Info on Black Diamond Creek 35

Looking to buy a Black Diamond Creek 35

Beginner climber. Short on space as we travel full time in a camper. Small amount of trad gear. Mostly sport. 70m rope plus my wife has a regular sized backpack for additional stuff.  We'll almost always climb together. 

Does the Creek 35 sound like a good fit? The Creek 50 looks very big in comparison.

James Y wrote:

Looking to buy a Black Diamond Creek 35

Beginner climber. Short on space as we travel full time in a camper. Small amount of trad gear. Mostly sport. 70m rope plus my wife has a regular sized backpack for additional stuff.  We'll almost always climb together. 

Does the Creek 35 sound like a good fit? The Creek 50 looks very big in comparison.

A 35 will work just fine for your purposes. For reference by packing super efficiently I can get a full rack plus harness, shoes, helmet, rope, food, and water to a crag with a 22L. Helmet shoes and rope are outside the pack of course, but its not that difficult. 

If you want to just chuck stuff into a pack without having to think about packing it properly you may want to size up to that 50L but I think a 35 should be able to hold everything you need for two people sport climbing without issue provided you are willing to have helmet/rope hang outside the bag. 

The 35 is big enough to carry quite a bit. I had one but didn’t like the way it carried. It doesn’t have load stabilizers or whatever you call the straps that go from the top of the shoulder straps to the pack body. The 50 does have them. It carried like shit for me. Felt like it was pulling straight back. I sold mine. 

Blue ice gear is coming out with a very similar pack in a 35 L.  Size that looks much better.

I quite like my Creek 35. Have no complaints with how it carrries. I can fit a rope + small rack as well as shoes and harness with no problem. I have a feeling that its actually quite a bit larger than 35L, especially since the top expands up to fit more gear.