What’s in these backpacks?

A snowHead

Wallet, keys, sunglasses, the other goggles and a hat. I also bring a book for lunch and the bus ride. Sometimes a sweatshirt depending on the weather. Once you get used to a backpack, you don't notice it. I don't even take it off on the ski lifts.

A snowHead

No I don't remove it either. Forgot to add that I also carry a folded sit mat. Now that is useful for picnics in France on the piste edge if the picnic tables are full. No cold bum!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Origen,

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@TJToms,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I don’t carry “backpack” per se. But I sometimes use a Camelpak. Water is the first thing that goes into it. And is the primary reason for wearing it.

But once there’s a bag, other next to useless items quickly find their way into it and tough to get them out… Sad

So no, I don’t even want to wear a camelpak except in the American west, where the extreme of dry air combine with high altitude mandates a water pack.

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Never used one.

My jacket takes a small sun cream, cash/cards, balaclava, goggles cleaning cloth and phone, with ease.

I hydrate well before heading out, stop for a brief drink mid morning, have always lunched at our hotel or mountain sell service restaurants.

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Hubby carries a backpack - it’s great, it has a clip so it swivels for getting on lifts.

He carries:

a bottle of water
a bottle of caffeine free diet coke (mine)
chocolate
cereal bars
suncream (mine)
blister plasters (mine)
painkillers (mine)
ski caddy (mine)
snood (mine)
spare lenses for goggles (mine)
power bank
ski lock

He says if it wasn’t for my crap he wouldn’t bother Laughing

After all it is free

for resort and piste days its the good old bum bag for me if a bag is really needed .....

I just love not wearing a backpack, and that's down to wearing a fair amount of time either a heavy avy bag, or a normal back but with all the necessary gear, so when it's just piste skiing it's my waist belt with a water bottle that I use for XC and then the few bits are just in my pockets.

That said I'm not out all day, and will normally come back home for lunch.

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@Essayer, Only just come to this thread and have to agree with you whole heartedly. WHY. why why, does any sensible recreational once or twice a year skier need to have a mountainous backpack on for an average days piste skiing? Reading all the excuses and they are excuses not reasons for carrying the crap some people claim is essential just made me laugh. Pretty much all modern skiwear has plenty of pockets to carry the essentials, which doesn't mean snacks, litres of water, folding sit mats,(biggest laugh), ect ect. As someone earlier pointed out, all the ffaffing about at chairlifts, not to mention being battered in the face in gondolas is highly annoying!

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@Old Man Of Lech, apart from the rubbish by way of content ('battered in the face'? WTF?) your post is arrogant and rude.

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@Hurtle,
Inclined to agree.
These posts are meant to be light-hearted and amusing. I've had real fun and laughs reading them.
Everyone has a right to do what they wish. Those with a pack have their reasons. Mine is a sit-mat, and I stated the reason regarding French resorts. Those that don't use a pack have their reasons, and they are valid too.
It would have been more polite for @Old Man of Lech to give his thoughts as to why he choses not to carry one and leave it at that.

I don’t use pockets and always use a backpack. Never need to take it off on lifts. What’s the issue?

You know it makes sense.

Except I do agree about the gondola issue. It's the same on the tube when its busy. Those backpack wearers who have any consideration or self-awareness at all take the pack off and out it on the floor between their legs. The vast majority do not, especially on gondolas and cable cars. When full to capacity this does indeed mean that fellow passengers are bashed whenever the backp[ack wearer moves, and even if they don't move often have a bag rammed into the face. Why do so many people not have the good sense and good manners to take the pack off in crowded spaces?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Depends. If I'm skiing off piste then I'll have whatever the day demands. I have different bags for this depending on what I'm doing. If I'm skiing on piste with friends then I'll probably have sunglasses in my pocket and maybe half a bag of haribo gummi crocodiles. Maybe a spare goggle lens - depends on weather forecast.

If I'm skiing with the kids then I've got whatever I need to make the day run smoothly. So drinks, snacks, first aid kit, spare layers etc.

The ability to sort problems rather than just saying "stfu, get on with it", makes things a lot more enjoyable. In my experience If your kids are having a bad time, you are having a bad time too. There's a time for "stfu, get on with it" but that's a home thing not a holiday thing.

