Lowe Alpine Sirac Trekking Pack

After a super comfy, lightweight trekking pack? Then look no further. The Lowe Alpine Sirac Trekking Pack has you covered.

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I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of testing out the 50L Women’s Sirac and what better way than to head up into the mountains for a weekend of backcountry camping and hiking.

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I opted for the 50L pack over the 60L from the Women’s specific range. I tend to try and keep to the ‘fast and light’ approach for long distance hiking as I know, and I’m sure many of you will agree, walking with a super heavy pack is not fun. I found the 50L was the prefect size for my sleeping bag, tent, roll mat, bru kit, food, shovel plus all the other essentials you need for a night under the stars.

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One of my favourite things about the Sirac is the fuss-free design and how comfortable it was. I am a big fan of simple designs that do the job, and do it well, the Sirac does just that.  

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Features that stood out included the floating hip belt pockets. I like to keep my phone handy for checking maps and taking photos and have often found the hip belt pockets on other packs mold around the curve of your waist when the hip belts are buckled up, making it near impossible to take your phone, compass, [insert other flat objects here] in and out of the pocket. With the floating hip belt there is an additional hip belt hiding underneath the pockets meaning the volume, shape and openings of the hip pockets are not compromised when you have the hip belt done up. It honestly is a fantastic feature. Plus the pockets are HUGE. Perfect for snacks or in my case summit cheese.

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Another neat little feature of the Sirac is the two deep mesh pockets on the outside of the bag. In addition to the normal top access, you can also stow things in them from behind the waist belt, giving you a quick option to grab things like waterproofs or a water bottle.

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I was unsure about the elastic front stash at first as you have to make sure your things are really secure within the cord. I have used packs with a front mesh pocket before and really liked them. However, it was pointed out to me that after a while the front mesh pockets often loose their stretch after a while and the elastic cord was in fact replaceable. An excellent feature to ensure the longevity of pack, just make sure you’ve secured things in it properly!

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The outside of the pack also has walking pole attachment points, which I found can also be used for a walking axe, stowing the tip of the axe in the flap that is attached to the outer elastic cord. I’m not sure if Lowe Alpine had this in mind for its use, but it works. Quite a few packs on the market are now offering multi openings. I was always a bit unsure of any kind of zip on a pack in worry of them breaking but once I saw how robust the bottom opening was, plus two external clips over the opening I was reassured it’s not going to fail on me. The two-way zip which allows access to the base of the pack. I used this bottom compartment to store my sleeping bag and air mat separately from the smaller items in the main area of the pack. I’ve seen a few other packs use this feature but what I really like about the Sirac is that you can remove the internal partition fabric and utilize the whole 50L as one if you want to.

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I’ve quite often opted for packs with ‘floating lids’. This is mainly because I like to use the top pocket and fixed lids tend to cause me issues when the pack is full and I have bulky items such as my camera in them. The Sirac does not have an internal lid pocket but I think I actually prefer this style as the deep external pocket is enough and doesn’t get in the way when trying to close the pack up.

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Along with some really well designed features one thing that I really noticed when using this pack was how comfortable it was. I had quite a lot of weight in it but it sat really nicely on my back and moved with my body, even with the waist and chest straps done up. The hip belt is really wide which helped to stop it riding up to my waist, which is a problem I’ve had with other packs. The shoulder straps and back plate adjustment also meant I was able to find the perfect fit for the load. You’re going to get sweaty hiking under the summer sun for hours at a time but I found the back Air Contour system worked well to keep most of my back cool. I’m terrible for over heating so was really glad the Sirac allowed for some air conditioning.

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Like with all Lowe Alpine packs the outer material is very durable and water resistant, also how pretty is the Sea Green colour. After I did a bit of research about the Sirac I was very happy to hear that the outer material is made from recycled materials. A big win for the outdoor industry to have access to packs made from recycled materials. Well done Lowe Alpine!

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On a final note, what sits the Sirac high above other 45L+ packs I’ve hiked with is the comfort, the simplistic yet well thought out design and how light it is. Lowe Alpine have really thought this one through and you can tell there are some long-distance hikers on the design team. It’s the perfect companion for multiday adventures.