I am compelled to begin my review of the Kelty Ascender 22 bag by quoting Clarke’s* Third Law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” How else can one adequately describe a bag that in two stages (37.5% each) becomes 75% larger? Sure we’ve all seen a zippered expansion trick with other bags, but the way Kelty does it makes it look like a different, larger bag, as opposed to looking like an overstuffed grub.
The core of the Ascender series is a sturdy, removable aluminum chassis. This makes the whole thing look a bit cumbersome and maybe a little intimidating at first, but once you operate its extension handle (brilliant strap!) and give it a pull on its smooth, replaceable inline skate wheels, you’ll be sold. The expanding frame is sturdily constructed of aluminum tube with welded gussets (nice welds!) and protective bits along the corners and sides.
The bag is made of 1280D Ballistic Polyester with YKK zippers all around. The straps and buckles all move smoothly and make detaching the bag from the frame a quick and simple affair. Another feature I like is that there is a handle on each side of the bag making it easy to pick up from any orientation. The main compartment is 40 liters of open space with one large mesh compartment and a pair of hold-down straps. Unzip the front expansion and it’s 55 liters of the same. Expand the top end and you gain another 15 liter compartment that is accessed from the outside. Lastly, behind a padded front pocket live a pair of backpack style shoulder straps. Every base covered.
In use, the bag itself performs wonderfully, but the frame presents small challenges. Being fully exposed, care needs to be taken to not bash it into something/one. While packing, its hard corner protectors damaged my floor a bit. All of the action from the wheels and the handle were buttery and effortless, while adjusting the frame size took a little more effort. The Ascender comes with instructions. Read them. You will be glad you did.
All in all The Kelty Ascender 22 is a terrific bit of shapeshifting technology that can replace two or three bags at once. Which in my book borders on magic.
Good
- Changes size
- Removable chassis
- Easily distinguished from the ocean of black bags on the luggage turnstile
- Very smooth replaceable wheels
- Really well made
- Accessory bags available
Bad
- Chassis rather hard edged
- My floor!
The Kelty Ascender 22: available from Amazon for $350
*The More You Know – Clarke’s three laws of prediction were coined by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. The other two are as follows:
- When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
- The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
all images via kelty.com