Aircontact Core 50+10

The Aircontact Core 50+10 is Deuter's backpacking and trekking pack: 50 litres with a 10 litre extendable lid, carried on the Aircontact back system with a ventilation channel and VariClick back-length adjustment.

Who it's for

The pack most people should own. Four or five nights out, extending to a week, on a harness that moves the weight where it belongs.

Capacity, and what actually fits

The +10 is real litres, not a model number. The lid extends. A 50 carries 50 litres packed normally and 60 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.

Four or five nights comfortably - tent, bag, pad, food and layers - and the extra 10 litres turns it into a week without buying a second pack.

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

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 always load the pack before you judge it - an empty pack tells you nothing about how it will carry.

Aim to get about 80% of the weight onto your hips. The shoulder straps are there to stop it tipping backwards, not to hold the load. Get that right and a 20 kg pack stops being an ordeal.

If a standard pack has always dug into your collarbones, look at the SL versions - Deuter's women's fit, with narrower straps set closer together and a shorter back.

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

2310 g empty, measuring 82 / 33 / 27 cm (L x W x D). For a pack that carries 60 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.