The Patagonia Ultralight Black Hole Mini hip pack is reviewed as part of our Kit Essentials grouptest from Issue 143 of Singletrack World
- Price: £25.00
- Capacity: 1L
- Bladder: No
- From: Patagonia, eu.patagonia.com
- Colours: Borealis Green, Black, Coriander Brown, Forge Grey
At first glance this dinky doll-size pack seems utterly pointless. And then you find yourself using it all the time. Obviously, this will depend on you and your riding circumstances. I typically do frequent rides that don’t last very long. I only really want something to hold my phone, house keys (key clip!), a multitool, a compact shock pump (bike tester alert!) and a CO2 jobber. This amount of stuff is just that bit too big to stuff in a pocket of clothing, and distributing it around into several pockets is just-so-faffy darling. I want to grab and go. More importantly, I need to ditch and desktop ASAP post-ride (AKA get back to work). This pack is perfect for short local blasts.
While it is rather expensive for what it is, I can’t deny that it’s nice to use. Sure it’s not super stable and it bounces around a bit on rough ground, but this is much more preferable than having hip pockets stuffed full of stuff. Although I’m not supposed to mention anything other than mountain biking, this pack is often used for running, hiking, shopping and more. The more colourful colourways are undoubtedly on-point style-wise, and the recycled nylon and polyester are worth supporting.
Overall
Possibly the most frequently worn pack of all! On the bike and off the bike.
