ThePlatypus Duthie AM 10 pack is part of their hydration mountain biking lineup and features a 10-liter capacity, a 3-liter reservoir and has enough features, functions, and pockets for almost any adventure in the outdoors. Highlights include useful attachment sleeves/straps, a rainfly and their superb FloatAir back panel which features a floating breathable mesh tensioned over a wireframe that keeps you cool, dry and comfortable in any weather. The innovative 3.0L Big Zip EVO reservoir has a 3L/100 oz. capacity, a high-mount quick connect, a slider opening, and a magnetized bite valve with a shutoff lever. It retails for $139.95 and comes in Carbon, Red Alloy, and Titanium Gray color schemes. They also have a 15-liter version for $149.95 if you require more space.
For more information, refer to www.platy.com.
FloatAir Back Panel
The pack utilizes a lightweight spring steel wire frame and a suspended breathable mesh backing panel with ridged and perforated foam on the hip and shoulder harness. The frames raised and tensioned system floats the pack away from and over your back to help maximize air throughput for excellent moisture-wicking and cooling purposes.
Also, this raised springy platform offers superb comfort and prevents the pack from compressing against your back.
Storage
It has quite a few useful pockets and compartments, including a large main compartment, a padded top pocket, a front compartment, a front expandable sleeve, and two zippered hip pockets. It features a Blinkie light attachment on the bottom front, and a rain cover to protect your pack in inclement weather. The front sleeve is advantageous as overflow for jackets or apparel when dealing with changeable weather and temperatures.
The main compartment has a nice long zipper and opens in clamshell style for easy access, and it’s the central location I’d stick larger items, such as apparel, bulky things, and jackets. It has four internal organizational meshed pockets: a zippered one at the top front, an open one at the top rear, and two-slot versions at the middle back. Along the sides are two deep pump and tool sleeves/slots. I used the zippered pocket for items I wanted to keep securely in the compartment, the middle for various smaller and flat items, and the back top one for things I made need frequently, such as tools.
The top zippered pocket is a thickly padded and is ideal for sunglasses, phones, and fragile components, though one of the top compressions straps QR buckles gets in the way and must be detached to open and close the zipper completely. The lower zippered pocket was useful for my wallet, and snacks, though it was tough to shove things into it if the bottom was bulged out from over capacity. The hip belt has a zippered pocket on each side, which are ideal for small tools, keys, and snacks. The front sleeve is useful for helmets, jackets, apparel and other bulky items.
All the pockets and compartments combine to give the pack 7-liters of storage space, although the front sleeve can add quite a bit of additional volume.
Reservoir
The excellent 3.0L Big Zip EVO reservoir has a 3L/100 oz. capacity, a high-mount quick connect hose, a slider opening with an integrated hanging hook, and a magnetized bite valve with a shutoff. The self-sealing HyFLO bite valve has a leak-proof shutoff valve and a larger diameter tubing for a faster flow rate. It has a high-mount tube quick disconnect that makes it simpler to remove so you can unload and reload the reservoir. Their superb plastic utilized in the reservoir has embedded silver-ion that protects clean water from mold and bacteria, it doesn’t stain, and is taste-free, BPA-free, BPS-free, and phthalate-free. The top slider offers a wide opening and eases filling and cleaning, plus the semi-rigid baffle helps to keeps the reservoir open to promote the drying out process.
The rear compartment and sleeve are where the hydration reservoir resides. The reservoirs blue slider hangs from two yellow clips, and the mounting system helps stabilize the weight at the center of your back, and it keeps the bladder from drooping downwards when it empties and bouncing around on rough terrain.
The Magnetic Sternum Strap allows for a one-handed magnetic buckling of the strap and integrated magnetic linkage for the HyFLO bite valve, the latter featuring a lever operated shutoff. The magnetic clip system resides on the right-hand shoulder strap and isn’t movable to the other side, though you can route to the tube from either side.
Impressions
The pack has fours side compression straps for cinching down the load or for carrying armor and apparel; two towards the top and two in the middle. The straps help secure and stabilize the weight, and make it easy to attach all sorts of gear. I was able to connect a detachable chinguard from helmets that feature the dual regular to a full-faced type of system. The expandable front sleeve integrates with the compression straps, and you can attach and insert a helmet, jackets, apparel, bulky items, and just about anything, and it’s especially useful for grabbing gear quickly if anything is needed.
