Bushwalk Australia

Black diamond created the totally new ergoACTIV suspension system for their range of larger packs.
It involves using a ball joint where the pack attaches to the hip belt enabling a greater freedom of movement in teh hips as you walk over rough terrain.
http://trampinggear.blogspot.co.nz/2012 ... tpwww.html

Yea I have a BD axis 33 pack with that ergo active harness and have to admit, it's the best harness I have used in any pack in this size range.

I was abit aprehensive at first, after trying 3 aarn packs before concluding they were not suitable for me. However what I found was the best engineered harness I have seen to date. Actually at the risk of getting flamed, I found all 3 of my aarn packs to be rubbish, even though the design is theoretically sound.

BD have kinda taken Aaron's concept and refined it.


For a 30L pack its been my go to pack for 95% of the time for the past year.

Highly reccommended.

yup, i grabbed an infinity because of it's light weight, but after trying it, i became sold on the harness system. they have variations of the ergoACTIV on smaller designs,
i went out and bought a 20L nitrate and axiom 40L and mercury 75 as well. they dont have the same hip belt setup but the belt still flexes well with the hips pivoting.
i'd pay whatever price they were asking for these packs, black diamond price pretty fairly compared to some brands. i've had to pay a fair bit to get the last three shipped to NZ from overseas but it was worth it
they said they wanted to redesign pack suspension from the ground up and thats what they did.
it's a ridiculously simple system with minimal adjustment, move the hip harness up or down on the pack. tighten or loosen the shoulder straps and top straps. if you're on a particularly rough track with heavier load you can lock down the hip belt from pivoting if it becomes too tippy.

I just got the Mercury 75 too after your advice Wayno, great belt yeah, but they should put clear instructions on how to fix the belt on the pack... And even with instructions (not official ones, but from a blog google found me...) attaching the belt isn't exactly practical, i.e. pushing the fabric with the key so you can tighten the screw. Does the screw hold with time or did you have to tighten it again sometimes ?

cant recall having to retighten it again...

Gee Wayno - you got the whole onsite community buying these things!

After reading a bunch of reviews and Wayno kindly providing some further thoughts I also have a BD Mercury 75 (currently in the post).

Any hard won tips for getting the hipbelt attached?

have you found the alum key in the hip belt pocket? as mentioned just have to pull the padding out of the way and gradually tighten once you've worked out the best vertical position for the belt. the infinity didnt have any padding over the ball joint to make it easier to fix, but there were complaints about problems when the pack is loaded up that it can be a bit uncomfortable. although i've never noticed any issues..

try them out on easy tramps first with the maximum weight you're likely to take, they do feel quite strange to start with, it honestly feels like the pack isnt attached at the hip belt at all, theres so much freedom of movement but after a while you'll realise how much easier it can be to move when you move to rougher terrain. also remember you can adjust how much freedom of movement there is at the hip belt ball joint with the straps next to the belt pockets , you can tighten those to limit how much the hip belt can pivot, you're more likely to want to do this on really rough terrain.
when you pack it careful you dont pack gear too tightly, you can deform the back on these packs a bit if you try and ram gear in like you can on more rigid frame packs. , there is a stay down teh middle you can bend back a if it does deform, the infinity has an even ore flexible back so you have to work with that when packing

wayno wrote:have you found the alum key in the hip belt pocket? as mentioned just have to pull the padding out of the way and gradually tighten once you've worked out the best vertical position for the belt. the infinity didnt have any padding over the ball joint to make it easier to fix, but there were complaints about problems when the pack is loaded up that it can be a bit uncomfortable. although i've never noticed any issues..

Nah - pack hasn't arrived just yet - but your description makes it sound like it is not too bad at all.

yeah you dont get a bit angle to turn the alum key through so its just a slow process of turning then reseating the alum key again and again till it's tight, but its not something you're likely to have to repeat often, theres no adjustment for height on the top of the shoulder straps, its all done where the ball joint attaches for the hip belt, it can travel up and down and be locked in at the place of best comfort.. i've seen other makes of packs with fidlier systems for getting the right back length.

ninjapuppet wrote:Yea I have a BD axis 33 pack with that ergo active harness and have to admit, it's the best harness I have used in any pack in this size range.
Highly reccommended.

I needed to get an alpine pack in the 35l range and ordered this one on your "high recommendation".
I'll let you know my thoughts after my next trip.