Review: Dakine/Windells Mission Pack

Intended Purpose: The mission pack is a backpack meant to handle a day on the snow, a day walking to class or just a day traveling.  For the snowboarder, it offers enough features in a smaller size so you don’t feel overloaded on the back and in a variety of colorways.

Size: The Dakine mission pack is 25L and weighs 2lbs.  I was actually surprised it’s 25L because when I compare to my Burton Zoom pack which is 28L it seems like the Zoom has a lot more room.  But the smaller mission pack I actually like because I never feel overloaded in it, no matter how much crap I put in there this summer it felt comfortable and still small on my back when riding down the mountain.  There’s enough pockets for everything you need but without packing your whole room in it.

Appearance: I received the Windells/Dakine Mission Pack this summer and so it’s branded with the Windells logo.  It’s black but the windells logo is embossed in tiny print all over the backpack and there’s a couple blue Windells logos that are noticeable.  I like the colorway a lot because blue/black are two favorite colors.  This pack is only available through Windells as far as I know.

Ease of Travel: For overnight trips or when I’m packing up my laptop to take with me somewhere, I’ve been using the mission pack since it’s smaller than my Zoom pack.  It’s easy to travel with because it’s a good size and you never feel like you packed everything up, just the basic essentials.  At Hood this summer, it was the perfect size because I could put in an extra jacket, water, lunch, goggles, gloves, camera and other stuff for just a day on the snow.

Features: The Dakine mission pack has a vertical board carry just in case you decide to go hiking with the pack, fleece lined goggle pocket which I used all summer to store sunglasses/goggles or camera stuff (the downside was I would forget I put stuff there since it’s not a pocket on the front but on the back of the pack), organizer pocket (perfect for school stuff), adjustable padded waist belt, padded sleeve fits most laptops up to 15″ and deployable water bottle pocket (not feature not on the windells one but is on the regular mission pack).  The adjustable padded waist belt was a needed benefit when I had the pack loaded up for last run and wanted it to stay on me during the ride down.

Durability: I received this pack in early June from Windells as a staff member this summer and it has no wear/tear from riding with for 50 days and is in mint condition from summer snowboarding conditions/riding all summer.

Thoughts: I was really happy to get this pack for the summer because the Zoom Pack which has been my main pack is on the large size and feels like you are carrying a lot of pack but the mission felt smaller and easy to ride with on the mountain.  I could still fit my gear in it and lunch/water for every day of snowboarding but not overpack it like I could with the Zoom Pack.  It was easy to deal with in the lift lines, I could take it off and hold it on the chairlift and on some days I’d be riding with my pack and carrying other campers packs down the slopes so I know the grip is good for holding it.

I was really impressed with the durability, summer at Hood is a good product testing place because it encounters snow, crud, ice and dirt which usually break down material quicker from my experience.  Plus it didn’t lose color even though it was in the sun every day on the slopes sitting in the snow suntanning and I can find no wear/tear to it.  It’s my go-to pack when I carry around a laptop to the coffeeshop or just for an overnight trip where I need a couple items.

Review Disclosure: Windells Camp gave me this backpack as an employee this summer.