I’ve just received one of these, and without riding it it looks excellent for the money….
Deacthlon 720 Pack

This is the smaller brother of the 920 that someone posted about a few weeks ago. They don’t mention it as having a back protector, but it does have an removable rubber/plastic insert behind the padded back.

Comes with a quality looking bladder, and the x-straps have elasticated parts to aid breathing. The buckle is aluminium and clicks together with a very solid feel.

Fit is very comfy, and in the ‘jumping up and down on the spot test’, it seems very solid with no real movement.

All the zips are plastic covered, and the material seems robust and should be pretty waterproof. It does also have a built in rain cover.

Overall the build quality looks excellent. Good, solid stitching, and some nice finishing touches – extendable helmet storage, a good set of internal storage, a light loop, and accessible waist/side pockets.

Looks like a really good buy for £40 – when you consider similar harness style bags are a least double the price and often don’t include a bladder.

Now I need to test it on the bike 😉

I had one of the Quechua back packs and it was spot on. It only died due to me doing stunt man impressions*

*ok falling off.

Looks good but I always struggle to see past the Osprey Viper 13 which is only £13 more…. Osprey really know how to make packs….

True, Osprey do make excellent kit. I have one of their waist/bottle packs for summer use.

However, I have never found a normally strapped pack that’s comfortable for longer rides – one of the reasons I bought the Osprey lumbar pack. I always seem to get an annoying amount of nipple rub(!) with standard straps.

….and the only Backpack I’ve ever really got on with was an older Decathlon one (think it was a hiking/trail running pack) that was very comfy in use, and sat nice an low on the back. It’s getting very tatty now, but that’s after 4ish years of use.

and the only Backpack I’ve ever really got on with was an older Decathlon one

it may similar to the one i use, i’ve found it pretty good too. They used to do a few different sizes, but now it seems they only do the 27l one:
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/27l-raid-trail-backpack-black-id_8245760.html

Yes! The smaller version of that one. Really comfy and well made.

interested to hear how the straps work out. i ride with a kriega r20 due to the strap placement its brilliant (but very very heavy)

So, had a few rides with this now, and I really like it.

The fit is good and whilst it seems quite long when you hold it, it doesn’t seem to interfere either at the waist or the neck whilst riding.

It seems to sit differently on the back compared to ‘normal’ shoulder strapped bags – this may be something in common with all harness-style packs?The weight seems to be distributed more on the lower back and your sternum, rather than on the tops of your shoulder.
This is a bit weird at first, and when climbing the unweighted feeling on your shoulders is odd, but quite nice! However, as soon as you start going down the weight distribution is spot on and I’m feeling no movement or swinging at all.

The build certainly seems sturdy, and it didn’t let any water in the one wet ride I had with it, even without using the waterproof cover.

Amount of storage is good. The large compartment next to the bladder easily fitted a softshell jacket. Spare tube and some fruit. The smaller front compartment has lots of mesh pockets and a zipped compartment. Plenty of room for phone, pump, multitool, etc. I haven’t used the helmet carrier, but size seems good. And the 2 waist pockets are spot on for keys, etc.

The back panel felt a little rigid on the first ride – probably due to the rubber/plastic back protector insert. But it seems to have moulded to my body shape a bit after a few rides. The padding on the back is good, not too soft, but comfortable. Air flow is ok, but it might be a bit hot in really warm conditions.

The included bladder is very good – I’ve not had one with a sliding top before, and it makes refilling very easy. Hose is just the right length, but the water flow is a little slow. Just need to suck a bit harder!

Overall, £40 well spent 😀

Nice. Thanks for the write up.
That chest clip looks ideal as an ActionCam mount….

Looks like a cracking bit of kit for £40. I ‘was’ going to splash out on an Evoc lite team but this puts a spanner in the works at more than half the price.

Can you give us anymore detail on the back protector? That’s the reason I’m interesting in Evoc.

They don’t list this model as having a back protector, and it’s really nothing more than a closed cell foam panel that slots in between the padding and the bladder pocket. It would give a measure of protection I imagine, but not as much as a proper protector.

However, Decathlon’s next model up (the 920 I think) does have a proper back protector, all the same features as this pack, and is £49.99…. 920 Pack

Out of desperate need I bought a Decathlon non-branded back pack, 16 years ago. It’s still carrying my clobber around. I can’t vouch for the current BTwin kit, but it looks like it’ll do the job without any fuss.

The chest clip actually has an indentation to take a GoPro “flat” mount. Awesome little design touch 🙂

Dont get too hung up on those back protectors, they’re built to en 1621-2 which has 2 levels, so you may get a much better one aftermarket anyway and they can often be trimmed to fit and only cost about £30. Secondly they only protect against impact, they’re not a brace which would protect against hyper extension / flexeation, so they’re not giving you thr protection you maybe imagine as they give no protection against axial loads which is what you think about when you think of ‘broken back’, an impact to the hips or head/neck being transmited to the spine and breaking it.

Frankly, a full camelbak has been the best protection my back has ever had, and I’ve landed on mine several times otb. I know water doesn’t compress, but it moves to evenly spread the load.

Interesting, I was looking at that very one yesterday.

Alternative for me would be a dakine drafter

Bladder looks like a hydrapak, correct?

Hrm the Osprey Viper 13 is currently also £40 at CRC

intersting. the different strap – harness v regular straps – is a clever idea. perhaps more stable for certain body shapes/sizes maybe.
As for back protection, the general impression I get is if you’ve got a water bladder in there that seems to give a decent bit of padding if you bump it, large hits will never come off well unless you’ve got kevlar or something in there! – but the addition of what’s there can’t be a bad thing.
Interesting pack.

I like the look of that, I have an Evoc and a chest mount type bag (designed for a bladder and she’ll when multi pitch climbing) and a hybrid seems logical given their individual benefits. I wouldn’t be trusting a bladder as protection, padding maybe, but any pointy, conical, irregular object will soon disperse your tipple of choice and end up in your back. Plus I have a habit of spankin in at the end of a ride, when I’m tired and have drunk me juice!

Bladder looks like a hydrapak, correct?

Pretty much identical. Never used a bladder with the sliding opening at the top before, and it’s very practical.

@ risky….just had a look and it’s the Viper 5 that’s £40, the 13 is £53. I like a Osprey packs, excellent build quality, but I don’t seem to get on well with normal straps, so the harness style straps on the Decathlon pack is what interested me.

I’ve just gone for one of these. I prefer the Osprey bladder but I can always swap out and keep the Decathlon inner as a spare. The camera mount swayed my decision. I like nice touches like that!

The 920 looks like my next skiing pack is sorted
The flat section for a camera mount is an excellent idea.