Dakine Poacher Backpack Review

Over the holiday weekend I picked up a brand new Dakine Poacher backpack although I didn’t really need it, it was on sale and I couldn’t resist.  It will replace a very old Eureka internal frame backpack, and my old Heli Pro backpack which my dog ate some of the straps and the hydration bladder/tube. Unfortunately, unless we get more snow here in Detroit, I won’t have a chance to field-test it until mid-February in Park City, but here’s my initial review.

Better than the Dakine Heli Pro which only had rear-entry, the Poacher allows top- and rear-entry to the main pack. Additionally, the internal aluminum stays make it a pseudo-frame pack and help distribute weight. The waist belt (padded) and chest strap help keep the pack close to your body. The back is nice and padded.

Vertical snowboard carry, diagonal ski carry. Loops for an ice axe, etc. This is pretty standard Dakine.

Three internal mesh zippered pockets hold your smaller goods (I’m thinking lighters/matches, wallets, ID cards, GPS, cell phone, trail maps, etc.) so you don’t have to fish around the bottom of the bag looking for them. There are two large zip pockets on the lid, one of which is fleece-lined to keep your goggles safe and hopefully scratch-free, and one large but shallow pocket (could hold a foldable shovel or emergency equipment) that runs pretty much the length of the back of this pack.

The Poacher is built to accommodate a Camelbak or other hydration bladder, there’s an aperture through which you can fit the straw/tube and it runs through a sleeve in the left shoulder strap. Just like the Heli Pro pack, this sleeve opens and closes with a zipper so that the straw isn’t flailing about and knocking you in the face as you ride about.

However, Dakine forgot to include a dedicated sleeve/pocket for the hydration bladder; it  kind of just floats around in the main compartment. Maybe this won’t be a problem in action, but the Heli Pro pack had a pocket for the bladder. This is really the only negative to an otherwise great backpack.

I loaded mine up with a few extra base-layers, some socks, a Timberland shell jacket, extra goggles and gloves, and there’s still room for lunch and a 70 ounce Camelbak. You can shrink it considerably with the tie-down straps.

It’s a pretty good sized backpack (twice as big as the Heli Pro).  If it’s lightly packed, just tighten them to keep the lowest possible profile. If you’re packing heavy, loosen them up to take advantage of the 2,300 cubic inches. Since it can carry just about anything you’ll ever need, it’s probably also the only snowboarding backpack you’ll ever need.