I will also strap the kids skis to my bag if they are knackered and we need to walk somewhere, catch a bus etc. Most of the time they carry their own stuff now but it's periodically necessary.

It amazes me what people on here find annoying or get offended by.

A snowHead

@gorilla, I don't see much annoyance expressed offence taken. There is some incredulity from some non-backpack wearers, including myself. But that is not at all the same thing.

A snowHead

If my height and the size of my backpack warranted it, I would certainly take it off in a crowded space and I occasionally judge it right to do so on the underground, for example. There is never any need to take my small, unstrappy bag off when riding a chairlift.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

On the subject of pockets, there are only certain things that go in pockets before it becomes an either an awkward lump or a risky endeavour.

Case in point, my recent trip to Hinterglemm saw me hit the deck a few times due to subsurface ice blocks - one of these falls shattered the arm of my glasses (I carry them in case I have an issue with my contacts). For some reason I'd put these in my pocket instead of my bag - £450 mistake, and a reminder that everything has its place!

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They can be annoying on a large gondola where people are standing. I find a good proportion of people are fairly aware and conscious of it. Of course not everybody.

This thread should stay light hearted. It's funny to see the differences between us all. Even within the group I ski with often we have vast differences in approach to the scouts be prepared approach and the have I remembered my underpants approach. Ultimately there is nothing wrong with either as they suit the person using them.

My 2 favourites are so far folded sit mat and tea bags.

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I have sometimes worn a big rucksack on the tube (in London and Paris) when travelling to ski and was very aware of the need to be careful not to turn round and whallop somebody. But yes, it would have been annoying for those near me, inevitably. On a busy train there's no room to put a big pack on the floor (and yuk.....) and also, for someone like me, picking up a heavy pack and putting on means swinging it, also tricky.

But faffing round with a suitcase, or one of those ubiquitous wheelie things, on a busy train can equally be a problem. Anyone who regular uses the trains which transit Gatwick is aware of this. I was on a train with my bike the other day - it was a quiet train but, even so, I was aware of being a nuisance. People with small children in pushchairs are a nuisance too. Perhaps we should ban them all?

Most skiers don't have "mountainous" backpacks. Where I live I often see groups of hikers. They generally have backpacks, just small ones usually as they're only out for a day. Nobody suggests they are somehow mistaken to think they need a pack.

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After all it is free

This thread is prime Snowheads!

Horses for courses. If you need a backpack, wear one. If you don't, crack on! Not sure where all the anger comes from? Likely somewhere else. If you're not in your happy place while on the slopes, then I'm not sure you're doing it right.

What is the biggest speaker I could fit in a 14 litre backpack?

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@Origen, I often use cable cars to access off-piste/touring. My ABS pack is always on the floor at my feet to avoid making the trip uncomfortable for others. Same on the tube when I have a backpack. If there is no room for you to put a rucksack on the floor then by default you will be ramming it into the face of others, and every time the train jolts it will likely bash others too. Never had a case where it was not more efficient in terms of use of space to take the pack off and out it at my feet. It is just plain selfish not to do so.

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After having a wallet pinched out of a backpack on a crowded bus in Genoa (stupid mistake) I would now switch a backpack (and my everyday handbags are backpacks) to my front. Even with a pack on I take up less room than half the people on a crowded train and there is no way I would put a bag on a dirty floor if I could help it. In those annoying public loos with no hooks, I hold it in my teeth.

However, I rarely stand on a train these days as somebody always jumps up to give me a seat.

@Origen, Well that says it all tbh

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Airbag, shovel, probe, water

A snowHead

@Gordyjh, yep, plus foil blanket, first aid kit, skins, additional layer, inner gloves, torch, spare batteries, camera, fibre towel.

Have tried putting it in my pockets but my lightweight shell doesn’t quite accommodate.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@Thomasski, saw same in St Anton this week, guy in a group of 5-6 mid 50’s guys, one wearing a speaker booming out Sweet Caroline - Dutch team, followed them to see what language they spoke, completely random.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@zikomo,

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

An analogous question occurs to me: why do most women carry handbags, or similar receptacles carried on one shoulder or both, and most men don't? The adequate provision of pockets is certainly one reason.

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Help!!

What’s in these backpacks?

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