Reviews You Can Rely On

Mammut Light Removable 3.0 Review

If you have been considering a pack and are worried about weight, this pack is probably for you
gearlab tested logo
mammut light removable 3.0 avalanche airbag review
Credit: Mammut
Price:  $580 List
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Manufacturer:   Mammut
By Ian Nicholson ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Dec 5, 2017
79
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Airbag System - 20% 9.0
  • Backcountry Utility - 22% 6.0
  • Comfort - 12% 8.0
  • Downhill Performance - 13% 9.0
  • Features - 15% 7.0
  • Weight - 18% 9.0

Our Verdict

Among the lightest weight removable airbag systems available, the Mammut Light Removable 3.0 is sized appropriately for most day tours and is the lightest airbag pack in the 30-liter volume range. This versatile and functional pack wins a Top Pick award for Best Light Airbag Pack in our review. Many backcountry tourers are willing to spend a few hundred dollars to save ounces on skis, boots, or bindings, but with the Light Removable you spend a little less than average and save a pound or more vs other balloon-pack models. You'll obviously cut a few bells and whistles, but nothing in the way of primary pack functionality for comfort on the up or performance on the down.
REASONS TO BUY
Lightest airbag pack in its volume range
Moves well on the down
Sweet ski and snowboard carry system
Bomber suspension
REASONS TO AVOID
Not many features
No dedicated snow safety gear pocket
Mammut has updated this pack, and some features are different from the version we tested in our review.

Our Analysis and Test Results

Performance Comparison



Airbag System


The Light Removable Airbag doesn't offer anything special like two bags for redundancy or a head/neck wrap shape for trauma protection. But it is still incredibly effective at its most important task: keeping the wearer on top of the snow, and there are exceptionally few cases of a single bag failing.


The RAS: Removable Airbag System

The RAS system (Removable Airbag System) available from Mammut is similar to the ABS Vario series in that you can buy one airbag system and a canister and move it among multiple packs that are all around $280. That compares with Mammut's PAS (Protection Airbag System) that costs $600 and offers an airbag that wraps around your head to both prevent trauma and increase the odds of having your head sticking out of the snow.

mammut light removable 3.0 avalanche airbag review - the deployed ras system on the mammut ride removable (left), and the...
The deployed RAS system on the Mammut Ride Removable (left), and the actual RAS unit (right).
Credit: Mammut

Trigger Mechanism

Unlike the ABS packs, the trigger is not interchangeable between shoulder straps and is fixed on the left side. The trigger mechanism is not as important a factor to consider when buying an airbag pack as are other features. That said, the trigger mechanism on the Mammut Ride RAS isn't the best but is still highly reliable.

Refilling Options

Mammut uses compressed air canisters in the airbag system. Compressed air, while slightly lower in performance compared with compressed nitrogen, is much easier and cheaper to refill at most dive, paintball, and select outdoor gear shops.

Backcountry Utility


The Light Removable Airbag brings a different type of backcountry utility than most packs. While most airbag packs are feature heavy, the Light Removable is no-frills. It is just functional enough and its low weight is certainly enough of a benefit for the human-powered backcountry adventures that most users are embarking on (compared to Heli/Cat/Side-country use). The Light Removable uses a 3/4 length clam-shell zip style design but does not feature a separate avy tools pocket. Instead, in its single main compartment, it uses a sleeve/divider style system to help keep you organized. We found it could fit average sized shovels and proves but most 300cm probes were tight (or didn't fit) and several larger-than-average shovels didn't work well either.


Carrying Skis or a Snowboard


The Light Removable Airbag features a lightweight diagonal ski carry system that works well for even the widest skis and splitboards to the surprise of many readers, even traditional snowboards, via a vertical carry. The straps continue all the way around to the sides of the pack on the Light Removable Airbag to offer compression but also the option to carry skis in an A-frame style. This is a great feature on a pack you might use on longer ski mountaineering trips, where you could be carrying your skis for longer periods of time (where A-frame is slightly better) at lower elevations. But remember, don't carry skis in avalanche terrain in an A-frame on the pack because it could affect the airbag's deployment.

Features


As we mentioned, this pack doesn't offer a lot of extras in the way of features, with its primary attributes being its simplicity and exceptionally low weight. However, it does offer a handful of nice features that most backcountry users will appreciate. It has a single zippered pocket on one side of its waist belt and a fixed gear loop on the other. Our testers really liked the gear loop for ski mountaineering or anytime we were traveling on glaciers and had gear we wanted to have readily accessible. By clipping it to the outside of the hip belt rather than our harness, it kept carabiners and other equipment from pinching underneath the waist belt, a common occurrence when items are clipped directly to your harness while wearing a pack. This pack also features a small zippered pocket on the top of the pack to help keep small items from getting lost, and it is hydration system compatible.


Comfort


The Light Removable Airbag is only available in one size and like many similar one sized packs, it fits a lot of people - but not everyone. Our testers found it fit most users around 5'4"-5'5" to around 6'1" or 6'2", depending on torso length. As far as comfort goes, the Light Removable Airbag features a burly suspension, meaning you could load this pack up with essentially as much as you could fit in it. Don't let its light weight make you think that it's not comfortable because to our surprise, we thought it was one of the more comfortable packs in our review.


Downhill Performance


The performance on the down of each pack measures how we felt they carried and moved with us while skiing and snowboarding. The Light Removable Airbag performs far better than we thought on the down, with its lightweight and narrow profile pleasing all of our testers. Overall, we thought it scored among the highest among in its size range. It performed equally, if not better, than some of our other mid-sized top scorers like the Black Diamond Halo 28 JetForce, the Backcountry Access Float 32, and the Arc'teryx Voltair 30.


Weight


At 5 pounds 6 ounces (2440g), the Light Removable is easily one of the lightest airbag packs (for its volume) on the market. This pack feels roughly the same volume as the Black Diamond Halo 28 (7 pounds 8 ounces) but is over two pounds LIGHTER!!! Even the Backcountry Access Float 22, which certainly feels smaller in volume, is over a pound heavier at 6 pounds 8 ounces. The Light Removable is certainly lighter weight than our other award winners, the Arc'teryx Voltair 30 (7 pounds 7 ounces) or the Backcountry Access Float 32 (7 pounds 1 ounce).


Value and Cost Breakdown


The price of the Light Removable Protection with the airbag is $580, and the price of the cartridge is $190. Mammut sells the Light Removable Protection 3.0 as "ready" (AKA pack only) with no airbag systems available for around $229.

The Bottom Line


The Mammut Light Removable Airbag is a cool and unique pack that will work wonderfully for most backcountry day tourers. This pack is best for folks who are looking for a simple design and will appreciate its light weight over a plethora of other features. While it didn't have a bunch of extras bells and whistles, (or sometimes even the basics, with the biggest thing being that it's missing an external/easy access snow safety gear pocket) it still has okay but not excellent backcountry utility. It does carry loads well on the up and performed among the best on the down.

Ian Nicholson