Mammut Creon Tour 28 Pack | Performance

Oddly we’d never tried a Mammut pack before the Creon Tour 28 rocked up, but we’re impressed. For starters the pack is light for one with a ventilated, trampoline-style back system at a real, measured 970 grammes.

It works well too. The mesh panel with a big central hole to maximise air contact, is backed up by an integrated aluminium tube support frame and a sheet. The hip-fins are shaped to sit over the hip-bone and the end result with light medium loads is a comfortable, stable carry with the minimal air-gap not compromising load carrying at all.

It’s not quite as plush as, say, the Gregory Zulu 30, but we liked the taut feel. We also like the unusual, tough-feeling, matte-finish Nylon fabric – there’s a thin panel of heavier stuff on the base of the pack nearest to your back – and Mammut’s approach of not adding stuff that’s not strictly necessary.

You don’t, for example, get an actual sleeve for a hydration reservoir, though there’s still a Velcro hang-tag to secure one and an outlet on the righthand side. It works fine and saves a few grammes. Similarly there are no top-tensioner straps on the shoulders, but it feels just fine without.

What you do get are a lid complete with zipped pocket, handy mesh stash pockets on the sides, and a handy great zipped pocket on the frontier rapid access stuff and wet shell clothing. There’s a single axe/pole loop, sternum and narrow waist straps and that’s about it.

Nothing flash or extraneous, just what you need in a sleek, solidly built pack. Quibbles? The integrated rain cover sits in a pocket in the base of the pack fastened by a Velcro strip and it’s a slightly fiddly process to prise it open.

Finally it comes in one back-length only with no adjustability and while it fits us fine, if you’re shorter or taller than average, you might want to try before buying. There is a women’s version too, the Crea Tour 25.