 pound is pretty dang good, all things considered. With that said, I’m keeping the padding and straps on the vast majority of the time. I think their convenience and comfort is worth the weight.

In fact, if I could, I’d add a few grams to the pack to get a hydration port. I’m big on drinking water during any form of climbing. I am the mountaineer who uses an insulated hydration bladder in winter. Why? Because I know if it’s right in front of me, I’ll drink. If it isn’t… likely I won’t. A climbing partner of mine once said, “You’re the only person I know who will pause at the crux to take a sip of water.” It was a strange, tailor-made compliment. The Latok 28 doesn’t support my passion for hydration though. In my ideal world, it would have a hose port and a hanging clip on the inside of the pack. In the real world, I took a hot knife and made my own hose port. How else are you supposed to stay hydrated for 18+ hours on slab?

So what is the Latok 28? Well, it’s nicely suited for the abuse of alpine climbing in general, both technical rock and snow/ice, but I think it might just barely lean more towards the cold side of things. Strippable features to cut weight is a long-time tradition of the cold-focused climbing genres. The pack also has glove-friendliness in mind with all its clasps and adjustments. And while its lack of a hydration port is frustrating for me personally, that kind of thing is not a feature expectation of many winter climbers. So, my testing of the Latok 28 was a fun, exciting, and successful time on stone, but I’m really looking forward to getting it out on ice and snow because it has all the ingredients to thrive in the cold too.

Buy Now: Available at Rab