Aircontact Core 45+10 SL

The Aircontact Core 45+10 SL is Deuter's women's-fit backpacking pack: 45 litres with a 10 litre extendable lid, on the Aircontact back system with a ventilation channel down the spine. The SL fit means a shorter back length, narrower shoulder straps and a hip belt shaped for a woman's build.

Who it's for

Multi-day walking on a women's fit, sized for trips of three or four nights rather than a fortnight. Light enough to enjoy, big enough to be useful.

Capacity, and what actually fits

The +10 is real litres, not a model number. The lid extends. A 45 carries 45 litres packed normally and 55 with the lid raised - which is the difference between a long weekend and a week, or between carrying your own food and carrying someone else's as well.

Packed sensibly that is three or four nights of food, a tent, a bag and a pad, with the extra 10 litres covering the trips where you are also carrying a jacket you never take off.

How it carries

Aircontact is the reason these packs have the following they do. The back panel uses open-cell foam that compresses and springs back as you walk, pumping air through the channels instead of sealing your shirt to your spine. On a Queensland summer walk that is the difference between damp and soaked.

The Core is built to move weight onto your hips and keep it there. Load it properly and it carries far heavier than the number on the label suggests.

Fitting it

SL is Deuter's women's fit, and it is a genuinely different pack rather than a colourway. Narrower shoulder straps set closer together, a shorter back length, and a hip belt angled for a different pelvis shape. If a standard pack has ever dug into your collarbones or sat wrong on your hips, this is why.

Back length decides the size, not your height. Measure from the bony bump at the base of your neck to the top of your hip bones, and load the pack properly before you judge it - an empty pack tells you nothing. Get 80% of the weight onto your hips and the shoulder straps just stop it tipping backwards.

Access and organisation

A front zip opens the main compartment so you can reach the thing at the bottom without unpacking everything above it, and there is a separate bottom compartment with a divider you can unclip when you want one long space instead of two.

500D textured nylon over a 235D recycled nylon body - tough where it drags on rock and lighter where it does not.

Weight

2170 g empty, measuring 82 / 32 / 27 cm (L x W x D). For a pack that carries 55 litres loaded, that is a fair trade - the frame and the back system are where the weight goes, and they are what let you carry a heavy load comfortably.