The top front pocket was nicely padded, and I placed my giant iPhone 7 Plus in there without any problems, though as I mentioned earlier, the right top straps QR buckle interferes with the pockets zipper, and must be unsnapped to open things. The lower front pocket was perfect for a wallet and snacks and was easy to access without anything blocking the opening. The pockets and compartments are adequate and offer plenty of room, with excellent functional organization aspects, and the main compartment opened up widely, though to open it up fully you’ll need to release the compression strap buckles. The four mesh pockets in the main offered up plenty of spots to place smaller items, help keep things organized and secure.
The shoulder harness system is decently padded and uses a ridged and perforated foam that is breathable and comfortable, and the slider sternum strap offers plenty of adjustabilities. The front waistband uses a 1.5-inch strap with a highly functional adjustment system that makes it easy to tighten or loosen, and each side has its own pull strap. The hip wings offer a padded, ridged, and comfortable perforated foam, and the wings are broad and tall enough to provide stability, plushness, and breathability.
The superb FloatAir system with its wireframe and suspended mesh back panel offer tons of ventilation and breathability, keeping your back cool and dry, even in the hottest weather. The system offers oodles of comfort and load carrying capabilities, suspending the main body off your back and helping to stabilize it down onto your lumbar. I loved the sensation of the pack floating off my back, and the design provided a cushy, comfy, and air-conditioned feeling, that carried both light and heavy loads without any undue pressure on my back, and the synergy with the shoulder harness and hip wings meant it didn’t bounce around on any terrain.
The 3.0L Big Zip EVO reservoir is a significant improvement over its predecessor. The larger diameter hose and bite valve offer a massive increase in water flow and a smoother draw, plus the shutoff valve is easier to use and more secure. The high-mount quick connect is a joy to use and makes it simpler during water refills and changeouts. The plastic material is taste and stains free, and the simple and quick to use slider makes opening, closing, cleaning and filling an easy task. Once it was hanging from the pack’s internal clips, it provided exceptional stability for the reservoir, preventing excess bouncing and drooping when the contents emptied. I did find that due to the inward arch caused by wireframe, it was sometimes difficult to insert the reservoir if the main compartment was moderately full. The magnetic sternum strap system provides a quick way to attach the magnetic linkage of the bite valve, and the bite valve worked well, and water flows smoothly through it, though I had problems opening and closing the lever on the fly.
The pack has an easy to use rainfly, which is encased in a zippered pocket at the very bottom of the packs. The rainfly worked well and kept the contents of the pack dry in the nastiest inclement weather.
Bottom Line
The Platypus Duthie AM 10 is an immensely comfortable pack with a slew of useful and highly functional features. The wireframed FloarAir backpanel offers excellent comfort, breathability, and load carrying capabilities, while the vast array of pockets and compartments provide heaps of places to carry gear, armor, and helmets. The superb Big Zip EVO reservoir with its larger diameter hose and bite valve offer a massive increase in water flow and a smoother draw, plus the shutoff valve is more comfortable to use and more secure. The high-mount quick connect is a joy to use and makes it simpler during water refills and changeouts. The dedicated, easy access hydration pocket has a hook system that offers a secure and stable design to hang the reservoir. And lastly, the Magnetic hydration hose retention works like a charm and easy to detach and snap back in place.
Packs have come and gone in my testing and reviewing world, but I always end up returning to the Platypus Duthie AM 10, and it has become one of my perennial favorites.
| Size | 9 in wide x 6 in deep x 18 in tall/23cm wide x 15 cm deep x 46 cm tall |
| Gear capacity | 7 liters/430 in³ |
| Reservoir capacity | 3.0 liter/100 oz |
| Total capacity | 10 liters/610 in³ |
| Pack weight | 0.80 kg/1 lbs 12 oz |
| Reservoir weight | 0.18 kg/6.5 oz |
| Total weight | 0.98 kg/2 lbs 2 oz |
| Material(s) | 160D and 210D Water-Resistant Nylon; YKK Zippers |
| Country of Origin | Pack Made In Vietnam; Reservoir Made in U.S.A. of U.S. and Imported Materials |
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