Ultimate Direction Fastpack Her 30 Review

19/04/2024

I originally got my Ultimate Direction Fastpack Her 30 to use for my off-race season. I wanted to use the pack for a full day run/hike out on the trails, in the alpine region where I can pack more food, water, gear for the unexpected and forever changed weather conditions.

The pack has a large storage where I can access through the rolled top closer with Velcro and a clip. This function is handy where items inside the pack can be accessed quickly. It can also pack to its max capacity and rolled down to smaller size when you have less to carry. The larger compartment has the capacity to store cloths, smaller sleeping bag, food and medical and first aid kits.

Inside this larger storage there is a smaller sleeve with no bottom which I have not worked out the true functionality of it, however it was useful to have a separate compartment to divide items I needed. I would have preferred to have this smaller sleeve as a pocket where I can store smaller items away from the weather.

Outside the pack there is also a large stretchy compartment which was perfect for my jackets and items I needed to have quick access. I have stored smaller items but also large items, which has stretched this compartment to the max capacity, and nothing has fallen out or moved around.

On top of this area there’s a medium size pocket with a zip, which is a compartment where I stored smaller and more important items such as keys, sunglasses, money and headtorch.

On the left front of the pack there’s one larger stretchy pocket for one drink flask / bottle and smaller pockets for snacks. The right-hand size on the front there’s a pocket with a zip, big enough for larger phones and smaller pockets for snacks.

This is where I would have preferred to have another stretchy compartment for a second drink flash/ bottle but still suitable to store my phone. I believe the newer 2024 version has the larger stretchy compartment for 2x drink flask / bottles.

The hiking / running poles are strapped on the front of the pack and there are enough of loops of harnesses to attach additional straps around the bag (which I did for the Ice Ultra training/race just to keep my heavy, larger snowshoes down).

On each side of the pack there are more generous size stretchy compartments for more gear or larger drink bottles. There’s also T-hooks for size and weight distribution adjustable straps on the pack. Me being on the XS side, the straps couldn’t adjust small enough for when I have minimum weight inside the pack and running in thinner summer clothes, however once I started to layering up, this was no longer an issue.

Overall Conclusion

I used this pack for the Beyond the Ultimate Ice Ultra Marathon where the weather was as low as -35c and the material never failed me. The Ultimate Direction Fastpack Her 30 is one of the most crucial items for my race where weight was a big concern. I love how light and robust the material is. The bag was able to withstand the load of 12kg I had in my pack during the race but also for the whole year of preparation, where I sometimes packed the bag up to 16kg.

The zipper, Velcro and straps were working perfectly in the extreme condition where I had to operate all functions quickly and with big gloves on. Considering this pack has seen countless of sweaty long runs and never been washed. I’m surprise how well the pack looks and doesn’t smell at all!

This Fastpack is probably the best running pack on the market. It’s incredibly durable and can handle being beaten up on the trail. It has most of pockets I need and It’s my go to pack for hiking, run/hike day or on trial race where there’s a long list of mandatory gear.

This pack stays snuggling on the body and encouraging me to run or walk faster. I think once you have got yourself a Fast pack, you will probably leave your other hiking packs behind.