Hi all,
I’m after a new riding back pack so which would you pick out of the 2.
Raptor £70
Viper £50
I think they are both a good price at that but it the raptor worth the extra 20 ?

Cheers

The Viper doesn’t come with a bladder so if you haven’t got one in the spares cupboard, the Raptor would be the choice. I bought a Viper because I had a bladder left over from a rejected pack [its worse than handbags!] and am very happy with it, especially as it cost £ 40ish from Cotswold with a code. They are currently £45 on Cotswold website so if you are the member of some kind of outdoor club you will probably get it even cheaper. Osprey bladders cost £26 so if you don’t have a code it will cost £1 more to buy Viper and bladder than Raptor!
ps Viper seems to be called Venom when it doesn’t have a bladder

It looks like the Raptor has a mesh back panel that I think (if it’s the same as my Syncros) is lifted off your back to keep sweaty back to a minimum, whereas the Viper just has cut foam, which I always find much more sweaty.

I think the Raptor is a better featured bag. I was looking at one in Go Outdoors a couple of weeks ago.
It has a roll out toolwrap thing that comes out of the bottom of the pack and seems quite nifty.

The Raptor is 50% heavier than the Viper though, if that sort of thing concerns you.

Looks to me like the Viper does come with a bladder (it says it does on the Wiggle page anyway).

I have the raptor and really rate it. can be had for £71.99 on surfdome, plus 15% extra off using the onsite voucher code. On Quidco as well.

Yeah I think it does come with a bladder. It says on wiggle and Evans that it does so for £48 it sounds like a good price. It’s just that the raptor seems to have won all the awards

@homer thats a great price

I have a Viper 13 and it came with the bladder (bought from Wiggle).

I’m happy with it so far. It’s a hydration pack, though, so I’m not going to pretend it’s an awesome ride-changing product. Its 13L is oodles of space. Enough to carry tools, pump, camera, extra t-shirt and some food, with room leftover.

I’m not sure if any of the features on the Raptor warrant the extra cost, which is why I went for the Viper instead.

CRC have the Raptor for £58.95 using the TAKE10 code.

I have a Raptor 10 but really wish it was the 14, it’s a great bag but probably not quite big enough.

I have the raptor, it’s great. Apart from when you forget to do a leak test on the bladder before putting it in. Bloody thing is very temperamental about when it’ll seat properly (at least mine is) and I’ve ended up with quite a few soggy bottoms as a result!

I have had a couple of rides now with my new Raptor 14. The mesh back is good but still sweaty, the bladder is stiff & flat which gives a different feel on the back to a camelback but I’m getting used to it. Hip pockets are ace as is the tool roll & general pocketry. there is a very handily placed soft pocket for a phone/wallet & delicate things that might get jumbled up in a large compartment. The top compression straps are a bit of a nuisance as you have to undo them to unzip the main compartment and although there is an outboard pocket with compartments it has a side zip which does restrict access a bit. Generally though there are plenty of spaces to compartmentalise things including some expanding external pockets for stowing discarded clothing etc. The lidlock is good too. I like the bite valve with it’s magnetic retainer on the chest strap but it appears some people don’t.

Yeah sounds good to me. Cheers for the feed back. At under £60 from crc I think that me.

Have a look at the Syncro too.

I’ve got the Syncro10 and it’s a much simpler bag, but does all you need a bag to do, really. About £50, I think. No bladder though, although that suited me as I already had 2 Camelbak bladders…

Just order the raptor 14 from crc had to spend an extra £10 so the total was 75 to receive extra 10% off. Good going there I reckon. Thanks crew.