Gourdon Reviews

I’ve got the stealthy and a 25L that I’ve use for commuting by bike throughout the winter. The delivery was amazingly quick. The service was great, I recieved patient and prompt responces to emails about the products prior to buying.
I think the products are simple,excellent value for money and have kept my stuff dry.
I particularly like the Stealthy 20l and wish the 25L had the same features, as I attach a rear light to the elastic strapping and can store tools without fear that my stuff is going to get wet if I have a mechanical when it raining.
I haven’t found the straps uncomfortable, but as a woman, maybe having a smaller frame is an advantage.
I’ve followed others advice and bought an additional dry bag to store wet gear inside the 25l bag and found this is fine.

I use it mainly for bike commuting - weatherproofing is great even with a line of dirt up the middle. The waist band is useful on a bike pack. One improvement = replace the window with a reflective panel.

The side pockets make it great for a day pack - they hold a SIG bottle tightly, but the hydration pouch needs to be thicker.

Got my 20l one at the outdoor show. Like the bungies and side pockets. Pockets not accessable while wearing it, could do with tilting forward slightly. Like the back pocket and padding. It is tough as I didn’t manage to rip it on some rocks when heading off the hills. Will try harder next time. Price and performance is all you need.

Dear Alpkit,

The Gourdon 20 is genius,absolute genius. It’s INSPIRATIONAL - I just want to go play since buying it. Well done on the down-to-earth design price and attitude.

Service stunning.

Some (hopefully constructive) feedback: Please, please, please can we have pockets and bungees on its big brothers too. Then I’d buy one for all the family…. Wider waist strap worth thinking about.

I’ve now used and abused my Gourdon 25 for just under a year now and apart from the window (it punctured on some gravel but I’ve just duck taped over it and its fine now) it’s still in pretty good conditionit’s been on a number of expeditions and has never leaked, carried my ski-ing/snowboarding/climbing kit and has even had a trip to alton towers (it kept the water from the log flume, rapids, pirate things from wrecking cameras and phones and kept some clothes dry so you don’t have to walkround like a drowned rat!

I like the stiffness of the shoulder straps, The waist strap does not really add any support but i does stop the bag from bouncing around too much. I also added bungee straps to the bag but have only used them once so I don’t really see why I bothered.

all in all a great bag.

Ben

oh and the delivery was very quick as always

I bought a windowed 20L Gourdon just over two months ago and thought Id scribble my thoughts down. I not an Alpkit groupie so this won’t be gushing but it will be honest.

After only 9 weeks of what I would describe as fairly unremarkable use, I am a little disappointed. Of the two edges that make up the sack’s opening the window side one’s black stiffening strip is massively frayed into millions of tiny plastic hairs and the other’s sewn rigid plastic rod has snapped in two places.

Also with literally no use of sternum strap, the stitching which keeps it from slipping through the non-adjustable buckle has simply unravelled. And the stitching which hold the sternum strap system to the shoulder straps is slowly going on the other side.

I appreciate that this is a cheap, simple bag, and it keeps my stuff dry very well indeed. However unlike many Alpkit fans who seem to enjoy ‘modding’ their purchases, when I buy something I expect a finished product. A highly quality of finish for some extra money would be well worth it. I guess you get what you pay for.

My G20 has now had some use as a mountain bike hydration sack and has had some mods.  I replaced the back insert with 0.5” low density open cell foam.  This work is a treat as the pack forms nicely to my lower back and it is more than adequate at insulating from hard objects.  It squishes out of the way when I use a bladder: I use a 2l one which works well if you don’t fill it more than 1.5l or overfill the pack.  I stitched up the waist strap so that it is now horizontal.  This solves the issue of the lower edge digging in. 

I have gone from pleased to really pleased with my G20 now.  However my tinkering has generating some design suggestions:
Dump the back insert across the range.  It is a nice idea but compromises the product as a backpack.  Replace it with a dedicated and simple open cell foam and mesh padded area on the outside.  Make the pouch a dedicated bladder pouch by adding some depth to it.  Change the waist strap so that it exits the bag horizontally.  A wider waist strap would be nice.  Remove the stiffening from the shoulder straps to make them more pliable and breathable.

That’s it.  Excuse my presumption and buy Alpit; it’s good.

Received my Stealthy (and rather sexy) G20 yesterday.  Had a play with it that evening:
The 3/4” waist belt is very thin and digs in when done up. The webbing is quite stiff and is stitched to the bag so that it angles down from the horizontal.  When wrapped round the waist the lower edge digs in around the kidney area.  My original G30 is the same but was less noticeable as the webbing is wider and more flexible. 

Shoulder straps are a bit heavyweight for the bag size.

The bladder pouch has no depth to it so a full bladder bulges the back out making it quite rigid. Leaning forward or a full pack effectively pressurizes the bladder causing, in my case, leakage though the bite valve.

None of the above are show stoppers and it is a very accomplished and stunning value bag but as a bag for mountain biking with a bladder it could do with some tweaks to make it work well. Or am being too fussy?

I bought the 25l for commuting to work on my bike. The service was great, prompt answers to emailed questions and fast delivery. The sack is light and simple, I bought a blue one with a window to avoid problems others have mentioned with seeing inside the bag.I put a reflective strip inside the window to hide my lunchbox ect.
I understand people’s comments about wanting external pockets, I don’t want pockets as such, but something to strap wet cycling gear to the outside of the sack would be good. Will probably go for the dry bag insert suggestion mentioned earlier.
Brilliant sack, brilliant value.
Many thanks to the workers at Alpkit.

Its not a question, its praise.
I ordered a Gourdon 20L sack, it arrived the next day. Its unbelievably
good value and a fantastic piece of kit - just what I have been looking for.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In the future, any chance of a 35/40L version with better hip belt?

thanks and best